How do you know...

[luke77]

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Hey guys,
I'm considering dental school, and I'm just wondering if there is anyway to "judge" whether one would make a good dentist. It seems like you could have great grades and ace the admissions test, but what if you don't have a "steady hand"? It seems to me that that is one of the most important things about dentistry, kind of like a surgeon needs a stead hand - although I admit that I don't know a whole lot about dentistry. Is a steady hand something that pretty much anyone can develop with the training you can go through? What if I go through 4 years of dental school just to find out that I suck as a dentist?

 

[1992Corolla]

during my dads residency he knew someone who shook like the dickens. Imagine the hand shaking wildly with a scalpel as it came closer to your mouth, but right at an inch away from the cut spot it would get as steady as a rock, he would make his incision and then pull away shaking again right at an inch away from the cut spot!

 

[beastly115]

during my dads residency he knew someone who shook like the dickens. Imagine the hand shaking wildly with a scalpel as it came closer to your mouth, but right at an inch away from the cut spot it would get as steady as a rock, he would make his incision and then pull away shaking again right at an inch away from the cut spot!

Good story...

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

You'll know if you will be a good dentist if you have compassion toward other human beings along with a drive and desire to help people. Hand skills are something that can be fostered over time.

 

[hockeydentist]

during my dads residency he knew someone who shook like the dickens. Imagine the hand shaking wildly with a scalpel as it came closer to your mouth, but right at an inch away from the cut spot it would get as steady as a rock, he would make his incision and then pull away shaking again right at an inch away from the cut spot!

I've seen that too, students in my lab who extract ligaments from rats have done that as well. Its kinda weird and interesting all at once.

 

[1992Corolla]

You'll know if you will be a good dentist if you have compassion toward other human beings along with a drive and desire to help people. Hand skills are something that can be fostered over time.

gosh i hate the altruistic answers some people give.

It is about the MONEY!

 

[HermeytheElf]

Corolla is so right. We are all interested in dentistry because we see it as a stable career which will provide us with more than adequate compensation and still leave time for our families.

In the words of the immortal Curtis Jackson: I'm 'bout my paper.

 

[OMFSCardsFan]

You'll know if you will be a good dentist if you have compassion toward other human beings along with a drive and desire to help people. Hand skills are something that can be fostered over time.

NOT TRUE...good intentions only get you so far.

There are some people who just can't get a handle on the hand skills, though there are very few of them. I wouldn't worry about it. The great thing about dentistry is that "clinically acceptable" is a huge, gray area, and most of the time, the little differences don't affect the outcomes. The guy who cuts the greatest crown-prep in the world isn't going to place crowns that last significantly longer than the guy who does average preps. The important part is learning what factors are important and why they are important, which doesn't have a whole lot to do with hand skills.

Lastly, personality and patient interaction is going to play the greatest role in how good of a dentist people perceive you to be. It doesn't really matter how good YOU think you are--you're not paying for the treatment.