How shaky can my hands/fingers be before I have to worry about them affecting the physical examination in schools?

[HighHopesHere]

Highschool senior here. Looking to start my pre-dental journey hopefully in September! I've been fascinated with dentistry ever since I met my dad's dentist. Sometimes he guides me through what he's doing, and that eventually evolved into my passionate curiosity and fascination with dentistry.

I was looking over a few threads and I read a few things about people having to worry about how shaky their fingers, hands, and arms were while not braced, and that concerned me a little bit because I realized I can't keep my hands still at all.

I pointed a slim pen on a ruler and I shake (with my arms not braced) 3-4mm horizontally and vertically, and it shakes pretty quickly. I can only think of two reasons for this: weak forearms and long amounts of time using a computer. My forearms are pretty slim, although I've been working out for a few months now, I've seen physical improvement in size but the shaking stays the same. Regarding the PC, I spend a lot of time on a computer since I'm currently developing a few games. So this pretty much a few hours a day typing, and a few hours testing games. I realized that I hold my mouse quite harshly, and I can't quite quit the habit as it happens subconsciously. My left hands also rest very very heavily on my wrist rest. So after a few years of doing this, I think it's the reason that I have slightly shaky hands?

Should I worry about the shakiness, would it affect me in dental school? Like I said, I've got 4 years left before actually applying to any dental schools, but I want to know before hand so I don't end up being forced into something, or wasting my time. Are there exercises I can do to help with the shakiness?

PS. When I brace my pinky, shaking is down to around 1mm in both ways, but not sure if I can brace it in the real thing...

Thank you very much in advance!

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[doc toothache]

Tremors are best addressed by a physician.

 

[hunterdunc]

The hand-skills will only come with time. Some are naturals others have to work at it.

 

[Rfrosty]

"Bracing my pinky lowered the amount of shaking to about 1mm."

That's exactly why we use finger-rests when working on patients. We also use a reverse pen grasp because it gives us better control. Do you have an essential tremor? Do you use stimulants (caffeine, ADHD meds, etc)? Have you tried beta blockers and observed whether or not they help? Very few people (if any) have completely steady hands. As oyher have stated, you develop hand skills over a long period of time and with lots of practice/repetition. Shakey hands certainly makes your job more difficult, but I feel as though if you can draw a straight line on a piece of paper and stay within 1mm of that line then you can probably develop the hand skills you'll need in dental school. I think you'll be just fine.