Hand Skills

[raptor93]

So, everyone says one of the more important things that makes a good dentist are good hand skills, some schools even want you to to have some experience doing something that requires manual dexterity

Im just wondering if this is something that you can acquire with practice or is it something that you just have to have. Im assuming once you get into dental school you should pretty much get a lot better.

Its not too much of a concern but sometimes when I look at my hand writing I question my fine motor skills lol

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[PointEstimate]

Whatever "hand skills" you have coming into dental school is likely child's play in comparison to what you will have to develop by the time you graduate.

Dental school will get you where you need to be by the time they let you fiddle around a patient's mouth and it's pretty much a function of practice, practice, and more practice with wax and plastic teeth. Obviously some people catch on faster than others, but everyone will eventually get there. Don't sweat it.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I think the hand skills you need to be a dentist will be acquired in dental school. It's not like sculpturing will carry over completely to dentistry and make you the best driller in the class. No one's gonna grill you for your "hand skills" at the interviews so just be yourself and don't speak more than you have to.

 

[ushaseos]

All that dexterity stuff is garbage. I can't believe they even have that section. I am at UCLA a good school with a legendarily bad rep for churning out kids with bad hand skills.

Want to know the secret to coping with dental hand work? PRACTICE. Don't worry even with no skills you'll catch up very quickly if you put in the time. If you neglect it or think you're the bees knees you'll be in for a bumpy ride. Remain humble and once you get to dental school, don't slack on labs. Practice even if you want to specialize because dexterity isn't a bad thing to have in any field of dentistry... even dental academics!!!

edit - I should mention that I had plenty of experience in soldering and had quite a few projects under my belt, but day 1 of lab taught me that all those skills can't really prepare you for this stuff. The only people in my class who are actually very hood at this stuff worked in dental labs etc. Before coming to school.

 

[jeffity]

There's nothing you can really do for hand skills that can guarantee will transfer over to dentistry....besides actual dentistry. I had my share of hand skills in various areas and felt good about working with my hands, but it sort of feels like nothing really relates. It's a whole new thing. Like the poster above me said, practice. Go in after hours if you can (if you need to). That's what you're there for. Whatever you do, don't get discouraged if it doesn't come naturally. Some people are awesome out of the gates. It clicks for different people at different times. I watched a friend of mine in the class below me leave the program over hand skills. Brilliant guy, no issues academically. Just decided that he would never get the hang of it; he'd never be able to wrap his mind around it. I respect his decision and I know he really thought about it. He sought help and of course everyone was more than willing to do whatever it took to help. But he ultimately decided it just wasn't going to work out. This was after about ten weeks of D1. Never do that. Just practice. Don't compare yourself to others. It will be fine.

I know there's the spot on the application and people get a little nervous about being able to put something awesome in there. Don't worry about that too much. People (applicants) get pretty uptight about what's acceptable and what's not.

 

[tigerteeth22]

I agree with both of these posts! There's really nothing you can do to prepare for lab. The people in my D1 class that do the best are ones that were dental assistants for a few years or hygienists. But after time everyone catches up to them and by the end of D2 year everyone is about the same in hand skills. I agree though, you should not feel bad about lacking hand skills and you should never compare yourself to others. Just put the work in and wait out the learning curve. It will become second nature and your first year is SUPPOSED to be hard anyway. The skills will come.

 

[Bis-GMA111]

hand skills are something you develop in dental school. if you go to a really good clinical school, professors will make sure that you develop hand skills. however, it's also up to you to put in the extra time and practice. some people will naturally be better at it, which can frustrate you, but that's just how it is. but, at the end of the day, know that while it's probably going to seem daunting at first, YOU WILL get better. it's like one of my mentors always says in dental school, ''you could really teach a monkey how to do this''.

 

[grivacobae]

I think if you have played an instrument for a while, like the piano, that has to look good an app right? Especially if you have longevity associated with instrument.
I've been playing piano since I was 4, so about 15 years now, is that something I could add to app and say it helps manual dexterity? Because it really does

 

[Bottle]

So, everyone says one of the more important things that makes a good dentist are good hand skills, some schools even want you to to have some experience doing something that requires manual dexterity

Im just wondering if this is something that you can acquire with practice or is it something that you just have to have. Im assuming once you get into dental school you should pretty much get a lot better.

Its not too much of a concern but sometimes when I look at my hand writing I question my fine motor skills lol

I hear that you will get a lot of practice once you get to DS. Anyway, if you play video games, you should have some good dexterity.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I think if you have played an instrument for a while, like the piano, that has to look good an app right? Especially if you have longevity associated with instrument.
I've been playing piano since I was 4, so about 15 years now, is that something I could add to app and say it helps manual dexterity? Because it really does

Around the start of the application cycle you will see a bunch of "does this count as dexterity" posts that people make simply because they want to add something to the 150 character limit spot on the AADSAS application. Some will go as far as signing up for knitting classes for the summer just so they can put it on there. Honestly, it doesn't matter at all. You could probably leave it blank. No one's gonna take your word for how long you've been playing. There's no way you can prove it and adcoms don't really care. They may ask you about it, but it won't make or break your acceptance. Just don't go into some long philosophical tangent about how music is god's gift to earth and you'll be fine.