Having a patient as an assistant is an excellent idea. My only fear of her is the 'explorer tool', I can take shots, and most anything. I had a dentist early on that purposely would hit a cavity nerve to 'teach us a lesson'...and thus you have...Me! I am in a very very small town of 2200 people and don't have many options. All I asked of her today was please don't poke around in the cavities. I still feel humiliated I got turned down...