PITTSFIELD, Mass. - At CHP’s Neighborhood Dental, Blake Smith is hard at work sterilizing equipment and working with patients.

Smith has been at CHP Neighborhood Dental for a couple of months as a dental assistant.

“It has always been something I had been interested in," Smith said. "I always liked going to my orthodontist office and my dental office because you know it was always such a welcoming atmosphere."

Smith recently won first place state and nationally for SkillsUsa’s dental assisting competition where he showed off his skills and processes of the job’s duties.

“Growing up I had a lot of doubt in my ability as a practitioner in medicine and it kind of held me back from doing a lot of things I really wanted to do with my life," Smith said. "But now that I’m at this point in my life it has kind of really opened my eyes to see what my personal ability is."

General dentist Shahana Muthirikkulam works with Smith and sees how hardworking he is.

“It is great because he is very thorough, and his knowledge is impeccable and he knows everything. So we don’t have to have any concerns or doubts if there is anything missing,” Muthirikkulam said.

Muthirikkulam notices an urgent need for dental assistants within the dental field.

“We are in need, yes, there is not just with community health practice," Muthirikkulam said. "I’ve heard from the peers outside of community health practice also yes there is a shortage of dental assistants yes there is a lot of need."

Before becoming a dental assistant through McCann Technical School, Smith worked as an occupational therapist for elderly patients and was a certified nursing assistant in high school. He loves helping people and is enjoying his work at CHP.

“The best part of my day is to just make sure that we are working with our patients on a timely basis and making sure they get everything they need,” Smith said. “I love every one of our patients because they are all generally really great people and I’m very privileged to be the helping hand here to make sure they get all the medical treatments that they need.”