Improving hand skills before dental school?

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Hello All,

I have a quick question. I am finishing my Masters in Biology this year and plan to apply to dental school next year, with the hopes of attending in 2011. I'm going to have some free time, so I thought this period before dental school would be great for improving my hand skills before entering dental school. I was looking at taking at least these 3 classes:

- Wax Working and Casting
- Introduction to Metalsmithing
-Introduction to enameling

Does anyone think taking these classes would even remotely be helpful for improving my hand skills for dental schooll? I know you get a lot of work for improving your hand skills while in dental school, but I wanted to get a head start. Thanks.

Originally Posted by belle316

Hello All,

I have a quick question. I am finishing my Masters in Biology this year and plan to apply to dental school next year, with the hopes of attending in 2011. I'm going to have some free time, so I thought this period before dental school would be great for improving my hand skills before entering dental school. I was looking at taking at least these 3 classes:

- Wax Working and Casting
- Introduction to Metalsmithing
-Introduction to enameling

Does anyone think taking these classes would even remotely be helpful for improving my hand skills for dental schooll? I know you get a lot of work for improving your hand skills while in dental school, but I wanted to get a head start. Thanks.

anything that improves your dexterity will help, the question is how much will it help?

To be honest, the dimensions of the preparations you'll be making in dental school are so small that metal smithing probably wont help. You have realize that you'll be working within .5mm. Macro hand skills won't be that helpful.

If you are determined to get hand skills go to all the dental labs in your area and beg them to teach/hire you. You could also become a dental assistant. Depending on the state, you may be able to perform some procedures as an assistant. I begged and begged at a few labs and finally they let me come in and hang out. I didn't do much, but it was nice to have some exposure to the materials and their properties before school started.

With all that being said, I find myself really struggling with my hand skills. I am right in the middle of the pack on the learning curve to not blowing out my preps.

Originally Posted by Lopyswine

anything that improves your dexterity will help, the question is how much will it help?

To be honest, the dimensions of the preparations you'll be making in dental school are so small that metal smithing probably wont help. You have realize that you'll be working within .5mm. Macro hand skills won't be that helpful.

If you are determined to get hand skills go to all the dental labs in your area and beg them to teach/hire you. You could also become a dental assistant. Depending on the state, you may be able to perform some procedures as an assistant. I begged and begged at a few labs and finally they let me come in and hang out. I didn't do much, but it was nice to have some exposure to the materials and their properties before school started.

With all that being said, I find myself really struggling with my hand skills. I am right in the middle of the pack on the learning curve to not blowing out my preps.

Well this would be for a Continuing Education certificate in jewelry. So while I wouldn't be working with the very small dimensions that are involved with teeth, I'm sure some micro hands skills would be needed.

Learn to write with only 2 fingers touching the table. Hands and elbows off entirely. Tape half a roll of quarters on to the eraser. If you can draw small structures, you'll be fine.

Draw short, straight lines back and forth. Draw smooth, curve lines back and forth. Make sure the drawing doesn't get larger than the diameter of the pencil lead. Move slowly. Move quickly. This is dentistry.

Originally Posted by dentstd

Learn to write with only 2 fingers touching the table. Hands and elbows off entirely. Tape half a roll of quarters on to the eraser. If you can draw small structures, you'll be fine.

Draw short, straight lines back and forth. Draw smooth, curve lines back and forth. Make sure the drawing doesn't get larger than the diameter of the pencil lead. Move slowly. Move quickly. This is dentistry.

this sounds liek really good advice!! I'm going to try it

Originally Posted by Doh Boy Fresh

this sounds liek really good advice!! I'm going to try it

Few more things, for those who know nothing about dentistry yet. Those 3 fingers that grip the pen...those fingers don't ever move. You move the handpiece by pushing/pulling forward/backward/left/right against those fingers touching the surface of the teeth (table, for now). Angle the pencil at 45 degrees, 20 degrees, etc. Find a technique where everything's perfectly stable. If you want a REAL challenge, draw using a hand mirror. Use a tall cup to block your direct line of sight. See if you can move the pencil in the right direction every time.

You may just be wasting your time to prep before dental school. It will be 2 years before you even lay eyes on a patient, and then it will take another couple of years before you can use indirect vision.

Originally Posted by Thaxil

You may just be wasting your time to prep before dental school. It will be 2 years before you even lay eyes on a patient, and then it will take another couple of years before you can use indirect vision.

Oh come now. Were you never that kid who slept with a baseball mitt or a football at night? There's nothing wrong with being excited about what you love.

Originally Posted by dentstd

Oh come now. Were you never that kid who slept with a baseball mitt or a football at night? There's nothing wrong with being excited about what you love.

nothing wrong with that.

I've been thinking about going to Dental Lab's in my area... but dont know what to say ... can someone plz suggest how I should approach them and let them know of my goals..

THanks

Originally Posted by Ateeb T Khan

I've been thinking about going to Dental Lab's in my area... but dont know what to say ... can someone plz suggest how I should approach them and let them know of my goals..

THanks

Go to one of the dentists you shadowed and see if they'll recommend you to the lab they use. The guy I shadowed introduced me to the lab he uses and was going to set up a gig with them so that I can shadow there and pick up a few skills as well but I had too much on my plate at the time.

I work in my mom's dental office and whenever it's slow she has me working on typodont teeth. She's teaching me how to prep the teeth for amalgam/composite restorations or for a crown or bridge. She also gave me a dental anatomy book and has me wax-up teeth after we prep them. Although I don't get to do this stuff that often she seems to think this will be very helpful.

Originally Posted by dentstd

Learn to write with only 2 fingers touching the table. Hands and elbows off entirely. Tape half a roll of quarters on to the eraser. If you can draw small structures, you'll be fine.

Draw short, straight lines back and forth. Draw smooth, curve lines back and forth. Make sure the drawing doesn't get larger than the diameter of the pencil lead. Move slowly. Move quickly. This is dentistry.

Originally Posted by dentstd

Few more things, for those who know nothing about dentistry yet. Those 3 fingers that grip the pen...those fingers don't ever move. You move the handpiece by pushing/pulling forward/backward/left/right against those fingers touching the surface of the teeth (table, for now). Angle the pencil at 45 degrees, 20 degrees, etc. Find a technique where everything's perfectly stable. If you want a REAL challenge, draw using a hand mirror. Use a tall cup to block your direct line of sight. See if you can move the pencil in the right direction every time.

This sounds challenging and fun... i'm going to try this once classes are done...

Which two fingers are touching the teeth (table)

Originally Posted by JamesOSU

Which two fingers are touching the teeth (table)

Some basic grips. The pen grip with the handpiece at various angles. Two fingers rest on the table. One's the thumb grip. Only the thumb rests on something.

Draw these figures where the cuts are made. All edges must be rounded. Where the cuts narrow, it must be 1.0 mm in thickness.

Draw a line 0.5 mm thick. Then extend that thickness to 0.7 mm, then 1.0mm etc. Dentistry's about having enough control to make these small adjustments.

some good stuff in this thread!

Originally Posted by dentstd

Some basic grips. The pen grip with the handpiece at various angles. Two fingers rest on the table. One's the thumb grip. Only the thumb rests on something.

Wow, thanks a lot man. I have a question about the last picture thought. Is only the thumb touching the paper?

Originally Posted by belle316

Hello All,

Does anyone think taking these classes would even remotely be helpful for improving my hand skills for dental schooll? I know you get a lot of work for improving your hand skills while in dental school, but I wanted to get a head start. Thanks.

Start without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

Try it ‘til you can do it. When you can, you are ready for a Dental School. You and I both know how stupid it is, but this is a best training you can get now.

Originally Posted by belle316

Wow, thanks a lot man. I have a question about the last picture thought. Is only the thumb touching the paper?

Yes, but it's an easy grip to use, and you won't use it much until you get to the anterior teeth. The third grip's the most important one, while the 1st and 2nd are just variations in order to get more stability (based on which arch you're working on).

This, of course, is an imperfect simulation of actual drilling. The differences are that you drill depth in teeth and tooth structure provides resistance where the pencil lead would be. But without a handpiece and a typodont, this is the closest simulation to the mechanics involved in the "hand skills" everyone talk about. Crafting, painting, and everything else don't even come close.

The goal in dentistry is to gain stability while moving quickly/slowly in very small distances. If after a while you still don't have stability, consider varying your grip to have full control of the handpiece. I like to widen my grip so that my fingers cover more surface area on the handpiece. I also grip it closer to the head, so there's less wiggle.

The single biggest thing you can do before dental school's becoming proficient with the mirror. Hand skills isn't hard. It's about finding a technique where your hand's ultra stable. The mirror skill takes a long time to develop. Get a hand mirror and start tracing pictures in a magazine. You'll be going the wrong direction ALL the time. The goal's to be able to draw things relatively quickly, eventually. You won't perfect this by the time dental school starts, I promise you. But it's fun trying. Good luck to all you future dental wiz.

Originally Posted by dentstd

Yes, but it's an easy grip to use, and you won't use it much until you get to the anterior teeth. The third grip's the most important one, while the 1st and 2nd are just variations in order to get more stability (based on which arch you're working on).

This, of course, is an imperfect simulation of actual drilling. The differences are that you drill depth in teeth and tooth structure provides resistance where the pencil lead would be. But without a handpiece and a typodont, this is the closest simulation to the mechanics involved in the "hand skills" everyone talk about. Crafting, painting, and everything else don't even come close.

The goal in dentistry is to gain stability while moving quickly/slowly in very small distances. If after a while you still don't have stability, consider varying your grip to have full control of the handpiece. I like to widen my grip so that my fingers cover more surface area on the handpiece. I also grip it closer to the head, so there's less wiggle.

The single biggest thing you can do before dental school's becoming proficient with the mirror. Hand skills isn't hard. It's about finding a technique where your hand's ultra stable. The mirror skill takes a long time to develop. Get a hand mirror and start tracing pictures in a magazine. You'll be going the wrong direction ALL the time. The goal's to be able to draw things relatively quickly, eventually. You won't perfect this by the time dental school starts, I promise you. But it's fun trying. Good luck to all you future dental wiz.

This is all very true. Nice post.

I love this thread thanks!!!

I'll let you fellas play around with these basic ideas first. After a while, I'll consider explaining to you guys the mechanics of how I use a mirror. I've never seen any textbook explain how to use one, so I had to make sense of it all myself, as do every dental student on earth. Our professors were basically...here's a mirror, put the typodont in the mannequin, cut this shape. Maybe the current dentists and students can input on their techniques.

Marking thread.

quite possibly one of the most useful threads i've read... this needs to be a sticky in the pre-dent forum!

If you have the time and you can find the opportunity, I would work even part time prior to dental school in a dental lab, doing anything. There you will not only develop skills, but you will gain a great insight and understanding about the skills you will use in pre-clinical. This experience, even for a couple of months, will give you much better clarity about what they were doing, why and the process related directly to dentistry. If you're not worried about earning money, ask if you can stick around a dental lab and just help out and observe. It will be an invaluable experience, and you will have a definite heads up. Good Luck.

Great post. Deserves a good bump.

How bout them mirror skills?

I. The first picture illustrates the most basic mirror view. The mirror is directly in front of you, and it’s like looking into a bathroom mirror. Move the bur left, the image goes left. Move it right, the image goes right. But move it forward, the image comes closer towards you. We’re all very familiar with this viewpoint, because we use it every day in the bathroom.

II. There are numerous angles that we can place the mirror while in the mouth, but for ease of learning, just choose an angle and go with it. Each mirror angulation changes how we think slightly, and it’s hard to learn everything at once. At first, we may choose one most common angulation to learn from. Then, we start to change that angulation. I think I may use 30 degrees most often, but I don’t remember.

Anyway, when the mirror is angled, all the sudden there’s difficulty moving in the right direction. Moving the bur “forward” has the bur moving at a different angle in the mirror image. Because of that, I reorient my thinking in the angled mirror…

III. Practice this using a mirror of your own to see this. Reorient your frame of reference such that you’re thinking in terms of the mirror surface plane. When you move it left of the plane, the image goes left of the plane. When you move it right of the plane, the image goes right of the plane. When you move TOWARDS the mirror, the image comes nearer the mirror plane. When you move AWAY FROM the mirror, the image goes farther. Essentially, your new reference is left/right/towards the mirror/away from the mirror.

This has at least one practical meaning. When you’re looking at the tooth in the mirror and are confused about which direction to move the bur, you can reorient yourself. For a moment, stop looking at the image in the mirror and look at the rims of the mirror or anything else necessary. Find the mirror plane, so you can readjust your thinking to left/right/towards/away.

IV. When I was first learning how to use the mirror, I drew a figure with multiple arrows coming out, facing all directions. I placed the tip of the bur/pencil at the center of the figure, chose an arrow to push against, then tried to trace that particular arrow (and not another). It’s my means of learning to move the bur in the right general direction.

V. Then, when I understood the general direction to move the bur, then it’s about moving with precision along the right direction. An error of 3 degrees is still too much for dentistry. I started tracing pictures in a magazine.

Simplifying life: Learning in the mirror’s hard, but we’ve all had a lifetime’s practice using the mirror while it is at one position: directly ahead of you, as in the bathroom image. No one really has a problem working with things in the bathroom mirror, so the easiest position to place the mouth mirror is directly ahead of you. You’ll eventually need to learn to do things with the mirror angled, but in the process, I use the unangled mirror most often. So…readjust the typodont/patient in such a way that you can place the mirror in the unangled position, and maxillary teeth won’t pose such a problem anymore.

Don't forget ergonomics!

Feet flat on floor, thighs parallel to floor, arms at side, try to sit up straight...

great thread, dentstd

I was dissecting ovaries from fruit flies under a microscope i wonder if that will help me in dental school
Great thread btw!

"Tape half a roll of quarters on to the eraser. If you can draw small structures, you'll be fine."
What does this phrase mean?Any good samaritan willing to help by posting a video or pictures?

Originally Posted by atlanta478

Start without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

Try it ‘til you can do it. When you can, you are ready for a Dental School. You and I both know how stupid it is, but this is a best training you can get now.

So we should try until our foot does not change direction?

wow -the right foot and 6 thing was fun!! doubt it actually helps in dentistry.

jewelry making is another thing that u guys can try. It helps your hand skills.

Wow, necro threads all over these days.

Anyway, as a D1 who's been through one year of lab, I wouldn't even worry about "hand skills" very much. I don't consider myself a particularly 'handy' person, and I have done fine - I have a solid 85+ in the lab class right now. If you are going for the 100, maybe you could worry about this stuff, but even then, I wouldn't even worry about Hand Skills.

My pre-dental concerns over Hand Skills have really come to naught. My hands don't ever hold "sniper still", which I was obsessively worried with before school. They do in fact shake a bit. This has not been a problem except when I am trying to slice off a tiny, tiny bit of amalgam without destroying the marginal ridge (I managed to do it just fine), or if I forget the "no coffee before practicals" rule. The stimulation of caffeine + nervousness has led to some very difficult practicals, and even then, I have done okay (80-85).

However, if you're not satisfied with an 80-85 practical baseline, then what I would recommend is focusing less on Hand Skills and more on Visualization and "Eye Skills". Take an art class, take a sculpture class. The hand skills aren't really that difficult - it isn't, as far as I can tell, "still hands" or whatever handy stuff that earns you the 100, it's the ability to visualize.

The preparations will involve you drilling (carving) the tooth into a different shape, and the restorations will involve you sculpting a tooth from nothing; you must have a good idea what you are looking for before you begin to cut or fill. In other words, you need to visualize exactly what needs to change before you change it, which is what I have found much more difficult than "hand skills".

If you can trace thin lines with a thick pen, you should be fine on hand skills. It's imagining the right lines in the first place that's the challenging part; not tracing them.

EDIT: I should mention that the 100 also depends a lot on your instructor. My friend has sniper hands and good visualization, but continually fails the 100 because of the subjective part of the grading, getting instead 85-93. You will also, once you get here, see some 100's that make you go "whaaaaaaaaaaaat? I'm happy for you, but how did they not see this, this, and this?"

You'll see.

This thread is amazing and deserves a needed bump.

Thanks for the ideas!