Good carving exercises to do at home?

[Iozuk]

I pretty much want to see how badly I carve. Is there any at home project I can do which any pre-dental student should be able to do?

I want to swing by an art store so can you recommend a material and a carving tool I should look for?

This isn't for the sake of becoming prepared but more to validate to myself that not only am I fine with carving/practicing but I don't get bored of it. Personally, I think the fact that the Canadian DAT has a soap test is good way of knowing whether or not you could withstand a lifetime of doing this along with your skills.

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[dantemac]

http://www.***********.com/videos/DAT/waxing-videos-19/

Chad's Videos (The same guy who teaches chem and bio for DAT prep) sells waxing kits and a subscription to do basic dental waxing.

The asterisks are supposed to be course saver.com without the space. It won't let me post the link

 

[Jbrowndds]

Oh nvm

Sent from my LG-LS970 using SDN Mobile

 

[Iozuk]

http://www.***********.com/videos/DAT/waxing-videos-19/

Chad's Videos (The same guy who teaches chem and bio for DAT prep) sells waxing kits and a subscription to do basic dental waxing.

The asterisks are supposed to be course saver.com without the space. It won't let me post the link

During the time I posted this I looked at the LSU chalk test. It looks simple enough for a person with some dexterity and considering they give it on the spot, I would expect it to be relatively straightforward.

Do you think performance in doing this as well as enjoyment would be greatly indicative of my success in dental school?

 

[jeffity]

I pretty much want to see how badly I carve. Is there any at home project I can do which any pre-dental student should be able to do?

I want to swing by an art store so can you recommend a material and a carving tool I should look for?

This isn't for the sake of becoming prepared but more to validate to myself that not only am I fine with carving/practicing but I don't get bored of it. Personally, I think the fact that the Canadian DAT has a soap test is good way of knowing whether or not you could withstand a lifetime of doing this along with your skills.

Dentistry is not a lifetime of carving wax, chalk, or soap. Enjoyment/tolerance in doing so is not any kind of indicator of whether or not this career is for you either. I see you're also interested in medicine and going to do some potential shadowing in that field. If you're thinking about dentistry, don't tinker with carving, go shadow a dentist,

 

[dentalWorks]

I agree totally w/ jeffity

you do NOT need any form of carving (or any prior dexterity training) to do well in sim lab exercises. some won't agree with me, but I am one of those people whom believes strongly in "learning it for the first time IN DENTAL SCHOOL... not pre DS".... and this applies for everything. Wet lab works, carving, drilling, material molding / manipulation, etc etc.

You wanna do something that will help your DS1 and DS2 years? learn in-direct vision. IMO this is the hardest thing to master.... I am pretty comfortable w/ it now (and I've been in dental school for 18 months), but certain areas (such as distal of maxillary 2nd molar) still gives me a hard time.

 

[jmh018]

I agree that you shouldn't take up carving just because of dental school. But, if that has already been a hobby for a long time before starting DS, I am sure that the added muscle memory and fine tuning of small and delicate movements with the fingers wouldn't hurt.

 

[Iozuk]

Dentistry is not a lifetime of carving wax, chalk, or soap. Enjoyment/tolerance in doing so is not any kind of indicator of whether or not this career is for you either. I see you're also interested in medicine and going to do some potential shadowing in that field. If you're thinking about dentistry, don't tinker with carving, go shadow a dentist,

I know and I did shadow a dentist. The problem is, is that I do see people fail in the hand skill part even if they succeed everywhere else. Even if it is 3-5% of people that this happens to, it is somewhat scary that you can spend all this time in and then have the opportunity to fail through something in which you had no idea about or something which you can't test.

 

[NDPitch]

The only things I'll be carving before dental school are turns on the slopes. 🙂

 

[dentalWorks]

I know and I did shadow a dentist. The problem is, is that I do see people fail in the hand skill part even if they succeed everywhere else. Even if it is 3-5% of people that this happens to, it is somewhat scary that you can spend all this time in and then have the opportunity to fail through something in which you had no idea about or something which you can't test.

I have never heard of someone fail because of bad hand skills.

the only one imaginable thing I can foresee is if the student DID NOT TRY AT ALL... showed up on competency days with (literally) zero practice, they didn't even try to get the assignments done, hence zero practice. Yes those guys will fail and will require a remediation.

I remember first day in carving class... I went home and started searching for my MCAT books, I figured dental school is over. I had absolutely no idea how to carve out anything. Couldn't even make an egg shaped structure. But as you progress through dental school, you'll quickly realize thats it not necessarily natural skills or a "special" way of imagining... its ALL ABOUT TECHNIQUE, once you master how to apply a technique to do a certain procedure, the steps become permanently imbedded into motor memory.

 

[Iozuk]

I have never heard of someone fail because of bad hand skills.

the only one imaginable thing I can foresee is if the student DID NOT TRY AT ALL... showed up on competency days with (literally) zero practice, they didn't even try to get the assignments done, hence zero practice. Yes those guys will fail and will require a remediation.

I remember first day in carving class... I went home and started searching for my MCAT books, I figured dental school is over. I had absolutely no idea how to carve out anything. Couldn't even make an egg shaped structure. But as you progress through dental school, you'll quickly realize thats it not necessarily natural skills or a "special" way of imagining... its ALL ABOUT TECHNIQUE, once you master how to apply a technique to do a certain procedure, the steps become permanently imbedded into motor memory.

I've searched and found a decent amount of posts where people have stated that they were kicked out due to hand skill alone.

 

[Toothshucker]

I've searched and found a decent amount of posts where people have stated that they were kicked out due to hand skill alone.

Don't believe everything you read on a forum.... even if people get kicked out, they may not be telling you the real reason or the whole story.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I've searched and found a decent amount of posts where people have stated that they were kicked out due to hand skill alone.

Don't believe everything you hear on the forum. Furthermore, i am more than confident that these cases are few and far between.

Lastly, carving soap or chalk would be a terrible way to decide your future. If you don't like it, does that also disqualify you from all the surgical specialties of medicine?

 

[dentalWorks]

I've searched and found a decent amount of posts where people have stated that they were kicked out due to hand skill alone.

you have no idea how much schools try to keep students from being kicked out.

first off all... they don't kick you out, they will first put you on academic probation (the following semester) and give you criteria to match.... usually its "you need to bring up that overall GPA above 2.0".

Second of all... when you fail to meet the criteria... they will fail you 1 year back (so if you are a DS1, and you fail, you will repeat DS1 with next years class)

FINALLY, if you continue to perform poorly during the 2nd round of DS1, then you get kicked out.... but as you can see, it is NOT easy to fail... they are extremely lenient. dental schools kicking students out is very bad for their reputation.

Moral of the story is: everything said is based on Detroit Mercys policies, which I believe are very similar to most old-timer DSs nation wide (Mercy has been around since the 1930s). And secondly and MOST importantly, the people whom fail dental school are not the "my hands were bad" type, they are most likely academically challenged (or flat out lazy) ones.

 

[mike ashley]

I have never heard of someone fail because of bad hand skills.

the only one imaginable thing I can foresee is if the student DID NOT TRY AT ALL... showed up on competency days with (literally) zero practice, they didn't even try to get the assignments done, hence zero practice. Yes those guys will fail and will require a remediation.

I remember first day in carving class... I went home and started searching for my MCAT books, I figured dental school is over. I had absolutely no idea how to carve out anything. Couldn't even make an egg shaped structure. But as you progress through dental school, you'll quickly realize thats it not necessarily natural skills or a "special" way of imagining... its ALL ABOUT TECHNIQUE, once you master how to apply a technique to do a certain procedure, the steps become permanently imbedded into motor memory.

Lol I know that feeling all too well. They showed us a video and then gave us a block of wax and told us to carve a #8 in two days.....I said to myself...what the hell did I just get myself into......

 

[rav4182]

PLEASE do not buy any sort of waxing kit prior to dental school, especially the ones from chad's video site. the videos arent that good and they dont even teach you WHAT TO LOOK FOR OR HOW TO CRITIQUE PROPERLY. that, your only going to get by professors or other people in DENTAL SCHOOL.

i bought one of those waxing kits from chad and tried waxing up some teeth before dental school. TOTAL waste of time and money, it didnt affect my performance doing wax-ups in school at all. everyone is horrible at waxing up in the beginning, its after being dogged at by professors constantly and making countless small modifications you truly learn and even then you prob wont be a pro.


i'd like to add its not the waxing skill that sets students apart, its the handpiece..

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

i'd like to add its not the waxing skill that sets students apart, its the handpiece..

This part is so true. People improve their waxing skills pretty quick, but some kids just have shaky hands.

Predents would find it more beneficial to practice performing MOD preps on #3 before enrolling in dental school. I wonder when Chad will realize this and start selling some prep kits instead of those waste-of-time wax kits.

 

[jeffity]

He hasn't been selling them for a long time now. It's not like it was some big disservice to humanity. He loves this stuff and obviously loves helping others. It was a valiant effort that took a lot of time and money to put together (neither recouped). Maybe it didn't work out for either party as hoped. But I think he'll be back around trying to improve and expand on efforts to help others in that arena some day. Whether it's in this format or not, who knows. By the way, besides sharing here, you should send feedback on your experience to him...maybe with a little more detail now that you're in school and know more.

OP, you have to really try to fail out of school. It's definitely not a "once you're in, you're set" kind of thing. But if you're putting in an honest effort and attend a school that's not in the dark ages, you'll always get help to succeed. Those handskill tales on here lack a lot detail. The other side of the story would be nice. Attrition is ~1% these days. And half of that is academic. I'm pretty sure the other ~40 per year weren't due to hand skills. I'd guess a good amount are people who actually get this far before they figure out they don't like dentistry. I've even know a case of death and another of disability.

If you're really concerned, a more effective sampling than home carving attempts might be a sim course at a school this summer. You'll get a solid pat on the back no matter how bad your project turns out, but you can address concerns you might have...with faculty, if you choose. I seem to know of a case for everything, but I do know a gal who bailed on dentistry after a sim clinic. She had done ample shadowing and was preparing to apply. That $75 saved her a ton of money and time.

 

[dantemac]

I agree totally w/ jeffity

you do NOT need any form of carving (or any prior dexterity training) to do well in sim lab exercises. some won't agree with me, but I am one of those people whom believes strongly in "learning it for the first time IN DENTAL SCHOOL... not pre DS".... and this applies for everything. Wet lab works, carving, drilling, material molding / manipulation, etc etc.

You wanna do something that will help your DS1 and DS2 years? learn in-direct vision. IMO this is the hardest thing to master.... I am pretty comfortable w/ it now (and I've been in dental school for 18 months), but certain areas (such as distal of maxillary 2nd molar) still gives me a hard time.

Yes, indirect vision is difficult to conquer. If you have a mirror, try posting a piece of paper on the underside of a table or counter (etc) and drawing on it. Or, do a maze or some other type of activity in this fashion. It can be very difficult!

 

[doc toothache]

Help mom peeling potatoes/carrots.

 

[jeffity]

Help mom peeling potatoes/carrots.

Oh, man. I transitioned into a build-up kind of guy. But looking back, it kind of feels like I was peeling tiny potatoes! Scrape, scrape, scrape. Crap! Heat instrument. Crap! There goes my whole facial contour.

Glad to report that those days are officially over.