advice for the years to come

[cluelessdr]

hey everyone, if you had to go back to ending your D1 year and entering your D2 year, what would you do over again? what would you have done differently, focus more on this and not that, etc. Anything i can do to prepare for the next few years and even after graduation? i dont have the best grades, so im set on not specializing, but plan on working as an associate in a rural area.

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[TrevorwestDDS]

I would try to really focus on hand skills for the next 3 years. While you're a D2 maybe put in some extra time practicing on the typodont. Drilling on real teeth, in my opinion, is much easier than the plastic ones, but having reps with indirect vision, and dropping boxes will make you more comfortable when you get to real patients. Towards the end of my D2 year I would try to put a timer on my phone while I did a prep to see how long it took me and then try to beat that time. It helped build some confidence for me. Obviously avoid being sloppy/careless just for the sake of speed...that will result in awful consequences on an actual patient.

and then D3 and D4 year you just transition those skills to live patients. Like I said before, I personally think the actual drilling is easier, the tricky part for me was knowing when you've removed all the decay or making sure you have all the clearance you need to fit the matrix bands or whatever you need in order to fill. Learning how to treatment plan is also really important. I've had numerous conversations with classmates about not feeling confident in their ability to treatment plan completely on their own. In a few weeks they will be in private practice answering questions from patients on why a tooth is or is not restorable. When to place a crown vs a filling...ect. Maybe our program didn't focus on it as much as others, but just something I've noticed we are a little weak in.

Good luck!

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I actually disagree with the above.
My hand skills were not good and they only came with time and practice, but I never went out of my way to improve until working with patients. I had no idea what I was doing in pre clinic, especially crowns. If I spent more time studying why what I was drilling was important, such as the importance of reducing X amount of mm in each area to accommodate the final restoration, I would have probably not been as frustrated with dentistry during pre clinic.

Frustration will be plenty throughout school. Just remember that every experience you have with patients is a learning experience. Every class you took that you thought was dumb (prosth and dental materials for me) actually serve of great importance. It isn't as clear cut as saying "I wish I could go back and do XYZ" as at the time it didn't seem important because we had a ton of other high pressure exams going on; If I didn't go great on those exams I would not have made it to my fiercely competitive GPR program.

Now more than ever I find myself trying to learn about topics we studied long ago in the past. This isn't a bad thing, this is dentistry. Many dentists don't do this. How do I know? D4's are mere months away from becoming practicing dentists and if people aren't going above and beyond now, they certainly will not change in the future.

Don't expect to change this overnight. It will be a slow transition. You will make mistakes. You will pulp out. You will spend 3 hours on a class 1 restoration just as I had that can now take me 20 minutes. The most important is the culmination of every little small fact you learn across your career and incorporate that into daily practice

I also recommend becoming intimately familiar with dental materials, especially composites and cements. Don't memorize everything, just know the standard protocol for use.

 

[allDAT]

Focus on making lifelong friends. Having many classmates to call, email, or text to troubleshoot your dentistry, your career, and your business is more valuable than a few more reps.

While in school, there really are two things you need to do. You need to do some endo, and you need to do some surgical extractions. Learn to lay a flap and suture it closed. Learn to remove bone around the tooth, and learn to section maxillary molars efficiently. These are harder to do in a private setting if you’ve never done them in school because the patient may be uncomfortable.

Laying flaps, sectioning teeth etc. will get your ready to place implants if you ever decide to go down that road.