AMA: D4

[dPseh]

Hey all,

I'm a D4, just 3 months away from graduation. I'm on break now mentally preparing for my licensing exam coming up real soon. Just wanted to find a place to de-stress while helping feed anyone's curiosity about my experience in D-school!

Few things:
1. Will not disclose which school I attend (if you end up figuring it out, please don't guess or disclose...!).
2. Not too savvy about finances, but will try my best to answer questions about it.
3. Will answer anything from pre-dent experience, applications, DAT, all the way to NBDE/boards.

Ask away!

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[sobertiger]

I just found out I need to collect teeth before starting school. Kinda worried because I won't be back in the US until mid July. What happens if I don't get enough teeth? Did you ever have to worry about having teeth to practice on?

 

[dPseh]

I just found out I need to collect teeth before starting school. Kinda worried because I won't be back in the US until mid July. What happens if I don't get enough teeth? Did you ever have to worry about having teeth to practice on?

I didn't have to collect teeth until after 1st year. I never had a problem with having enough teeth to practice, but I did have problems finding "ideal" teeth during my 2nd year for my endo course. I'm not sure what your school is looking for, but I wouldn't worry about it. Chances are, some of your classmates will be willing to give you some of their teeth. During tough times, my classmates bailed me out by giving me their extra teeth.
If you're very concerned, when you get back to the US, just distribute collection jars en mass to OS's around your area and collect them before school starts. You might collect enough to get you through initially.

 

[Medin2017]

Hey all,

I'm a D4, just 3 months away from graduation. I'm on break now mentally preparing for my licensing exam coming up real soon. Just wanted to find a place to de-stress while helping feed anyone's curiosity about my experience in D-school!

Few things:
1. Will not disclose which school I attend (if you end up figuring it out, please don't guess or disclose...!).
2. Not too savvy about finances, but will try my best to answer questions about it.
3. Will answer anything from pre-dent experience, applications, DAT, all the way to NBDE/boards.

Ask away!

What are your plans for the future?

What did you do in your free time in dental school?

 

[O Gaúcho]

Did you get much experience with implants? And how confident do you feel leaving dental school and entering the 'real world'?

 

[dPseh]

What are your plans for the future?

What did you do in your free time in dental school?

Plans: I luckily got a job offer from a family friend to work as an associate at her practice after graduation. Very excited about it.
I told myself no more school. No residency, absolutely no desire to specialize (I had this mindset coming into D-school but was open to anything if I liked anything enough. I didn't change my mind).

Free time: I'm a pretty big homebody. I slept a lot, worked out, occasionally met friends, doin' my own thang. Used to have a once-a-week drink with my classmate for the first 2 years of school. Second year of school was hard to get through. I would stay super late in the sim labs just so I didn't have to come in on the weekends to work. No regrets.

Did you get much experience with implants? And how confident do you feel leaving dental school and entering the 'real world'?

Oh boy. Very limited experience with implants, unfortunately. We had a pre-clinical course where we were able to place implants on manikins, but that's it. We had a 4th year clinical course in implants, but unfortunately, that was abolished during my year due to the many problems that arose from the previous year (failed implants, poor placement, etc.).
I actually don't feel prepared enough and am pretty nervous to enter the real world. I feel comfortable enough doing basic care, such as diagnosing, restorations, extractions, and sure, crowns. Removable cases are my weakest point, I haven't had an opportunity to do even 1 molar endo on a live patient, no live placement of implants... I don't think I'm in the minority within my class - some of my classmates have had better experiences, but lots of others are in my boat as well. This segway's into how much I hate my school and why I think it sucks, but that's another question. xD

 

[deleted782438]

-how "strong" were your LORs? Specifically, did the profs know you very well?
-did you have time to explore specialties your 1st/2nd year?
-

 

[dPseh]

How did you go about choosing a school to attend? What are your thoughts on the importance of a school's reputation vs. many students choosing to attend the most affordable option for them? I turned down a dental program at an ivy but hope this wasn't a terrible choice for my future career. Also what do you hate so much about your school

I based my decision off of 1. cost 2. location. It was the cheapest school around me, and it was close to family. No disrespect to prestigious schools, but prestige means jack squat. Go to the school that you feel most comfortable. Factor in cost (because loans will follow you for a long time). I attend a so called "top ranked dental school" (as recently released in the QS World University Rankings) and I think I speak for all my classmates when I ask, "Why and how...?" So many things happen behind closed doors. Granted, I don't know what's going on at other schools, but from what I see at mine, things are pretty bad. There is administration/political turmoil at our school that greatly affects the education of students (faculty/staff cuts, supply cuts, meaning long wait times, building is dilapidated, recent technology in dental education is lacking - very limited CAD/CAM, no CEREC, no implant course, everything in clinic moves slowly because of wait times, lack of assistants mean working alone a lot).
Your decision was not a terrible choice. School reputation means absolutely nothing. Get in, make the best of it, pass WREB/NERB and get outta there and learn how the real world works.
I can't wait to leave school.

-how "strong" were your LORs? Specifically, did the profs know you very well?
-did you have time to explore specialties your 1st/2nd year?
-

I believe my LOR's were average to great. I'm pretty sure I got a generic LOR from my science professors because I did NOT know them well, my dentist also gave me a generic letter. I had only 1 shining LOR and that was from my volunteer coordinator at this school I was tutoring at. Despite knowing that I got generic letters from 3 people, I would imagine that those generic letters were decent enough. Profs aren't stupid, and I'm sure it wasn't their first time writing LOR's. They know what to say, even in generic terms.

1st year was all didactic and science related. I got a little more exposure during 2nd year as we actually had classes related to the specialties. My largest amount exposure came during 3rd year where I actually rotated through all specialties. I think I got decent exposure. At least, enough to know whether or not I wanted to specialize.

 

[rheasdf]

Must be nice knowing you're in the home stretch Early congratulations to you on graduating! Thanks so much for doing this AMA.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently throughout dental school/any regrets? What did you find is the best way for you to study?

 

[Incis0r]

Do you have any general advice on cutting a good proximal box in Class II preps? Any resources that helped you master preps?

 

[dPseh]

Must be nice knowing you're in the home stretch Early congratulations to you on graduating! Thanks so much for doing this AMA.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently throughout dental school/any regrets? What did you find is the best way for you to study?

Regrets: not taking advantage of all the student groups in school, or the organizations that offer student memberships. Quite a few groups (such as ASDA or AGD) would offer free CE courses to students, and I just chose to ignore these just so I can have time off. If I could go back, I'd probably participate a little more.
I also regret not doing outreach more. It's great exposure, especially when you're able to do actual procedures. You have a lot of fun while getting more practice in.

Studying: I just would go through ppt slides, make my own notes on the side or compile my own notes, and then study off of that. I found that method to be the most effective for me.

Do you have any general advice on cutting a good proximal box in Class II preps? Any resources that helped you master preps?

That's funny that you're asking me this just a few days before my exam. xD We were taught to use a 330 bur to cut preps. All I do is just sink my bur into the marginal ridge, go back and forth, back and forth while maintaining nearly the same wrist position (very minor wrist movements, the work is all in the fingers). Push the bur buccal or lingual as needed to get the clearance, and keep going down until you get gingival floor clearance. Go a little slower to smooth out the box. Use a hatchet if needed to clean the gingival floor and proximal box walls.

No resources used... I think it only gets better with practice. If you're still in sim lab, just know that real teeth cut so much smoother/cleaner than those awful plastic teeth.

I don't think this was helpful at all, but... :/

 

[gunner4ever]

Isn't CEREC just a brand of CAD/CAM?

 

[dPseh]

Isn't CEREC just a brand of CAD/CAM?

Yes, you're right. I was mostly singling out the milling portion of CAD/CAM. We have a CEREC machine in the school, but it's been out of commission for who knows how long. We have a scanner, and that occasionally comes out in clinic, but it's not too often.

 

[Ari Rezaei]

Do you have any general advice on cutting a good proximal box in Class II preps? Any resources that helped you master preps?

It's simple - you do it over and over again until your spirit is broken, then you'll master the preps and can help next class go through the same process.

FWIW I use a 330 to establish 1.5mm pulpal depth, build my occlusal outline, then drop it again in the proximal portion so I know my box is 3mm deep, and use a 256 to smoothen and finish the prep. The 256 doesn't have a cutting edge on the tip so it's more forgiving and you won't get a really bumpy floor like you might with a 330. This is only on a manikin of course, in real clinic you just use a 330 and drill out the decay in whatever shape it is. Real clinic is much better than simlab, I think the most valuable skill you can learn is how to hold the bur with the long axis of the tooth.

 

[Incis0r]

I think the most valuable skill you can learn is how to hold the bur with the long axis of the tooth.

Thank you so much, Ari.

This is exactly what I’m still trying to perfect. Having no problems with keeping the bur parallel to the long axis of the tooth when working on maxillary teeth.

But for some reason, on 19, I’m having divergent buccal walls and convergent lingual walls, implying that my bur is positioned too buccally. Do you have any advice on how to visualize the long axis? I read a post by someone else who recommended trying a ruler and holding it between cusps to visualize the occlusal plane before breaking it perpendicularly, but that method didn’t work.

 

[Incis0r]

Regrets: not taking advantage of all the student groups in school, or the organizations that offer student memberships. Quite a few groups (such as ASDA or AGD) would offer free CE courses to students, and I just chose to ignore these just so I can have time off. If I could go back, I'd probably participate a little more.
I also regret not doing outreach more. It's great exposure, especially when you're able to do actual procedures. You have a lot of fun while getting more practice in.

Studying: I just would go through ppt slides, make my own notes on the side or compile my own notes, and then study off of that. I found that method to be the most effective for me.



That's funny that you're asking me this just a few days before my exam. xD We were taught to use a 330 bur to cut preps. All I do is just sink my bur into the marginal ridge, go back and forth, back and forth while maintaining nearly the same wrist position (very minor wrist movements, the work is all in the fingers). Push the bur buccal or lingual as needed to get the clearance, and keep going down until you get gingival floor clearance. Go a little slower to smooth out the box. Use a hatchet if needed to clean the gingival floor and proximal box walls.

No resources used... I think it only gets better with practice. If you're still in sim lab, just know that real teeth cut so much smoother/cleaner than those awful plastic teeth.

I don't think this was helpful at all, but... :/

It helped! Thank you for the input.

Best of luck on your exam!!

 

[Ari Rezaei]

Thank you so much, Ari.

This is exactly what I’m still trying to perfect. Having no problems with keeping the bur parallel to the long axis of the tooth when working on maxillary teeth.

But for some reason, on 19, I’m having divergent buccal walls and convergent lingual walls, implying that my bur is positioned too buccally. Do you have any advice on how to visualize the long axis? I read a post by someone else who recommended trying a ruler and holding it between cusps to visualize the occlusal plane before breaking it perpendicularly, but that method didn’t work.

Depending on how your simlab is set up, what I'd do is break all ergonomics, bend over and look to see your bur is parallel, hold it in place, then sit back regularly. This is how your bur is supposed to look in order to be parallel from the operator's position. It's OK if doing these preps takes you a ton of time, every time before I started drilling I bent over to check that the bur was parallel mesio-distally, then bucco-lingually, then I sat back in the regular position and did the prep, holding the bur in the exact angulation. If I moved or changed burs, I'd do the same process again. After doing it so many times, you improve your spatial awareness (oh hai PAT!) and don't have to keep bending back and forth - you know what the bur should look like if you really are holding it parallel.

tl;dr - sounds like your spirit isn't broken yet, keep trying

 

[Incis0r]

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