When you start treating patients directly, how will you handle a new situation that you are unfamiliar with?

Before your interviewer, put some serious thought into which situations you would feel comfortable in learning with a hands-on approach and which situations you would feel uncomfortable with. Come to your interview prepared to discuss this comfort level.

"My first concern would be the safety of the patient in a situation like this. When confronted with a new situation during a routine cleaning, I wouldn't hesitate to jump in while leaning on a faculty member or senior student for feedback. That said, I would never jump into something that could potentially harm a patient if I were to make a mistake. In a situation like this, I would seek out a faculty member or precepting dentist to help me work through the situation so I could learn from them."