How much blood is involved in Dentistry?

[unsure student]

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To any SDNer's who have any insight on this subject, I ws just wondering how much blood is involved in dentistry. From my limited knowledge, I know that some specialities have less blood then others such as general practitioners but others have a bit more. Can anyone describe how much blood, if they dislike the sight of blood, what he/she did to desensitize themselves to the sight of blood etc. Also, I have that some dental residents during their residency are on call with oral surgeons for trauma stuff. Do dental residents get to help people say who were in a car accident and got theri jaws and mouth messed up? Please excuse my ignorance as I am fairly new to the field of dentistry. Thanks in advance

 

[Sprgrover]

Gallons and gallons of the stuff! No, really, not much. During my time volunteering as a d.a. and shadowing, the most blood I ever saw was the amount that came from an extracted tooth. If you can think back to your childhood and remember having your teeth fall out or pulled, then that is roughly the same amount. You will of course see some minor bleeding from patients gums and the like. As far as getting used to the site of blood, try to not concentrate on it - ya, its red and conspicuous, but try to place your mind elsewhere. For example, talk to the patient or your assistant.

As far as being on call, I have never heard of that. It seems an MD resident would be more suited to assist. Good question!

 

[unsure student]

Do you ever have to open or cut patients gums for certain procedures?

 

[JRogoff]

As far as being on call, I have never heard of that. It seems an MD resident would be more suited to assist. Good question!

OMS residents can be "on Call."

 

[JRogoff]

Do dental residents get to help people say who were in a car accident and got theri jaws and mouth messed up?

In an OMS residency, Yes. In an AEGD or GPR, i'm not too sure.

 

[aphistis]

Do you ever have to open or cut patients gums for certain procedures?

Sure, just about any sort of periodontal therapy is going to involve some sort of insult to the soft tissues, to varying degrees depending on the procedure (e.g., root planing vs. excising palatal mucosa to use as a graft)

 

[unsure student]

This is probably the only thing that holds me back from going full throttle into dentistry. I do not think I can open somebody's gums or cut any piece of the mouth for any patient. I am afraid I would do a disservice to patients

 

[JRogoff]

This is probably the only thing that holds me back from going full throttle into dentistry. I do not think I can open somebody's gums or cut any piece of the mouth for any patient. I am afraid I would do a disservice to patients

Why don't you do some shaddowing, see for yourself?

 

[Sprgrover]

OMS residents can be "on Call."

Of course they would as they are in medical school and having to do the same rotations as an MD. For some crazy reason I was thinking of general dentists - my bad.

To the OP: I agree with JRogoff - do some shadowing and take it from there.

 

[JRogoff]

Of course they would as they are in medical school and having to do the same rotations as an MD. For some crazy reason I was thinking of general dentists - my bad.

That wouldn't be during Medical rotations, that would be during your actual OMS rotations.

 

[Bickle]

To any SDNer's who have any insight on this subject, I ws just wondering how much blood is involved in dentistry. From my limited knowledge, I know that some specialities have less blood then others such as general practitioners but others have a bit more. Can anyone describe how much blood, if they dislike the sight of blood, what he/she did to desensitize themselves to the sight of blood etc. Also, I have that some dental residents during their residency are on call with oral surgeons for trauma stuff. Do dental residents get to help people say who were in a car accident and got theri jaws and mouth messed up? Please excuse my ignorance as I am fairly new to the field of dentistry. Thanks in advance

Dude, wernt you a pre-med?? You must have known that blood comes with the territory.

 

[unsure student]

I was not pre-med. I was pre-law.

 

[DrTacoElf]

I saw an extraction of 4 teeth once which yielded about 1 pint of blood. Pretty sick - the dentist said this was one of the bloodiest he had ever seen. The patient had severe decay and gums were inflamed and very vascularized.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

If you choose dentistry you will have your hands in other people's blood and spit every day for the rest of your life. You will have to be prepared to cut into people's gums, even if you are a general practitioner. Dentistry is very much a surgical specialty; there's just no way around that aspect of it.

Of course, you can get used to the blood. And remember your assistants will be suctioning that blood away almost as soon as it appears.

 

[toothcaries]

unless u limit your practice to ortho...


...you will become good friends with that blood stuff...
but dont worry about it.
most people get used to it.

🙂

 

[unsure student]

I do not want to enter a field in which I will not be able to perform the basic necessary functions as in drilling or other such functions. I could get used to blood or I could not. Also, the fact that dentists have hygenists, which suction the blood almsot immediately is of little comfort to me. I do not need to love what I do, but I want to at least enjy it and like it and unfortunately I do not think I will like seeing people's blood or moth/spit etc. The only reason I am asking these sorts of questions really is becasue I think I am slowly coming to the realization that I love dentistry for the wrong reasons: money, job security, professional autonomy, etc. While I do not think there is anything per se wrong with these things, if I cannot do the basic stuff a dentist does, then nothing else really matters to me becasue in the end, the I will be doing a disservice to myself and more importantly, patients

 

[wimmcs]

I do not want to enter a field in which I will not be able to perform the basic necessary functions as in drilling or other such functions. I could get used to blood or I could not. Also, the fact that dentists have hygenists, which suction the blood almsot immediately is of little comfort to me. I do not need to love what I do, but I want to at least enjy it and like it and unfortunately I do not think I will like seeing people's blood or moth/spit etc. The only reason I am asking these sorts of questions really is becasue I think I am slowly coming to the realization that I love dentistry for the wrong reasons: money, job security, professional autonomy, etc. While I do not think there is anything per se wrong with these things, if I cannot do the basic stuff a dentist does, then nothing else really matters to me becasue in the end, the I will be doing a disservice to myself and more importantly, patients

well said.... good luck in whatever you pursue!

 

[v&andy_yankee]

funny, because blood doesn't bother me at all.

but what does gross me out? cotton rolls soaked in saliva. something about that squishy slimey texture, ick. i'd rather pick out blood soaked gauzes.

 

[ASUgrad]

Hello, I hope this sheds some more light on a well covered topic. I currently work for a Perio and an Oral. Perio is by far the most bloddy but Oral is the most gross. Gross in the sense that you can see bone and hear teeth crack. The first surgery I assisted with my perio he asked me if I was okay around blood. I said sure, but when he cut into the patient I had to stop and think if I was queazy, a little weirded out but after that introduction no more worrying about blood. The same can be said about the sound of cracking tooth during an extraction, the first time is weird but after that it becomes white noise. You are more worried whether your Surgeon can see good then the blood ro sounds. My advice is to track down a perio and observe, better yet, get a job. I have a feeling your more worried about being unsure if your about to faint or how it might effect your quality as a dentist. The best thing to do is assist, it will give you some experience and also cure those nerves. If they don't become a Lawyer because I also assist some generals in the same office and they occur a minimal amount of blood but sometimes people don't take care of their teeth and you probe a little and its niagara falls baby. "A drop of blood in a mouth full of saliva, looks like a mouth full of blood!" Not to scare you but seeing this stuff before you go into dentistry is helpful and getting to deal with a wide variety of cultures, races, and handicapp only strenghtens your ability to perform as a professional. Good luck with the blood situation.

BillE

 

[swiminh2o]

regarding the shadowing. It is a much different thing to observe a procedure with blood versus performing the procedure with blood. If you are actually the person doing the procedure you have a different mind set and the blood is not an issue. Whearas, if you are just sitting there watching, the focus of what is happening is inherently less acute regarding the details of the procedure and patient comfort and more on the visual stimulation that may be unnerving with the presence of blood. I cannot say this having done any oral procedures myself. I have worked in another healthcare field for several years where I see blood and deal with patients who are uncomfortable with procedures I am performing and I can say it is much different as the practioner versus the student observer.

 

[River13]

When I was a predent I saw a wisdom tooth extraction on tv and felt like I was going to be sick...now I love it...🙂