For the dental students: Do you really practice on each other?

[toothhead]

This question has plagued me since I first got into d-school, about which I am otherwise thrilled. Do you really practice on each other's teeth? As in, allow a student to potentially turn your nice smile into a disaster? I'm guessing this is done in upper years, when you've had practice on dummies, but that's still very disturbing. Clarify please?

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[Vicviper]

The only thing I've ever heard of students practicing on each other is injections, where they practice by injecting each other with water or something. I don't think you'd actually practice on each others teeth, unless they came into the clinic for treatment. I know I'm going to be making some oral surgery residents happy early next year when I get my 3rd molars pulled!

 

[UCSF2012]

This question has plagued me since I first got into d-school, about which I am otherwise thrilled. Do you really practice on each other's teeth? As in, allow a student to potentially turn your nice smile into a disaster? I'm guessing this is done in upper years, when you've had practice on dummies, but that's still very disturbing. Clarify please?

Yea, we practice on each other first. This past quarter, my classmates have given me 4 molar crowns, 2 amalgams, and and 2 anterior veneers. The two veneers have to be redone, because they were botched up. Hey, we're just learning after all. In a year, we get to move up and practice on poor people.

 

[Vicviper]

Yea, we practice on each other first. This past quarter, my classmates have given me 4 molar crowns, 2 amalgams, and and 2 anterior veneers. The two veneers have to be redone, because they were botched up. Hey, we're just learning after all. In a year, we get to move up and practice on poor people.

You actually needed that stuff done right? Not just playing around in the clinic one day and kinda going "Hey, who wants a filling?" hehe

 

[CaliGirl15]

We do cleanings on each other in first year, and second year we do injections on each other (no not with water)

 

[AirborneDentist]

You actually needed that stuff done right? Not just playing around in the clinic one day and kinda going "Hey, who wants a filling?" hehe

He isn't serious....you don't do all that on each other...


Just cleanings and injections...not with water, but real anesthetic..

 

[wigglytooth]

We took impressions on each other and when a scheduled patient doesn't show up, you can get cleanings done by classmates if you want. if you need extra dental care, you can get work done by your classmates, too, as long as it is not too complex for them.

 

[tinman831]

Not just playing around in the clinic one day and kinda going "Hey, who wants a filling?" hehe

This is malpractice and would most likely get you kicked out of school.

 

[tinman831]

Your training in dental school consists of the first two years being didactic/pre-clinical work and the last two years being clinical (seeing real patients). Those real patients can be from the general population or dental students. Dental students usually get free treatment so they're the more ideal patient (won't miss an appointment and doesn't have to worry about finances).

 

[Vicviper]

He isn't serious....you don't do all that on each other...


Just cleanings and injections...not with water, but real anesthetic..

Haha, sounds fun, that first injection day must be interesting.

 

[Shingo123]

Haha, sounds fun, that first injection day must be interesting.

Fun? I can't say I am to excited about this idea. An injection that is not necessary? 😳

I would rather practice of a dummy, and then on a patient 🙂

 

[Dutchboy]

Yea, we practice on each other first. This past quarter, my classmates have given me 4 molar crowns, 2 amalgams, and and 2 anterior veneers. The two veneers have to be redone, because they were botched up. Hey, we're just learning after all. In a year, we get to move up and practice on poor people.

Classic response.
You learn probing, cleaning, impressions, bite registrations, and injections on each other. The injections can suck, because no one knows what they are doing and you get poked more than necessary. Not to mention that you have to try and eat your lunch with a numb face.

 

[Vicviper]

Fun? I can't say I am to excited about this idea. An injection that is not necessary? 😳

I would rather practice of a dummy, and then on a patient 🙂

Yeah, fun in the sarcastic sense, hehe, looks like I've got plenty of interesting experiences waiting for me in dental school. Thanks for the info guys, I've been a bit curious about this too.

 

[mms0039]

Damn... I totally forgot about this when my dentist told me that cuz I hate injection, not because it hurt but it makes me feel like my cheeks are falling apart for the next 3 hours especially mandibular block. Better eat good breakfast or lunch before that class begin....

 

[aphistis]

Damn... I totally forgot about this when my dentist told me that cuz I hate injection, not because it hurt but it makes me feel like my cheeks are falling apart for the next 3 hours especially mandibular block. Better eat good breakfast or lunch before that class begin....

It will give you a healthy respect for what you're doing to your patients for the next thirty years. 🙂

At IU we did prophies (cleanings), impressions, and (short-acting) anesthetic injections on each other. I don't understand how injecting water would be a useful learing exercise. Without getting numb, how would you know whether you did the first injections of your career correctly?

 

[PreDent08]

Damn... I totally forgot about this when my dentist told me that cuz I hate injection, not because it hurt but it makes me feel like my cheeks are falling apart for the next 3 hours especially mandibular block. Better eat good breakfast or lunch before that class begin....

i was at a dental meeting at the office i work at and there's this new product introduced by the company(forgot the name) that takes the numbness away...interesting. however, it costs $20 so whenever we tell patients about it they say it's ok haha.

anyone heard of it? i'll look at the cartridge when i'm back at the office.

 

[bigasianpianist]

I wouldn't think that it'd be that bad if your face were numb...haha. I heard that at some places they practice on oranges too? I'm not too sure if that's true though. wouldn't it suck if someone ate that orange? ahaha

 

[aphistis]

i was at a dental meeting at the office i work at and there's this new product introduced by the company(forgot the name) that takes the numbness away...interesting. however, it costs $20 so whenever we tell patients about it they say it's ok haha.

anyone heard of it? i'll look at the cartridge when i'm back at the office.

It's called Oraverse. It's not, strictly speaking, a reversal agent for local anesthesia. It's an alpha antagonist, so when you inject it in the same area as your local anesthetic, it produces local vasodilation and increased blood flow through the area. This results in more rapid redistribution of the anesthetic and a quicker return to baseline sensation (roughly twice as quickly as controls, if I remember the study results).

It sounds pretty good, but I'd be careful using it in a heart patient who has received bupivacaine. I don't know the specific data regarding Oraverse's effects on peak plasma concentrations. I imagine it increases them, and Marcaine is a pretty cardiotoxic drug whose plasma concentration I don't really want to be increasing if I can avoid it.

Then again, I wouldn't be using bupivacaine in a cardiac patient to begin with, so it's an academic point for me. If you plan on doing it that way, though, I'd read over some data before pulling the trigger.

 

[PreDent08]

yea it's oraverse...sounds familiar when i hear or see it. thanks.

 

[bigstix808]

I wouldn't think that it'd be that bad if your face were numb...haha. I heard that at some places they practice on oranges too? I'm not too sure if that's true though. wouldn't it suck if someone ate that orange? ahaha

when i got my CNA in HS we first practiced injections on oranges (saline and/or water)....then moved to dummy (to find veins and to feel the "flash")... and then each other (but this was just IM and sub-cu injections) nothing fancy..

anyway, i'm sure it happens at some school....somewhere

 

[tinman831]

Some schools do practice injections on their cadavers too. 🙂

 

[toothhead]

That's a relief. Injections and numb face I can handle. Ruined teeth, not so much. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[mms0039]

Yea I really don't mind the injection since I know it is package deal, right?🙂 lol. It is true though... How do you know whether you did the injection correctly with water? lol. We did prophy on each other when I was in RDA class. That's not surprising. I can't wait till August!!! (maybe still except for injection) lol.

 

[Vicviper]

Yeah, I don't know about that water injection thing, it's what one of my old dentists told me he did in dental school.

 

[Streetwolf]

They don't let us practice injections on each other at SB because I guess something not too good happened years back. They also don't have us practice NO2 on each other 🙁

For injections they blunt the needle and we place it on the mucosa in the correct spot. The faculty checks that the angulation and positioning is good and that's our competency. Of course the faculty is more than willing to hold our hands for our first couple injections on real patients.

Otherwise we practice perio probing, scaling, and ultrasonic technique on each other (AKA free crappy cleaning during class). As wigglytooth said, we take impressions of each other at the end of first year, and we take ortho impressions of each other during second year.

All other dental work is done through a classmate or a student in a different year.

 

[aphistis]

They don't let us practice injections on each other at SB because I guess something not too good happened years back. They also don't have us practice NO2 on each other 🙁

For injections they blunt the needle and we place it on the mucosa in the correct spot. The faculty checks that the angulation and positioning is good and that's our competency. Of course the faculty is more than willing to hold our hands for our first couple injections on real patients.

Otherwise we practice perio probing, scaling, and ultrasonic technique on each other (AKA free crappy cleaning during class). As wigglytooth said, we take impressions of each other at the end of first year, and we take ortho impressions of each other during second year.

All other dental work is done through a classmate or a student in a different year.

I forgot I got to try N2O (nitrous oxide) during one of my pedo rotations. It feels like a three-drink buzz, except it hits you in seconds as opposed to the slower onset of alcohol. I suspect that's why some people may not respond well to it.

As for the topical needle placement competency...wow. There's honestly not much that can go horribly wrong with injecting a carpule of dental anesthetic. That's like passing a driving test by showing you can walk from your car to the BMV office door.

 

[Lurchdubious]

We're doing injections on each other tomorrow. I'm not excited, as I've never had an injection in my life, and my first will be given by a student that has never done it before in his life. Fantastic!

 

[Streetwolf]

I forgot I got to try N2O (nitrous oxide) during one of my pedo rotations. It feels like a three-drink buzz, except it hits you in seconds as opposed to the slower onset of alcohol. I suspect that's why some people may not respond well to it.

As for the topical needle placement competency...wow. There's honestly not much that can go horribly wrong with injecting a carpule of dental anesthetic. That's like passing a driving test by showing you can walk from your car to the BMV office door.

I honestly don't remember why they stopped doing it. I think the reason is something like it isn't necessary to actually inject each other. And apparently it wasn't necessary since we're all able to do it. Knowing the placement of the syringe was good enough since we were able to have the faculty guide it in with us on our first time.

 

[aphistis]

We're doing injections on each other tomorrow. I'm not excited, as I've never had an injection in my life, and my first will be given by a student that has never done it before in his life. Fantastic!

That's how it was for me too. Good news is that I survived and it honestly wasn't too big a deal. Good luck, have fun. 🙂

 

[New dentist member]

So let's say that I am starting dental school to become a dental hygienist, but am extremely terrified of needles. Being a hygenist has always been my dream job though. I am just wondering if your second year (or whatever year it actually is) if it is required to do shots on each other. Like would I ever have to get shots in my mouth through college?

 

[Incis0r]

So let's say that I am starting dental school to become a dental hygienist, but am extremely terrified of needles. Being a hygenist has always been my dream job though. I am just wondering if your second year (or whatever year it actually is) if it is required to do shots on each other. Like would I ever have to get shots in my mouth through college?

Quick note on the terminology here- You go to dental school to become a general dentist, and then you can go through residency programs to specialize (i.e. pedo, perio, omfs, endo) or to gain more experience as a general dentist (i.e. AEGD, GPR).

To become a hygienist, you go to a separate program that trains Dental Hygienists. Use this ADHA link to find one that you'd be interested in: http://www.adha.org/dental-hygiene-programs

 

[arkenstone]

So let's say that I am starting dental school to become a dental hygienist, but am extremely terrified of needles. Being a hygenist has always been my dream job though. I am just wondering if your second year (or whatever year it actually is) if it is required to do shots on each other. Like would I ever have to get shots in my mouth through college?

In dental hygiene school, there might be some brief training on local anesthesia, which I think hygienists can administer in certain states under the supervision of the dentist. Since they're probably not going to have you do your first tries on patients, I would guess you would do them on fellow students. But I don't have direct experience---just induction. When the time comes, however, I imagine you'd not want to let down your classmates by hurting them but not allowing yourself to be hurt. This is a 'professional' program.

I have a similar question. I have a tooth that may need extraction/grafting/implant. My dentist says that depending on the program I get into there might be a professor who would want to get a hold of me for some student/resident to learn on. Is that really a possibility, and is it worth it?

 

[THS]

Extraoral exam, intraoral exam, xrays, prophys, injections, impressions, even braces at my school (they are taken off right away).

 

[Greyangel6]

For fillings, I get to bring in extracted teeth that I begged from local dental offices... If you see a guy walking around with a jar of teeth, don't be alarmed, it's probably me hahah...

 

[irishmom]

My partner for injections will love me. I am a dental hygienist who has my anesthetic license. I inject paitents on a daily basis (mostly because the DDS hates to do them and consequently isn't that good at them)

I also have my nitrous certification. Hated that more than the anesthetic course. The only issue I had with the anesthetic course is that my incisive foramen is not located exactly where it should be. That is the most uncomfotable injection and to have another hygienist poking around for it was, shall we say, uncomfortable.