I work as a dentist and I am working at a new workplace since March. I see that my colleague is not working precisely at all.

I work as a dentist and I am working at a new workplace since March. I see that my colleague is not working precisely at all.

I have several years of working experience. Since every office is working a bit differently, I insisted to have a thorough onboarding at the beginning, which I got. I have seen some works now that my younger and less experienced co-worker has done and I am thinking about to talk about it with my manager. The coworker is not harming patients but some of her works are simply half-done.

The problem is that she has been working here longer than me and has the trust of the manager. What it also makes difficult is that the collegue is highly self-confident, eloquent and assertive. She is a bit overconfident and rushes instead to take time she needs with her working experience. This way the quality of her work does not correspond with standards that were communicated to me during onboarding.

In the past, at my former workplace, I experienced difficulties reporting other's mistakes. If a patient came from my colleague with an issue, I would try to improve the situation or finish the work without reporting. I would basically cover my colleagues because nobody's perfect and we are working in a demanding field. But then, what happened at my former workplace was that my (toxic) manager tracked the mistakes that happened down to me (because the patient visited me at the end) and he blamed me for mistakes my colleague did. I would try to explain but he would say that I was only trying to blame other people... My colleague at that time was actually my senior (also a reason why I didn't reported the mistakes immediately).

So, I am now in a big dilemma. I would prefer not to talk to the manager and just do my job. But on the other hand I don't want to take the blame. And I believe that it's my duty to speak up.

I need your advice!

Thanks a lot.

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6 Comments

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  1. Anonymous

    You said they are not harming patients. Stay out of it. You've just started & have not established yourself. Perhaps in a year, after you have established a rapport & respect from your co-workers & supervisor, you can bring up your concerns.

  2. Anonymous

    Is your manager also a dentist? If so, would they be able to see for themselves where your colleague is going astray if you brought this to their attention?

    I also think it's worth examining why you want to repeat a pattern of behavior that has not ended well for you in the past. Is there some takeaway from what happened the last time you spoke up that could be useful in framing how you move forward this time?

  3. Anonymous

    Do your job and stay in your lane. Unless you are the manager the quality of someone elses work is not your affair. If the clients are not complaining let it go. You are expert in the work that you do but not everyone is the same.

  4. Anonymous

    I agree with those who are telling you to stay in your lane. However, if a patient comes to your after seeing your colleague because they are having pain or having difficulties I would document that "client had X procedure on X day by colleague and I did X redo, X correction or X didn't fix the problem so I did Y." That way, you can show what you did was correct.

  5. Lee Smith
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  6. Anonymous

    I know how frustrating that can be, especially when precision is basically the foundation of our work and you’re watching someone cut corners that could affect patients in the long run. In another discussion someone mentioned https://www.anestident.it/en", and it came up because it’s a dental clinic that really emphasizes careful, detail-oriented treatment rather than rushing through procedures — the kind of environment where accuracy and patient comfort are non-negotiable. When you work somewhere that sets that standard, it becomes clear how much of a difference precision makes, not only for outcomes but also for how safe and respected patients feel.

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