Rylee Brullo – Dental Hygiene Internship

Hello! My name is Rylee Brullo and I am doing my internship at Garden Spot Dental Care in New Holland PA. Some of my job duties and daily routines consist of working in sterol to make sure all of the instruments stay clean and are wrapped properly. Following my work in sterol, I also manage all of the machines, making sure they are filled and running the instruments through. I also clean and set up rooms, so then after I am finished with that I can set up the room for the next appointment. This could be a crown prep or insert, root canal, filling, extraction, check-up, etc. Another one of my duties is making sure all of the supplies stay stocked in sterol and also the rooms so that if someone ever needs to grab something quickly, it is right in reach. Lastly, I help the hygienists with perio charting if they need me to assist as they check the teeth. Each day I am learning more and more and getting trained on new things. I am constantly on my feet because there is always something to do. Whatever I can do to help make things run smoothly, I do.

I don’t necessarily have any big projects I am currently working on at work, but something I am working toward is hopefully becoming a Dental Assistant. Now that I have begun this paid internship, they would like to start training me on more things and I am excited to see what that holds. As of now, I have been able to practice holding the curing light and curing a tooth when needed. I also have learned how to make a proper impression of a tooth and how the way you do the impression, can make it more or less comfortable for the patient. In addition, I also learned how to call a patient back and put their bib on until the dentist is available to come in. We have an extremely helpful team here at Garden Spot Dental and it makes it very easy for me to grow and practice my skills. I am hoping here in a couple weeks to start working in patients’ mouths for the less in-depth appointments or at least getting closer to becoming a Dental Assistant.

I have grown tremendously from this experience in many ways. I have gotten the opportunity to get paid, so that is definitely something that I have grown into by picking up another job on top of the one I already have, needing to create hours that work for me, getting to work very early in the morning which is not something I am used to, and working with professionals well older than me who have much more experience in this field, which can feel very intimidating at times. I have never worked as long of days as I do at Garden Spot Dental as I do at my other job and this has really been preparing me for the real world. I have noticed that I can speak with adults much easier and clearer, and I have gotten more comfortable with asking questions. Some days can be more stressful than others, which has allowed me to learn from stressful situations and overcome them. I have felt myself getting more confident in who I am as well. Working here has definitely broadened my horizons in the working field and I am very thankful to have the extra hours I do at Garden Spot Dental. I am very proud of how I have stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something new even when it felt scary, because I now love what I am doing.

This experience has influenced my future career goals because I have learned a ton about the dentistry field and it has helped me decide if I wanted to go to college or not. I was never sure which part of the medical field I wanted to go into, but this has really opened my eyes to what dental assistants, dentists, and hygienists do on a day-to-day basis. I really hope to be able to work at Garden Spot Dental after this internship because I have an amazing team and an awesome opportunity to grow. If I hadn’t done this internship, I don’t feel as if I would be this far in my career-deciding process. This internship opportunity has really exposed me to the working field and what is important to look for in a job. Figuring out what I wanted to do in the future was not easy for me at all, so to be able to step into an internship position was very helpful so I could see, feel, and taste what it all held. I am possibly going to apply to HACC for their dental program and become either a hygienist or dental assistant. I am forever thankful for the internships that my school provides and the help it brings to someone who has no idea what they want to do in the future.