CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Dental assistant Lory Mannering, left, got some coaching Wednesday on fitting braces from her boss, Dr. Lia Dominici-Bly, at their workplace in the Medical Arts Building on South King Street.

Making a good impression

Lory Mannering accepted a better job
and discovered a career in dentistry

Lory Mannering Title: Dental assistant Job: Helps her employer work on dental patients, both in their treatment and with their finances.

Lory Mannering never thought she'd grow up to be a dentist, but after working for cosmetic dentist Dr. Lia Dominici-Bly for the last year and a half, that now is her intention. The 20-year-old, under the guidance of her employer, has been learning the intricacies of both the treatment and financial sides of the business, and is planning to go on to dental school after finishing her liberal arts courses at Kapiolani Community College. A 2003 graduate of Roosevelt High School, Mannering is single and lives with her parents and the youngest of her two brothers in Makiki. She also has two sisters.

Question: How did you become a dental assistant?

Answer: Well, I was at church one day, and Lia, she's in my church, she just came running up to me, and said, "Do you have a job?" And I said, "Yeah." And she said, "Well, do you want a better one?" And I said, "OK." And after that she just trained me and taught me everything I know.

Q: So how long after that before you started the job?

A: Maybe the following week.

Q: What were you doing before that?

A: Before that I was working at a Hawaiian clothing store.

Q: So how long have you been doing this now?

A: About a year and a half.

Q: How many other people do you work with?

A: I work with two other assistants right now.

Q: Do you have to wear a uniform or what?

A: Yeah. We have to wear professional clothing: dark slacks and covered shoes, a white coat and a collared shirt.

Q: What are your hours?

A: We work about 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. Sometimes a little longer, sometimes less, depending on the day.

Q: What are some of the duties you have to perform each day?

A: Let's see. ... Every day is sort of the same routine. We have a morning meeting, go over the finances, go over the insurance, all of that. Then when the patients come in, I assist her (Dominici-Bly), then run out and do the finances for that patient, make sure the insurance is taken care of. I mainly work with a lot of her financing and the dental software here.

Q: Who taught you to do all of that?

A: Lia. And she also sent me to some advance training courses for the software in particular.

Q: Where, in town?

A: Yeah. They (the instructors) flew in from Utah. The software is called Dentrix. It's very popular among dentists in Hawaii.

Q: Do you help much with the actual work on the patients?

A: Yes, I do. And it's beautiful work. Especially because she's a cosmetic dentist. To be able to see the patients walk in with low self-esteem and see them walk out and they're so excited. They want to share their smile with the world. We don't get bored with it because it's always something new, because it's cosmetic.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Dental assistant Lory Mannering helps with both the treatment and the finances of her employer's clients. Above, Mannering on Wednesday looked for a client's charts amid the rows of files.

A: We do a lot of fillings and we do have the crowns, but what she specializes in is the veneers. Those are a thin layer of porcelain over your teeth to give you a beautiful smile. So that's mainly what we specialize in. Those procedures usually last from six to eight hours, so we usually block out a whole day for that one patient.

Q: Is there a lot of pain and bleeding?

A: No, not at all. Everything is for customer service. That's what we push here. We give them a movie to watch. We give them massage chairs. We do all this so their concentration isn't on their teeth being worked on.

Q: There is bleeding, though, right?

A: Oh yeah, but not too bad.

Q: Was it tough for you to get used to seeing that?

A: Yeah, it was. Actually it was tougher to get used to seeing the drill. One time we were working on her son and my eyes just crossed. But you get used to it real quickly because no one else can do it.

Q: What do you do when you're helping the doctor work with a patient?

A: I hand everything to her, do anything she tells me to do -- everything but hold the drill. I mix things together, make impressions, do the X-rays.

Q: Do you clean teeth at all?

A: I polish teeth, with a drill.

Q: Do you intend to be a dental assistant for a long time?

A: Actually, she's training me so that hopefully I can go to dental school. She's kind of my mentor right now. And not only about that but about life and how to manage things. So hopefully I can go to dental school and go from there.

Q: What do your parents think about your plans?

A: Oh, they want me to go to dental school. Lia took my mom aside and told her about me and so she really thought I should go, and I want to, because it is fun. And it's constant service. People may go, "Oh it's just like any other business," but here it's cosmetic and you get to change people's lives. They come in normal and they leave crying. They can't stop, they're so happy.

Q: Is there anything about the job you don't like?

A: Actually, no. Everything is really smooth right now.