This week on Dental Fuel Episode 13, Ronda Holman, a passionate dental assistant unleashes 24 years of wisdom and shares her insights on not letting feelings fester within your dental team.
In the ever-changing world of dentistry addressing clinical mishaps promptly is key to creating a collaborative environment.
Ronda specializes in helping to create the ideal DDS-DA relationship. Empowering dental assistants to continue their education so their chair side skills continue to elevate as they learn why they are doing what they are doing and not just what to do.
Once the DA has a firm grasp on the exact needs of their dentist they can bring ease to the complexity of dentistry. Practicing dentistry can be stressful and hard but finding the joy in it becomes much easier when you have a true operative partner. You can find Ronda outside of the treatment room on IgniteDA Instagram and TikTok. Her influence goes much further than dental assisting with her passion for helping recovering oral breathers with over 135k followers on The Airway Champion TikTok account.
🎙️ Listen to Dental Fuel Episode 13 on Apple Podcasts
Dental Fuel Episode 13: Clinical Mistake Transcript
In this episode, Ronda talks about why she is a dental assistant and a clinical mistake that she and her team made with packing cord that allowed them to grow together as a team.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Ronda Holman, how are you doing today?
Ronda Holman
Great. Thank you Tanya for having me. I’m so excited for this interview.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Welcome to Dental Fuel. I’m so excited to see you here in person. I know we usually see you on Instagram and Tik Tok but it’s so wonderful to be in person here at our IGNITEDDS retreat.
Ronda Holman
Ah man, it’s something else just being around all these like-minded individuals who are just as passionate about dentistry as I am.
And to feel like I already know you, you know, I think there’s this power in social media. Where it’s like, oh my gosh, I already know you. Like there’s one of the dentists in the room, it’s our first time at a retreat, and I’m like, I feel like I’ve known her for 10 years.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
So true, so true. That’s the beauty of social media. Ronda I would love it if you would share with our listeners a little bit about yourself.
Ronda Holman
Okay, yeah. Well, I’m a Pisces, my favorite color is pink and I have a miniature Australian Shepherd, as my dog of choice.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
What’s the dog’s name?
Ronda Holman
It’s Harley like the motorcycle, and it’s a girl. So I mean, we went way off base. Yeah, there are people off left and right.
But as far as dental, which I’m pretty sure that’s what you meant by that. I am a 24-year dental assistant. I am military trained.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
But you’re only 30?
Ronda Holman
I know isn’t that weird. It’s like I found that time machine you know, from Back to the Future, but it’s not in the car now. So it’s way more convenient to use. I don’t have to go find an abandoned road or anything.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
So 24 years in the profession as a dental assistant. Wow, very cool. And what got you interested in going into the field of dentistry?
Ronda Holman
Oh, you know, I was a mouth breather growing up and I had rampant childhood decay. I had dental crowding and retrognathic mandible, chronic ear infections, and throat infections and I was at the dentist a lot.
So by the time I got my adult teeth, you know that was time to transition into making them fit into my underdeveloped cranial facial respiratory complex.
And I spent a lot of time in ortho I was three years in brackets. And when it came time when like you go to the military, right? And they’re like, wait, what to do when you grow up? I’m like, I don’t know. And they’re like, pick something now. Wait, before you pick something you have to take this test is like the ASVAB and it tells you if you could qualify for even that career field, like we don’t want to get your hopes up like, are you smart enough to do the job? And so I actually tested really high. Yay. And they said, you know, what do you want to be and I said I want to be a dental assistant, and like it’s what I knew I was comfortable. I love the ladies who were my dental assistants when I was a child. They made a really great impact on me. It was always a nice experience, considering what it was. And I said you know I could do that. I would. I would love to do that. I’m really into teeth now because you know, everybody’s been obsessed about mine.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Well, you have beautiful teeth.
Ronda Holman
Yeah, it worked out.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
But, Ronda, thank you. Thank you for your service. I know you shared a little bit with us about your time in the military. So thank you for that. And of course thank you for your service in the dental profession as well too, because you have done a great thing I’m sure in your community, but also sharing tips with other dental assistants in the world.
Ronda Holman
Yeah, it’s so here’s what happened when I was first introduced to like social media like you know, I’m that old where I had a pager in high school, you know, cell phones didn’t come about, you know only drug dealers had them right. But I was not a drug dealer, just so we’re clear about that.
I remember I didn’t have a mentor. So like, as I was going through all of my hard times as a newer dental assistant, I had to like, just learn by mistake.
And I thought man, wouldn’t it be great if I could use this technology and this reach to help other dental assistants learn from me what not to do and learn like how to actually like what you do.
And the only way to like what you do is to be comfortable doing it. And the only way to be comfortable doing what you’re doing is to learn more about it
And there’s a detriment So, dental assistants are necessary, right? I mean, dentists I know that in school, you guys don’t get a dental assistant and it’s kind of like something you have to learn to, to use in your career.
But there comes a time where dental assistants, I mean, we’re thrown into an opt, and the dentist gets so agitated when we don’t have the right thing next, but how are we supposed to have that forethought?
Because we didn’t go to dental school I mean, dental assisting is kind of all over the place is still the Wild West, right? You could be certified I could be a waitress last night and the dental assistant today or I could be you know, a one year course you know I have like all these letters in my name.
So it’s kind of like all over the place and each state has different requirements for us. And with that being said, like a lot of times I would disappoint my dentist by not preemptively thinking of what they would need, because I didn’t know what they were doing
Like I fundamentally didn’t understand the chemical bonding process. I didn’t understand why my dentist would need this next, because I didn’t know what to do. I just knew how to do it. And so there’s this huge mindset shift with dental assistants and facilitating this, this desire to learn like why are you doing what you’re doing? Because I promise you, the minute you know why you’re doing it. It’s gonna get a lot easier.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Make sense. Yeah, very true in saying you know, the different kinds of training and requirements that each state has. And so everyone’s background can be so different. And going into an office, very different offices can vary as well. So y’all have y’all do a great job At learning on the job and knowing how to transform yourself based on the setting that you’re in, and the procedure that’s coming up.
Ronda Holman
You have to I mean, and we are like the most amazing multitaskers. Like every dental assistant I’ve ever befriended, like they’re amazing, like moms and workers and, and caretakers, and they organize events in their community like it’s fascinating how good they are at multitasking. So I mean in my mind after 24 years, I am a great, oh what is it called, Jack of?
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Jack of all trades master of none?
Ronda Holman
There it is. Yeah, I mean, it’s amazing like, and I told my dentist one day I said, I get the privilege of learning a little bit about everything. Because I don’t have the burden of having to know a lot about one thing. And so there’s like these, there’s these, you know, a lot of people think of dental assisting as a job.
I see it as a career. I mean, I hope it’s a career. Otherwise, I’ve had a 24-year job. But I think knowing that it is a career, and there is room for growth and these teams develop these skills over a lifetime. Like you all want to get to a place where the whole read my mind thing happens and it does, but you have to learn together and that’s what I think Ignite is known for.
So the reason I gravitated towards ignite was because we build better teams. Oh my gosh, that’s like the perfect tagline. I’m like, that’s what I want because I didn’t start really caring about my career and the trajectory of it. Until my dentist says, we’re gonna go learn together. We’re doing this together. I expect you to be as good as I am at this particular thing. Why wouldn’t we learn together?
Well, that’s a fundamental thing that a lot of dentists, I mean, there’s a cost, right? You have to take another team member to go learn about something that they’re not actually going to do like they’re not placing the implant, but I’m a critical role in making that procedure seamless and cost-effective. And if it’s something that you’re willing to put in your wheelhouse, as a nonstressful procedure you’d like to offer your patients.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
I love that and what a forward-thinking and great dentist and boss person that you had.
Ronda Holman
Oh my gosh, okay, let me just brag, so her name is Dr. Terry Nelson, she is in northwest Montana, our office is called Dental Distinctions. She was a dental assistant first, okay. So I’m like, oh, we connect on that, and then she went back to school to become a dental hygienist. She practiced dental hygiene for a decade, okay, and then said, oh, I’m not done, I’m not done, I’m going back to school, and then became a dentist!
So this lady, my mentor, a beautiful human being, is inclusive. Like if I can learn it, you can learn it. And there’s no such thing as I don’t know how to do that.
Now, that’s my mindset, that I just haven’t learned that yet. There’s no such thing as I don’t know how it’s, I haven’t learned that yet.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Right. Yeah, it’s like that’s not in my wheelhouse yet, but we can get it there.
Ronda Holman
Yeah, but there are so many people who have these limiting beliefs. They think that because they’re in a certain position or because they make a certain amount of money, or because they have a certain amount of responsibilities, that they’re locked into, not feeling like there’s room for growth.
And it’s really unfortunate, and I see this a lot in dentistry over the last two decades – where dental assistants – instead of trying to advance their skills and becoming more of a delegation partner, they’re getting out, they’re like, you know what, I am not making a ton of money like I don’t get to do anything but this, you know, I’m done.
I’m like, no, no, no, and there are two reasons I see that happening.
There are a lot of us that don’t have education debt. So we’re really not tied down. If you don’t love it, and you’re not great at it, you don’t have to commit to it because we didn’t sign a contract or, you know, just different rules apply.
And then there’s a lot of them that don’t have the right mentors. Don’t feel empowered. They’re not delegating. They’re not making them feel like a critical part of the team. And so that commitment isn’t there either.
It just it’s heartbreaking when I see a dental assistant who’s amazing, leave the career field, or even stay in the career field but leave for hygiene, we need dental assistants.
There’s got to be room for growth. I mean, it breaks my heart like why can’t we have really great dental assistants? Why do all my great dental assistants have to go to hygiene school and become great hygienists which is awesome, but that doesn’t do anything for the autonomy of my career.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
I think it also goes back to the point that you made earlier, that many people feel that it’s a job and not really a career. Or a calling for them. So it is easy for them to walk away.
Ronda Holman
Oh, which is sad, it really is. And then, you know, just this whole perpetual like attrition issue. You know, like, I hired a great assistant, she went and got married and had a baby and now she doesn’t want to work or I lost my great assistant to dental hygiene school like you never hear anybody say I lost a bad assistant like the bad ones stay.
So sometimes you just have to learn to work with what you got. And that’s about facilitating like this education, passion, and this environment for growth and just saying like, I want to do better. I want you to do better so we can do better together.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
It’s all about team growth.
Ronda Holman
Oh, I mean, it’s unreal. Like I’ve seen. I’ve been around right so I was a military wife after I left the military. So we moved around every three years, and I’ve gotten the chance to work for a lot of different dentists. A lot of different types like practice models, and a lot of different materials. A lot of different technologies.
And what I noticed was like that is a skill that not every dental assistant has. It can either be a blessing or a curse. So dental assistants are known if I transfer from one office to another and I have baggage with me.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
It will carry for sure.
Ronda Holman
Oh, we were just talking to Dr. Rice about this yesterday. like my dentist didn’t do it that way. Like, NO, in like slow motion like with the curse like don’t say that yeah. Yeah, your dentist and do it that way but you know what, that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way. And that comes back to probably dental assistants in that particular situation they don’t know what’s happening. They just know what to do. They know the steps but they don’t know why.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Yeah, they don’t know why they are doing what they are doing.
Ronda Holman
If they knew, they would know there are alternative ways of doing this one thing.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Ronda, here at Dental Fuel, we are dedicated to talking about people’s mistakes learning from those mistakes, and learning how to grow from them.
We all know that dental assistants play a huge role in the dental team. So I would love to know about some clinical mistakes either that you made, or that you saw a clinician make and how you grew from a team together.
Ronda Holman
Oh gosh. So there’s this really neat routing slip that we fabricated for our crown prep and deliveries.
So we scan and mill same day and we were coming into a situation where the cord was getting left, in the sulcus. You’re like, oh, okay, so it only takes two times, I can tell you firsthand, of a patient coming back saying like their gum is inflamed and bleeding or passing, and you realize, oh, shucks, there’s cord in there still. When did we prep that? Two weeks ago?
Okay, well, now we have a checklist. So it’s really funny because like, you took something bad, that was, you know, I mean not detrimental but it’s still you know, one little mistake can lead to two big ones. You know, it’s usually like a snowball effect. And then we just snipped it in the bud like okay, we forgot about the cord twice so more than once it is a pattern repeating itself.
And then yeah, we just came up with this little routing slip, and it’s like did you remove the cord? Did you take a pre-scan? Did you take a bite? Did you take a trans bite? What shade? Like it ended up evolving into like this beautiful little piece of paper, and well that makes our whole three-hour appointment seamless.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
I like that. I should put a sheet together. Usually, I’ll tell my assistant to go if you don’t hear me say we’re taking the cord out now. You gotta tell me. And we count all of our other things.
Ronda Holman
There are ways to do it. Yeah, you could put a two by two out on the doctor’s tray. It’s just nice because you put one blue and I put one purple or 0001 and then you just cross it off as you take it out.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
When y’all were talking about you know, the two times that happened, how did you all as a team, come forth with the idea of putting the checklist together?
Ronda Holman
Well like I said, after the first time you’re like, oh, that was you know, a fluke. And then the second time we’re like, oh!
Because you know, everybody when you implement new technology, I mean there was a lot of stuff we had to learn as older dentists and dental assistants about this whole scanning and milling thing. Threw us for a loop, you know.
It’s all about systems and protocols and developing them and we’ve always done that like that’s always been our go-to instead of harping on things we did wrong. We always look at it from that lens of what’s the opportunity or like how can I make this better?
Because I don’t like stress. My dentist doesn’t like stress and my patients don’t like stress.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Do you all find a time throughout the day throughout the week in the months to come together to look back at things that went wrong to find solutions to make it better?
Ronda Holman
We do to some we’re pretty much on the spot. You know if it’s happened in the moment, we’ll pull out to the side and be like, ok, what could we have done differently there? So things don’t fester because a lot of times, dentists, if they don’t say something right away or I don’t say something right away, we let it sit for like a week and wait for that monthly meeting, and then it’s you know, at that point, there are some feelings behind it.
Which shouldn’t have been there in the first place, because we’re human, we make mistakes like this is a learning like they call it practicing dentistry.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Yes, we are in the practice of dentistry.
Ronda Holman
Exactly. And yeah, so we’ll do like at the best opportunity as close to the incident as possible, an immediate feedback loop. And then in the morning meeting like, hey, you know what happened yesterday, we just gotta double down make sure we do it this way.
Now, this is the way we’re doing it. And then if for some reason within the next week or two before that meeting, if it’s been repeated, then clearly we need to write it down.
They’re like this is what they expected me and this is what I expect of you know,
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
That’s a good evaluation system to have in place.
Ronda Holman
Yeah, because I mean, sometimes it’s a fluke and you just have to wait it out because I’ve seen dental assistants leave because of the way that constructive criticism was delivered. You know, again, we don’t have student loans. We don’t have this connection. There’s no financial investment usually with the practice. And, and some people aren’t very good receivers of negative feedback. So it’s a very delicate thing, especially if you want to avoid attrition and you want to be a good leader.
I mean, I honestly like every dentist that I’ve ever worked for that has kept the team together is somebody who has gone through extra programs to develop their business skills, like Simon Sinek he’s amazing like we use a lot of his stuff during our meetings is like hey, this is why you feel this way.
This is what you do like this is a human reaction, not a cookie cutter thing like everything has to be dealt with in its own different way. But I mean, you can have like the bones right? Like, we always we always what’s the word? We reverse engineer all the problems? Because then it takes the emotion out of it, but it makes your system at the same time.
Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas
Yeah. What a great pearl that you put in there for our listeners who are clinicians or really anyone who’s looking to become a better leader. If you want to become a better leader, you really need to make that investment in yourself. And there are a lot of great programs available for you.
You know to help you grow and to help you be a better leader in your practice and with those who are around you.
