cant drill at all.

[zeben1a]

Hi, so im in my 2nd year and we recently started drilling cavities in op. Its all so new to me, we had this course for a month and its killing me. I know dentistry is supposed to be hard but so far i havent passed a single cavity (I, V and II). I realized i have some problems with smoothening the margins like the occlusal margin and in class II my tooth looked quite good although i had overhangs, from the enamel shell that i cant seem to get rid off (how do i even remove that especially in indirect vision?) and also I had additional walls cuz the cavity was narrower than the proximal boxes. Im sorry if i explain badly but the teachers dont provide with much info (im an international student in a foreign country) . we only use a highspeed fissure bur and round on slow speed , we dont have hatchets and so, so i try to use the other instruments as much as i can like excavators and stuff but i still cant remove the overhangs. Everyone says that i should stop stressing but its easier said than done for me, i have an anxiety whole week and neglect all my other major studies just to focus on how to do cavities 🙁

i dont know why im writing this, i guess i feel that i dont fit in dentistry at all compared to all my classmates who have already finished their teeth and im the last one in class. we dont even have access to practice in the preclinics, we have to do everything there. I do drawings, watch YT videos and still I can't manage to even do one single cavity. I dont know what im doing wrong, if someone were in my situation and somehow managed to get through dental school and now is an excellent dentist please tell me so I can have atleast a little motivation because right now Im close to just give it all up 🙁

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[bracketbuster68]

Some easy tips:
-don't hold the handpiece so tight. you should be able to feel the prep with your tactile senses. if you cannot feel the prep as you're cutting it, you are holding it too tight
-play with the speed of the handpiece
-use height of burs to your advantage. for example, a 330 is ~1.5mm and occlusal preps are usually 1.5mm
-use 169 bur to drill box
-use gingival margin trimmers to refine preps

 

[fit2]

Keep practicing and do little bit every day instead of cramming all in a few days. Can’t cram like you can with tests.

drill outside mouth so you can figure out what you’re actually trying to do. Then repeat inside the mouth.

try different burs to see what fits you! I like doing 330 high speed then smoothening with 56 either with fast or slow speed. You can use 957 to smoothen floor but that is a pretty thick one not my fav.
Use hatchet for smoothening box for class II’s. You have to have the mesial and distal hatchets
cant stress how good 56 was. Didn’t like
at first but it’s so nice and smoothens everything nicely and it’s so boxy do you get nice margins.

I guess if you’re struggling with following grooves well, get some stones draw some outlines with markers and try to follow the outline well. Make sure your depth is steady so like at 1.5 mm for example.

every time you do a tooth pretend it’s real. Many times I’d do something fast but never finish 100% and get it looking as nice as possible. But I see this year in FPD it’s more helpful to get something looking close to perfect and take longer. Speed will come in time.

Don’t be rigid in how you do things, experiment. For class II they taught us to do the class I first then go to the box. Some people worked better for them to do box first then finish the extension. Try some different things


keep at it! It’s not easy but it’s the same thing every time so you’ll eventually get it

 

[zeben1a]

Thank you for the helpful tips, they dont have hatchets for us to use so I really dont know what this uni is expecting from us. I showed her my class2 which had some enamel overhangs but other than that it was good...
Today we had a test in class V again and I didnt pass, the O boarder wasnt even straight and the cavity was shallow, I saw my mistakes but I can’t believe it even got that bad... she also told me im very slow It took me 1 hour just to get that bad results, compared to the others in my class who all finished. It sucks realizing dentistry isnt my thing when I already invested so much for it 🙁

 

[lemoncurry]

do you have loupes and a light?

 

[zeben1a]

do you have loupes and a light?

we only have light and shouldnt use loupes according to our teachers i think.... they have an old way of teaching :/

 

[2TH MVR]

Are you having issues understanding the didactic aspects of the restorations (depth of prep, bur choice, prep design, undercut, etc. etc.) or is it a manual dexterity issue? If the former ... is there the possibility of a tutor, or classmate, or instructor that can help you? If manual dexterity ..... sounds like you need to practice more than you are. Speed is not that important right now. You'll develop speed later.

I would discuss these issues with the restorative dept and find a solution. Do this before you fall too far behind.

 

[knewstance]

When we started using handpieces, I was having a hard time as well.

I set a few nights aside to practice. Outside of the repetition that helped me to prepare and improve, finding the correct way to hold the handpiece, how to sit properly, and where to fulcrum based on where I'm working.

I hold a pencil differently than most and the traditional way the professors taught to hold a handpiece didn't really work with me. I worked 1 on 1 with a professor and also 1 on 1 with an older student and I was able to find a way that worked for me and things have been great since then.

 

[zeben1a]

When we started using handpieces, I was having a hard time as well.

I set a few nights aside to practice. Outside of the repetition that helped me to prepare and improve, finding the correct way to hold the handpiece, how to sit properly, and where to fulcrum based on where I'm working.

I hold a pencil differently than most and the traditional way the professors taught to hold a handpiece didn't really work with me. I worked 1 on 1 with a professor and also 1 on 1 with an older student and I was able to find a way that worked for me and things have been great since then.

i think thats my main problems, how to really hold the handpiece correctly and where to place finger/hand rest, for example today we did class5 on #30 buccal and i struggled on where to put my hand and with the chin being in the way... i will ask an older student to maybe show me...

 

[zeben1a]

Are you having issues understanding the didactic aspects of the restorations (depth of prep, bur choice, prep design, undercut, etc. etc.) or is it a manual dexterity issue? If the former ... is there the possibility of a tutor, or classmate, or instructor that can help you? If manual dexterity ..... sounds like you need to practice more than you are. Speed is not that important right now. You'll develop speed later.

I would discuss these issues with the restorative dept and find a solution. Do this before you fall too far behind.

I study the depths and designs before the classes so I would say I know more about that than the dexterity itself... so I would say the latter 100%... because when I do class 2 it looked well but I just had some minor stuff to correct, but on class 5 I messed up the depth and also im not good at smoothing and making an even/straight line. I feel so stupid because it actually sounds and kinda is simple, but I think the fact that Im stressing so much ruins it. Regarding speed I think a decent cavity would take like 2,5 hours for me to do so I really hope it will develop soon...

 

[ncide]

What school is this that they don't allow loupes?

 

[lemoncurry]

we only have light and shouldnt use loupes according to our teachers i think.... they have an old way of teaching :/

Your teachers are full of crap

 

[AONLINE]

What school is this that they don't allow loupes?

OP said that they're in a foreign country.

 

[zeben1a]

ok so its been almost 6 months since i posted this and for people who maybe are in the same position; i want to say that i actually succeeded and passed the course and the semester! it was a pain and i was not used to the bur even - but practise and time is all that is needed. One thing I learned - DONT stress! And study all the classes of cavities because I didnt know the theory so well! So if i can do it, everyone can do it =)

thank u all for ur answers, you really helped and supported me during the most difficult time ive had during uni <3

 

[joeyzhu123]

if you can write your name, you can drill a tooth. this stuff aint rocket science buddy.

 

[ncide]

Eventually it becomes second nature, but looking through a small reflection on a mirror two feet away from your face and doing precise cuts on a small object takes a bit of skill.

 

[yappy]

we only have light and shouldnt use loupes according to our teachers i think.... they have an old way of teaching :/

This is bad advice. Use both loupes and a light. Ignore professors that say that you shouldn't.

 

[Awisdomtooth]

Best advise is to take couple of MBA classes. Master the business aspect of dentistry. By the time you graduate, I promise that not only you yourself can drill teeth without any problems but also you will be ahead of your classmates in terms of knowing the business side of dentistry. Then open up multiple practices and hire your friends with good hand skills as an associate 😉