Acts of Clumsiness

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Koalafied

Koalafied

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Dentists and Dental Students,

Please enlighten me with anecdotes of instances where you were clumsy while practicing dentistry. (i.e. poking yourself with a syringe, etc.)

Thanks
 
I was once assisting and was hot and my glasses were fogging up so I went to blow air in my face and accidentaly sprayed water. The dentist thought it was funny
 
In dental school, I numbed the patient's left mouth in order to do a filling on #30. After I realized what I had done, I told the patient and he rescheduled without fuss.
 
On my first patient, I was looking in my loupes and really concentrating hard on doing my first prep. I picked up the mouth mirror and tried to bring it into the mouth to get a better view of what I had done so far, but I hit the guy's nose with it first!
 
7 Iron said:
On my first patient, I was looking in my loupes and really concentrating hard on doing my first prep. I picked up the mouth mirror and tried to bring it into the mouth to get a better view of what I had done so far, but I hit the guy's nose with it first!
Click to expand...

😕
 
pulling a cast from alginate while holding a buffalo knife I had been using to chip away overhanging stone, the alginate unexpectedly ripped loose from the tray and I sliced my thumb.

it was deemed a non-exposure due low viral load, cavicide on the impression, washing the impression with water prior to stone, length of time from patient to injury, saliva not blood, and unlikely contact between blade and impression before injury.

it has made me much more careful.
 
txaggie03 said:
pulling a cast from alginate while holding a buffalo knife I had been using to chip away overhanging stone, the alginate unexpectedly ripped loose from the tray and I sliced my thumb.

it was deemed a non-exposure due low viral load, cavicide on the impression, washing the impression with water prior to stone, length of time from patient to injury, saliva not blood, and unlikely contact between blade and impression before injury.

it has made me much more careful.
Click to expand...

your patient was HIV+?

if so...that would be a major pucker moment.
 
Koalafied said:
Dentists and Dental Students,

Please enlighten me with anecdotes of instances where you were clumsy while practicing dentistry. (i.e. poking yourself with a syringe, etc.)

Thanks
Click to expand...

oh let me count the ways...

During my licensing exam, I prepped the wrong teeth during the FPD portion. Don't ask me how, I must have drifted off and was thinking about sex or something. I walked up to the proctor, handed my typodont off and told him I looked forward to seeing him again, very soon.

Not as devastating as falling asleep over a cadaver head at 3a in the anatomy lab with Subway sandwich in hand. At least my nostrils were covered with a thick slab of Vicks.
 
Have y'all ever accidentally clicked the invert button on a bite-wing X-ray, then proceed to extraction?
 
Koalafied said:
Have y'all ever accidentally clicked the invert button on a bite-wing X-ray, then proceed to extraction?
Click to expand...

While I am sure it has happened, it shouldnt. Only because the second you look in the patient's mouth you should realize your on the wrong side of the mouth.
 
txaggie03 said:
While I am sure it has happened, it shouldnt. Only because the second you look in the patient's mouth you should realize your on the wrong side of the mouth.
Click to expand...

Whewww! I got yelled for this while providing free labor to this OMFS last year.

BTW, that avatar is quite bothersome.:d

Anyways... Keep em' coming everybody, I'd like to hear more stories!
 
Once while assisting I was supposed to rinse off #8 and I accidentally sprayed water up the old patient's nose...
 
Ferneezy said:
your patient was HIV+?

if so...that would be a major pucker moment.
Click to expand...

HIV does nit persist well in saliva.

We had a D1 (weightlifter, ironically) slip and stab himself in the leg with a high speed so hard that it required a trip to the hospital.
 
I work in a pediatric dental office so we usually explain the process and instruments we're going to use to the patients using words like "Mr.Thirsty"= saliva ejector, and "bumpy toothbrush"= handpiece/round bur. There was one patient who who had gotten many cavities filled, so when the doctor came into the room and asked if I had explained everything to hthe patient I said "No, he's done this before, he already knows the drill"
Drill= wrong choice of words 🤣🤣
 
jnaz said:
I work in a pediatric dental office so we usually explain the process and instruments we're going to use to the patients using words like "Mr.Thirsty"= saliva ejector, and "bumpy toothbrush"= handpiece/round bur. There was one patient who who had gotten many cavities filled, so when the doctor came into the room and asked if I had explained everything to hthe patient I said "No, he's done this before, he already knows the drill"
Drill= wrong choice of words 🤣🤣
Click to expand...

on one of my pediatric exams there was a question telling you to put down euphemisms for the list of instruments they had listed.

I am not sure how you would have gotten that question wrong, because they did not explicitly ask for 'kid friendly' euphemisms.

Since I had a solid A in the class, I contemplated bucking the system and putting down:

explorer --> dentist spear
handpiece --> blood maker
suction --> face vacuum
etc.


I went with my better judgement and did not put those down, and I feel i missed an opportunity.
 
jnaz said:
I work in a pediatric dental office so we usually explain the process and instruments we're going to use to the patients using words like "Mr.Thirsty"= saliva ejector, and "bumpy toothbrush"= handpiece/round bur. There was one patient who who had gotten many cavities filled, so when the doctor came into the room and asked if I had explained everything to hthe patient I said "No, he's done this before, he already knows the drill"
Drill= wrong choice of words 🤣🤣
Click to expand...

txaggie03 said:
on one of my pediatric exams there was a question telling you to put down euphemisms for the list of instruments they had listed.

I am not sure how you would have gotten that question wrong, because they did not explicitly ask for 'kid friendly' euphemisms.

Since I had a solid A in the class, I contemplated bucking the system and putting down:

explorer --> dentist spear
handpiece --> blood maker
suction --> face vacuum
etc.


I went with my better judgement and did not put those down, and I feel i missed an opportunity.
Click to expand...
Y'all ever used/heard of the car wash analogy during prophylaxis?
 
I was assisting, and the dentist asked me to hold down a crown while he flossed the residual cement from the interproximals. I let go as soon as he snapped the floss, and the crown was flung down the man's throat. He swallowed it. We told him he had to get a chest X-ray, and he was livid. He came back in about 5 minutes, crown in hand. He had thrown it back up. Cemented it on and went on with the day. 👍
 
I wear clogs and I once dropped a crown that I was trying in my shoe. Walked out (with it in my shoe), soaked it in birex for 5 minutes, explained the situation to the patient and offered to sterilize it, but she didn't want to wait so I inserted it.

Started doing an endo on #29. Tried to place the clamp on #30 and it wasn't completely seated when I went to place the dam. It flew up and hit me square in the face. Had another incident a few days later where the same clamp flew across the operatory and hit the wall. I got up, picked it up off the floor and put it in the trash. Bought a new clamp later.

Also dropped a tooth that I'd extracted on the floor, ran over it with my chair and wedged it in one of the wheels. My assistant had to pick it out and try to clean off the chair.

I'm pretty klutzy, but those are the worst..
 
I was holding down the crown with a greg so the dentist could floss the contacts but the greg slipped and I jabbed the patient in the palette.

Was distracted and light cured the wrong tooth.

Handed the dentist a spoon instead of a ball burnisher.

Sucked a crown with the hve, thank god for traps.

I was like an inch away from flinging a handpiece into the ultrasonic

All mine are boring since I just assist. Worst one was probably the jab since the patient was already ....difficult.
 
I was assisting a patient who was afraid of pain and sensitivity. As soon as the dentist brought the needle in front of the patient to numb, the patient made a funny and weird noise from seeing the needle up closed.....I could not help but sallow my laugh. We tried to accommodate as much as we can through out the treatment. Patient left the office feeling appreciated.


There are other incidents such as accidentally slamming the cabinet doors on my first day lol...didn't realize some doors are very light. This caused some head turns hahaha.
 
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