Crown preps in your first year?

[osuwannabe]

How many schools have you doing preps on maxillary and mandibular molars/premolars in the first few quarters of the first year?


Here at OSU, we have already done 30,29, 18, 19 and we have only started 2 weeks ago. (winter quarter, our 2nd quarter of 1st year)

Our practical is this week and we are all getting nervous. Anyone else feeling the pressure of crown preps in the first year?

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[armorshell]

Yes. Are you provisionalizing yet?

 

[billyjones]

We here at Temple are doing amalgam class I and II preps this semester. We also have our first practical this week. I don't think it will be too bad. We will continue on to crown preps before the end of the semester.

 

[tinker bell]

I did amalgam class II prep the first quarter at ucsf, and the test case for first quarter final too, on all molars, premolars. Then started crown prep on molars in the second quarters, and provisional. We also did composite prep for class III, and all those good stuff in second quarter as well. So, your school is not too harsh on you. Don't cry

 

[jackbauer!]

we're doing class II amalgam preparations now. i don't think we get into crown preps until next year.

jb!🙂

 

[Turnerjo13]

we started out fall term doing crown preps. both FGC and PFM.

 

[MsPurtell]

This thread is shocking me. We didn't start our fixed course until third year.

Good luck on your practical and try to be happy you are getting some early experience!

 

[tinker bell]

This thread is shocking me. We didn't start our fixed course until third year.

Now I'm shocked. I remember casting gold FPD & porcelain crowns in my first quarter second year.
Had to pass way so many FPD test cases to advance to third year as well.

 

[djeffreyt]

We've definitely done everything that has been mentioned and more in the first 2 quarters at Pacific...but that's not exactly surprising given the 3 year curriculum. We're a couple weeks into 3rd quarter and will be starting to do inlays, and onlays in another 2 weeks, followed by some practice on extracted teeth and are moving into pontics in our fixed course.

 

[MsPurtell]

When I think about the education I got, I can say we got excellent medical training. IMO, my school would have had to extend our dental training by at least an additional year in order to be more on an even playing field with other schools.

We cast nothing in my school. We didn't have any real test cases for fixed (by that I mean none on live pts). We had to do a couple in the pre-clin lab. Sure, they would tell us to practice, and we did, but we had so much crap packed into our schedules to keep us *busy* that our time was wasted.

I would say that by the time we started third year, we could do your standard "fillings" on a typodont. I think we practiced a half assed inlay. The attitude at my school is that we could always learn the dental stuff *later* (i.e., out in practice). What can I say, I'm a year and a half out and I'm still learning the stuff.

Now I'm shocked. I remember casting gold FPD & porcelain crowns in my first quarter second year.
Had to pass way so many FPD test cases to advance to third year as well.

 

[tinker bell]

Does all of medical training helps you to become a better dentist? I'm sure it helps you getting into a specialty of choice. I mean, you want to become a dentist, that's why you go to dental school. If you want to learn medicine, you can go to med school. I don't know why a dental school does not teach fixed until third year. I remember I was casting onlay and inlay at the end of my spring quarter in my first year. Pretty hard working but I think I got good education for little money I paid (compare to other schools)

You don't have to really cast those gold crowns & bridges to become a better dentist. However, if you start from day one cutting those prep, you will be very confident doing these bread & butter dentistry when you walk out of school. No fret to find a residency, just start working and make money

 

[INFNITE]

When I think about the education I got, I can say we got excellent medical training. IMO, my school would have had to extend our dental training by at least an additional year in order to be more on an even playing field with other schools.

We cast nothing in my school. We didn't have any real test cases for fixed (by that I mean none on live pts). We had to do a couple in the pre-clin lab. Sure, they would tell us to practice, and we did, but we had so much crap packed into our schedules to keep us *busy* that our time was wasted.

I would say that by the time we started third year, we could do your standard "fillings" on a typodont. I think we practiced a half assed inlay. The attitude at my school is that we could always learn the dental stuff *later* (i.e., out in practice). What can I say, I'm a year and a half out and I'm still learning the stuff.

if u dont mind me asking, which school is this? when did you guys start clinics if you weren't clinically prepared by the 3rd year? Columbia is also very medically intensive, but at least we also get our share of preclinical training 3 days a week on prosth, endo and perio during 2nd year (finished our operative, which lasted an entire year). right now, we're at a point when we don't even have any free time anymore during 2nd year

 

[OceanDMD]

Yes. Are you provisionalizing yet?

Provisionalizing, once you get through school and the BS that is involved with temporaries, it takes on average 5 minutes for a single unit. Even if I do an 8 unit case (veneers, crowns, bridgework), if you are prepared---good wax-up and good temp template--, temporization takes minimal time. Dont let your professors put so much emphasis on it (I know they did with me).

 

[armorshell]

Provisionalizing, once you get through school and the BS that is involved with temporaries, it takes on average 5 minutes for a single unit. Even if I do an 8 unit case (veneers, crowns, bridgework), if you are prepared---good wax-up and good temp template--, temporization takes minimal time. Dont let your professors put so much emphasis on it (I know they did with me).

I'm worried about it solely because it's graded. It doesn't seem like Pacific puts a ton of emphasis on it either. For a 3 quarter fixed class, we are temporizing only for the first half IIRC.

 

[MsPurtell]

I think all the medical training did help me become a better clinician. But in place of it, the dentistry really lacked. You sound like you got a good deal. Where did you go to school?

Does all of medical training helps you to become a better dentist? I'm sure it helps you getting into a specialty of choice. I mean, you want to become a dentist, that's why you go to dental school. If you want to learn medicine, you can go to med school. I don't know why a dental school does not teach fixed until third year. I remember I was casting onlay and inlay at the end of my spring quarter in my first year. Pretty hard working but I think I got good education for little money I paid (compare to other schools)

You don't have to really cast those gold crowns & bridges to become a better dentist. However, if you start from day one cutting those prep, you will be very confident doing these bread & butter dentistry when you walk out of school. No fret to find a residency, just start working and make money

 

[MsPurtell]

UConn.

We did have preclinical training in second year, but the fixed didn't start until third year. Once we entered clinic, we were bogged down with crap like prophies for a while, then simple restorative. You had to pass fixed to do crowns in clinic, so at the very earliest people were doing crowns in clinic in January of third year. I don't think I did a crown on a pt in clinic until I was a fourth year or just about a fourth year.

if u dont mind me asking, which school is this? when did you guys start clinics if you weren't clinically prepared by the 3rd year? Columbia is also very medically intensive, but at least we also get our share of preclinical training 3 days a week on prosth, endo and perio during 2nd year (finished our operative, which lasted an entire year). right now, we're at a point when we don't even have any free time anymore during 2nd year

 

[osuwannabe]

we have done preps for composite, amalgam and RMGI.......I find those are simple compared to the demands of crown prepping. Of course, our instructors are beyond anal about the detail.

I am sure in the real world if your chamfer is .7mm instead of .5mm things wil still work out. heheheh

After cutting about 15 or so preps for number 30, and getting my time down to about 40 min, I am ready for the practical. Wish me luck!

 

[tinker bell]

Pre-clinical: Aim for 30min for a crown prep, then 2hrs on provisional. Dental school instructors always go anal when they grade your provisional. I remember how they use the explorer and run it through every 0.1mm all around the margin.

For me in real life: 10min maximum for crown prep. Then leave it for assistant to pack cord & take impression and make provisional. In CA, if you have RDA-EF, they can pack cord and do PVS impression for fixed stuff.

 

[MsPurtell]

Holy cannoli on the RDA-EF stuff!!!!

Pre-clinical: Aim for 30min for a crown prep, then 2hrs on provisional. Dental school instructors always go anal when they grade your provisional. I remember how they use the explorer and run it through every 0.1mm all around the margin.

For me in real life: 10min maximum for crown prep. Then leave it for assistant to pack cord & take impression and make provisional. In CA, if you have RDA-EF, they can pack cord and do PVS impression for fixed stuff.

 

[DrJeff]

Pre-clinical: Aim for 30min for a crown prep, then 2hrs on provisional. Dental school instructors always go anal when they grade your provisional. I remember how they use the explorer and run it through every 0.1mm all around the margin.

For me in real life: 10min maximum for crown prep. Then leave it for assistant to pack cord & take impression and make provisional. In CA, if you have RDA-EF, they can pack cord and do PVS impression for fixed stuff.

Amen to the expanded function assistant! Think about it, once you're comfortable using a handpiece and cutting a tooth, a crown prep is REALLY SIMPLE and quick, especially once you've found a bur shape you like. Seriously, you just step on the reostat and move that bur! If you're prepping a lower pre-molar, well that's about as goood as it gets interms of ease of the prep.

Have patience and faith, the tooth prepping stuff DOES get ALOT easier!

Also, with an expanded function assistant + auto polymerizing Bis-GMA temp material and a pre-prep matrix of the tooth, that temp in the "real world" will take more like 2 minutes, not 2 hours to make!

 

[1992Corolla]

we do all of our restortive during the first 1.5 years at temple. Inother words, because I am in the 1.5-2 year stage the next time i do a crown prep will be on a patient. Same for amalgam and composites, etc. We are doing RPD this semester and this summer...full dentures! The excitement is tantalizing.🙁

 

[dr.rex]

we are about to start a fixed prosths class and i suppose that we wil be doing a lot of lab work. we have done a class I and class III on dentsim but that was kind of a joke. it was just to get used to the handpiece etc.