Into the Wax Lab, Robin!

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aphistis

aphistis

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Hi folks,

Today was our first for-real trip into the wax-up lab. We got our equipment issued there before, but this was our first chance to get it good and dirty 😀

Our first "assignment," a simple pass/fail exercise, is reproducing four simple wax structures to get started learning technique. One was a simple straight line, one a cone, one a four-leaf clover shape, and the last a drop with a tail curling off. The first fifteen minutes were pretty frustrating until I figured out how to reliably get a good load of wax transferred on PKTs 1 & 2 without dripping them all over the place, but after that it was a lot of fun trying to figure out the best way to build the shapes.

(for pre-dents and D1's who aren't familiar yet, PKT's are a set of five sculpting tools for waxing teeth)

A couple observations:

First, the foreign DDSers in my class (my sincere apologies if any are reading this) weren't as far ahead of the game as I would have expected. A few upperclassmen have told me to expect this, but it made me wonder what kind of standards other nations hold their dentists to, and provided a shot of extra pride in my pursuit of an American DDS.

Second, the lab gets VERY hot, quickly. 101 Bunson burners will do that to a room, I suppose. 😎

Finally, they're not wasting any time before throwing us to the wolves. This practice exercise is due Wednesday, and our first wax-up, a maxillary central incisor, is due next Monday NLT 4:30. No big deal, I suppose, except we just had our first tooth morph lecture today. I suppose a baptism by fire produces the truest disciples, though 😉 I can't remember exactly, but I think we'll have 8 more due at weekly intervals till mid-October when we start SABS. We received grade criteria sheets today, and each wax-up has a dozen or so different sculpting criteria to satisfy. Miss 5, and you fail the tooth! I'm thinking that each successful criterion will have a synergistic effect on the others, though; that is, the better job I do on the early criteria, the easier it will make meeting the rest. Any upperclass perspectives out there?

Just a crazy blue-inlay-wax-applying fool,
 
Ok PKT is short for Peter K. Thomas, but what does the K stand for? Seriously...
 
Hey Bill,

Does that bring back memories! I assume you are allowed to use the Hollenback? All I can say is you will learn to love the Hollenback as a D1. 😀

I use the Hollenback in a scraping motion with the flat edge of the blade to quickly refine the contours of a waxup, which allows you to strip off very fine or thick layers of wax depending on finger pressure. This method is absolutely awesome for getting the right contours for embrasures, heights of contour, and line angles.

You probably heard this from the upperclassmen in your school, but don't worry if the final finish looks a bit rough after you refined the contours with a Hollenback. Just buff it first with a dry paper towel to smooth out faceting or rough spots, then buff it up with a wet paper towel for a really NICE shine.

Though we never had to do waxups ever again after 2nd year (and probably never in private practice except to refine waxups returned from a lab on very rare special cases), I still remember the fun aspect of it! 😛

Good luck!
 
Hate to break it to you but waxing skills don't mean anything. The foreign DDS's probably were never taught waxing and a lot of US schools are phasing it out of thier curriculum. I know Marquette has greatly decreased it amount of laboratory skills being taught.

I am not a foreign DDS, but it bothers me that so many of you seem to think the US has such high standards compared to the rest of the world. All of the foreign DDS's have seen patients before! Probably already know how to give local anesthetic, and probably can do basic restorative work.

Every country is different, and the circumstances of that country dictate how dentistry is taught or portrayed. Just my $0.02 .
 
By the way the US is the only country that uses the numbering system 1 -32. All the rest including specialty programs use the international system.
 
DrRob,

What are the US schools offering in place of waxing? It seems like a pretty optimal (if irritating for the students) way to practice manual dexterity, and refine knowledge of tooth morph and the like.
 
All I know is that I had a class Intro to Dental Lab sciences 1 - and all we did was lab work (waxing, making custom trays, models), Dental anatomy (carving wax blocks into teeth and waxing crowns) and Dental Lab sciences 2 (waxing teeth by a specific method). Marquette does not have these "sandbox" courses anymore, but freshman do start operative dentistry in the first semester along with fixed pros and dental anatomy. They also start treating patients in year 1 doing basic things like taking xrays. Since this is a new curriculum, the new freshman have had more exposure to px than the current sophmores who are still taking xrays on mannequins!!
 
At Arizona we won't be doing much, if any, waxing etc. As you might have guessed, our curriculum and faculty are big on giving the "old" methods of dental education the boot if they aren't up-to-speed with modern technology, or vitally important to a student's learning. Too often, in education in general, students are made to jump through hoops just because the professors had to, or because it is viewed as a rite of passage.

For those who want that rite we have the materials available to us and will be doing several small projects throughout the semester, but NONE of them will be done for a grade.

It was pointed out to us early on that waxing skills and other lab skills don't make or break the dentist.
 
Would that our administration were so enlightened as that 😉

Fortunately or un-, however, we're stuck doing it. I apologize if my initial comment was foolish.
 
Bill, I didn't take your comment to be foolish at all. You have every right to be excited (or not excited!) about doing wax-ups. It is something that every dental student talks about, so doing so makes you part of a unique group.

I've never done a wax-up, so I don't have any idea what I am or am not missing. We'll have our first opportunity in two weeks, and I'm sure I'll be doing it just like everybody else because we are curious about the process. The good thing is that there isn't a grade to go along with it.

But quite honestly, much of our dental education as we know it is a huge joke. More emphasis in our US system needs to be placed on patient interaction and actual procedures rather than trivial actions that have been done by students for centuries.

How is it that the profession and tools of the profession have changed drastically (and ARE chaning drastically) yet dental schools remain the same?

We're hoping Arizona is a good answer to that question.
 
i'm partial to the discoid/cleoid myself..=oP...just wait until you have to start waxing up molars and then checking occlusion!...i think learning wax ups is good though...it's excellent training for carving the anatomy when you do amalgams...especially large ones where you have to replace 1+ cusps...
 
Discoid/Cleoid-- Very good for carving amalgams indeed (especially when it is about to set!) I learned to love that particular instrument when my class started doing amalgams on real live patients a year ago.

The cleoid end is great for refining pits and grooves on posterior waxups yep.. Though I was usually too lazy to put down that Hollenback and pick up the cleoid. 😀

Hope you have a good second year, Cusp!

to Gavin:

Indeed, the recent trend has been to streamline the curriculum at some dental schools... I remember my sister telling me that her school (NYUCD) has been doing away with a LOT of lab stuff in their curriculum (things like how to cast a crown, etc.) because they reason most dentists would send that stuff out anyway. At my school they are changing the curriculum too, doing away with some "annoyance" courses which my class had to suffer through but the following classes do not. (damn lucky freshies and sophies.. And they got better computers to run their Vitalbooks on too! 😛 ) Maybe the fact that UB is up for re-accreditation this year has something to do with it.

Dental schools will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century I guess.. :laugh:
 
I think waxing is SO IMPORTANT. And it does make or break a dentist. Like Cusp said, if you never sculp a molar before, how are u gonna do it in your patient mouth? Not yet talking about doing those crown and know how your crown should be, etc.....

I remember when I first took morphology at UCSF buchanan clinic, an IDS student from Iran who was doing her own crown came and looked at my wax up molar and asked me what's the secret to wax up such a good tooth. She said she never learn her wax up before and her crown is terrible. I really saw those IDS struggled a lot. And they are dentists with 5+ yrs of experiences.

If you don't practice waxing up, you will see the results when you do restorative work in patient mouth.

I hate my former dentist everytime I open my mouth and look at the filling she did. I regret paying her, and glad that I chose another dentist.
 
Tom, here at ucsf, we are taught using the nylon pantyhose to smooth up the tooth. It works wonderfully.
 
to Tink:

Yep, those are good too. Me, I like the wet napkin better though because wax is hydrophobic, and a wet paper towel tends to be a bit less abrasive. These two things combine to give me the best-looking finishes. Exactly the same reason why spit-shined shoes look nice. (waxy shoe polish + wet rag = really shiny shoes!) 😀

This works for denture waxups too. When you guys start setting teeth and waxing up dentures for your Removable patients in upperclassman clinic a year or two from now, give that a try. Hanau torch first to smooth out any irregularities, then dry paper napkin buff, then wet paper napkin buff. Even the lab techs who will flask the waxups for you will be impressed by the quality of the waxup's finish!

I probably wouldn't have that routine down so pat if my school didn't give me nothing but removable prostho patients last semester. 😡 Wish they could have given me more fixed prostho patients, ugh.
 
yeah...i use nylon stockings on my waxups too...it cleans it up real nice. (and makes my skin feel nice and silky too!..hahaha..j/k) but yeah...armor all also works nice to give that wax up that little extra shine that could mean the difference btw an A and a B on practicals...😛
 
Originally posted by tinker bell
I think waxing is SO IMPORTANT. And it does make or break a dentist.
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Tink, I've always appreciated your posts, and this one is no different.

I disagree with you howver, and think that perhaps you are misunderstanding what I'm saying.

Waxing has long been part of the dental school curriculum and will continue to be part of the curriculum for schools that avoid taking inventory of their classes and would rather keep their teaching methods and instruction in the dark ages. For these schools waxing is important because they are either too lazy or too financially strapped to reevaluate their teaching methods. Because of this they will hold on to their archaic teaching methods, regardless of the usefullness of the exercise.

There ARE important skills learned in labs, but there are also new and improved ways to go about learning those skills. Waxing in and of itself is NOT important, but it is one method of obtaining certain skills.

Dental technologies and dental tools are constantly evolving. Dentistry has always been viewed as a medical specialty that is at the forefront of prevention AND innovation. Why then do our US dental schools insist on conforming to the same educational model that was developed in the late 19th century, including the same remedial exercises?

The number one complaint of dental graduates is the poor education they've received. Specifically, students complain that they methodology they are taught in dental school is 180 degrees away from what it is in the professional world. Removing remedial "arts-and-crafts" classes from dental school would do a great deal to remedy this injustice.

How do other medical specialists learn to master their arts? Through practice. Many times with simulation models, but typically through trial and error.

Schools are slowly but surely coming to realize this. In 5-7 years, waxing will be a thing of the past and will be replaced by more relevent instruction and projects.
This is my point, and I believe Dr. Rob's point as well.
 
Just on the subject of making your wax up shiny, I learned a neat little trick here at NYU.

Armor all and silk pantyhose work great, but there is one more trick for a quick "shine up". In the corner of your nose (kinda where nose meets the cheek), there is generally a bit of oil that gets collected, try putting your finger there and then rub that finger on your wax-up. Trust me, it sounds kinda gross, but it works.

Also to wax up teeth that you need to attach to the models that will later be used to make a bridge or something of that nature, a quick way of doing that is to take some impression material into a bottle cap and take an impression of a whole typodont tooth, then heat up a stick of wax so that it can drip into the impression, let cool, and voila! you have a tooth that you can stick on the model and make a perfect bridge later. Just a little time saver for you guys :clap:

Just my 2cents
 
Originally posted by mr thirsty
Just on the subject of making your wax up shiny, I learned a neat little trick here at NYU.

Armor all and silk pantyhose work great, but there is one more trick for a quick "shine up". In the corner of your nose (kinda where nose meets the cheek), there is generally a bit of oil that gets collected, try putting your finger there and then rub that finger on your wax-up. Trust me, it sounds kinda gross, but it works.

Also to wax up teeth that you need to attach to the models that will later be used to make a bridge or something of that nature, a quick way of doing that is to take some impression material into a bottle cap and take an impression of a whole typodont tooth, then heat up a stick of wax so that it can drip into the impression, let cool, and voila! you have a tooth that you can stick on the model and make a perfect bridge later. Just a little time saver for you guys :clap:

Just my 2cents
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LOL, the 5-minute waxup. Also good for waxing up abutment crowns if your school makes you fabricate the patterns for FPDs.

Just be sure no faculty sees you doing that.. Some instructors consider that cheating and one of my classmates got into hot water for it. 😛

BTW, remind me not to touch any of your waxups. :laugh:

As far as finishing up waxups go, for guys like me wet napkins are easier to come by than nylons, far cheaper than Armor All, and a whole lot less disgrossting than nose acne exudate. 😀

And IMHO just as effective!
 
Waxing is not part of the dental school curriculum because schools avoid taking inventory of their classes and would rather keep their teaching methods and instruction in the dark ages. Waxing is taught because it is a very beneficial learning tool. There is no better way (that I can think of) to get an understanding of a tooth?s proximal contacts, heights of contour, embrasures, marginal ridges, cusp location, etc than through waxing. You can read about it in a book all you want, but it?s not the same as creating one on your own.
 
Tinker Bell,

You hate your dentist who put those fillings in and wonder why you paid for them?

How old are the fillings? Are your teeth now decay free?
Do you have pain? Is your bite correct? Does the tooth contact the next tooth beside it?

Don't be quick to judge another persons work! Especially when you do not know the circumstances under which it was done. I'm sure the fillings in your mouth are clinically acceptable, if they at least follow the above criteria.

Waxing skills may give you a basic understanding, but I doubt they have any correlation to basic restorative care. A person who is concerned about the esthetics of a restoration will not opt for the large amalgam or composite, but will more likely go for a inlay, onlay or crown which is fabricated by a lab technician (in which case waxing skills are quite important).

I was taught under an old curriculum - we made a crown, we made a bridge, we had 3 classes which had waxing skills! All I can say is I wish we had 3 classes in posterior composites or Endo for that matter - which seem to be more necessary here in the real world.🙄
 
Originally posted by nug
Waxing is not part of the dental school curriculum because schools avoid taking inventory of their classes and would rather keep their teaching methods and instruction in the dark ages. Waxing is taught because it is a very beneficial learning tool. There is no better way (that I can think of) to get an understanding of a tooth?s proximal contacts, heights of contour, embrasures, marginal ridges, cusp location, etc than through waxing. You can read about it in a book all you want, but it?s not the same as creating one on your own.
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Once again you are misreading my statements. All the attributes you mentioned are important, but WAXING itself is not!

And there are many schools who would rather keep their instruction in the dark ages. To contrast that, however, there are also many schools that are dropping waxing from the curriculum or making it an optional activity which carries no grade.

Lastly, I never mentioned anything about reading books. Reading books is not the preferred method of learning in any instances.
 
gavin, i wish i lived in arizona! i'm really a fan of that curriculum.

here's my question: what will arizona integrate to refine the student's ability to sculpt anatomy? i agree that waxing is archaic and tedious, but it is really the only way i have ever heard of for teaching the anatomical carving. what is the next step in anatomical education? let me know if any transfer spots open up🙂
 
Dude, sorry but we don't accept transfer students. With our curriculum it is literally impossible (unless you are a DS4).

Most of what you mentioned will be taught during our Dental Materials & Instruments class, as well as our Dental Hard Tissues class.

We won't be at a disadvantage--we're spending an entire semester on the Head & Neck comparment and studying all aspects of it: normal function, normal structure, abnormal function, abnormal structure.

Our new sim-lab allows us to perform a wide array of dental exercises, many of which involve anatomy.

I promise that we won't be at any disadvantage. And, like I said, the lab is always open for those who want to participate in the traditional methods. Heck, I'll wax up teeth so I can know what everybody is talking about!
 
Can anyone from NYUCD post what their requirements are re: wax ups? Does NYU plan on changing their curriculum as far as wax-up labs?

Steven
 
Dr. Rob,

I had an old fillings with amalgam when I was in college, and my dentist told me to take it out only 2yrs later bc amalgam is soo dangerous to have. And she put in a composite filling (the two fillings were both done by her in less than 5 yrs). And there is no contact between two teeth (let's say at least about 2mm apart because I am being nice here). As a result, I have to floss every time after I eat. It's such an ugly thing to have in my mouth. And my bite is not even correct. My new dentist had to fix it. But of course she can't put in the contact. I don't want to have any more works done on that tooth.

My conclusion is: My former dentist was just trying to make money, and she went to a very bad school, where waxing is not even in the curricullum. (I did check her schools' cur. )

So, for my sake, everytime I choose a dentist, I choose carefully, choose the one from a school that teaches students how to wax.

Gavin you might be disagree, and I don't mind. Because you don't wax any teeth yet. And you don't know what you are missing and how important that is. Even a 3yrs curriculum UOP has waxing. So, I believe it's one of the best way to train someone's hand to shape up a tooth. May be your hands don't need lots of work out, but other people do. I can tell you that during my morphology class, I looked left and right. And told myself that none of my classmate should be my dentist, because their wax up looks just gross.
 
Gavin C,

How much time are you spending in the Sim lab in your first semester? I personally think the more time you spend in the sim lab will correlate more to how well you will do initially in clinic. Sooner or later, everyone will get to a point of basic competence.
Also, I would push for rotary endo and posterior composites - I tell you that has been my biggest struggle my first year out. Removable pros, Extractions and Crowns have been ok since I graduated. I actually enjoy making partials and dentures and I hated them in school.

Tinker,

I do not know what your mouth looks like but contacts can be made either by redoing the filling or drilling out a portion of the composite and bonding new composite to achieve a contact. I do not know what your situation is but sometimes teeth are rotated or tipped do to tooth loss and making a contact is difficult.
I still do not think that if your previous dentist had been to a curriculum which included waxing it would have improved restorative skills. I would question her for the literature that supports her theory on the toxicity of mercury in amalgam. You do have a good point here and should have questioned her (if you had known that this was a bunch of balony at the time.)

Just one more point, Posterior composites are very difficult - I find myself struggling with them daily (not the simple ideal preps) but larger fillings that are sug -g. Many of you would say you should probably be using amalgam - but there are practioners out there that do only composites and do them well (and I happen to work with one).

I would give your old dentist the benefit of the doubt with her restorative work - she may be new to it; however, its no excuse for leaving them as you say they were left. I would have redone them or at least have told you about the problem and made future arrangements to either repair or redo the the fillings. The mercury toxicity thing - THAT IS JUST BOGUS!

😱
 
Originally posted by tinker bell


Gavin you might be disagree, and I don't mind. . Even a 3yrs curriculum UOP has waxing.
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But perhaps not for long! Dean Dugoni, the dean of UOP is one of the members of our curriculum faculty. He is such a part of our curriculum that he was here for nearly the entire first week. He presided over our white coat ceremony, and when we got our coats we should our dean's hand as well as Dean Dugoni's hand.

He obviously more than approves of our curriculum since he assisted in designing it.

Other deans who are on our curriculum board: Buffalo, Lousiville, Baylor.
 
Waxing teachs you dental anatomy and that's it. I was terrible at waxing and struggled to get a B. But this is in no way a good measure of good eye hand skills. I do much better than average on all of my other lab work (pros, operative). I like Arizona'a approach of no waxing. I think spending my time waxing actually hurt me as far as becoming a future dentist, I could have spent that time learn real world stuff not how to be a lab tech.
 
Personally, I think the dental schools might be able to substitute waxing with making provisionals, which is a very necessary skill for any general dentist and of course those dentists who want to specialize in prosthodontics. 😀

Making provisionals demand the same kind of attention to detail in regard to dental anatomy as waxups after all. Then again I guess wax is an easier (and cheaper!) material to work with than acrylic, which might be why it still has some utility in developing an eye for dental anatomy-- Especially for those who are just starting out in dental school.

Maybe schools can compromise-- Less waxing (say a few weeks), but don't eliminate it altogether, and put more time into teaching students how to make provisionals.
 
i would have to agree with tom. Although i still think waxing up is a good and cheap way to learn how to carve anatomy (since amalgam capsules cost so much vs. wax which can be reused and is cheaper) and also to practice to use instruments such as the hollenback and the discoid/cleoid, Provisionals was probably the hardest thing we had to do this past year. Especially with 3 unit provisionals and making sure the margins are sealed....What a pain!!!! +pissed+ The smell of acrylic doesn't really help things either 😡
 
Cusp
what method do you use for provisionals a your school?
 
we used a variety of methods. When we first started with the single unit, we did it straight from block carving....when we started doing the 3 units and as we got better with the single units, we used a vacuform tray and also had the option of using reprosil putty...(makes great anatomy...but usually winds up being hyper...) We would take an impression of the teeth before preperation, fill in the pontic with a denture tooth, and make a 3 unit vacuform tray from that....then after preping the teeth, we could either take an impression of that and do the provisional on the stone model or do the provisiona directly on the typodont. I couldn't imagine having to block carve a 3 unit provisional...that would take hours!!!
 
Template-formed provisionals is the most popular method because it's the cheapest, and is the best compromise between the block method (time-consuming!) and using Reprosil (expensive!). Still, one will always have to refine a template-formed provisional-- And that's where the practitioner's knowledge and skill at defining that dental anatomy comes into play.

Template-formed provisionals at the very least demands one to cut accurate heights of contour, embrasures, and occlusal anatomy for posteriors. Definitely got to have a good grasp of dental anatomy unless you want your patients to walk out of your office with a row of chicklets that only serves to embarrass both the dentist and the patient. :laugh:

to Cusp: I can sympathize, friend! Especially when you are treating a patient in your school's clinic. Even when given 3 hours, it can be difficult to prep a crown and finish the provisional to an instructor's satisfaction in that period!
 
I agree with you that you need to have a good grasp on the anatomy for provisionals and waxing is the best way to learn it. I think when tinkerbell said her dentist did poor quality work because they did not have waxing in her curriculm is a bit far fetched. We had a professor tell us not to spend to much time on the provisionals, if you make them look too good they won't come back for the next appointment, .
 
Depends on the instructor, I guess.

Dr. Daniel Conny, the fixed prosthodontics professor at my school, is world-renowned for his work. Members of the Royal Family in the United Arab Emirates pays for him to fly there every summer to provide dental care for them.

He advocates making provisionals as good as you can make them look. Not only does it benefit a patient's self-image, but correct anatomy and adaptation is also functional and preserves the patient's dental and oral health during that period when their prepped teeth are vulnerable. AND it is a form of advertising of the quality of your work!

As far as a nice provisional making a patient less likely to come back for the definitive... Dr. Conny tells us that's the reason why he collects a 33% nonrefundable deposit first. 😀
 
The royal families are probably a little more likely to come back than Billy joe and Bobby sue are, and have the 33 %
 
I agree it does really matter where you practice. The ones willing to plop down 33% are usually the ones that really care about the apperance and not just a quick fix to the problem. Thank you for the compliment about my moral character. It's not my morals that are making me lean towards practicing in a underserved area, it's the pure economics of it. We had the North Dakota dental assc. come talk to our school. There are 280 dentist in that whole state. 40% of them are retireing within the next ten years. To spark our interest in ND he told us the number from his office. 1.3 million collections, 60% overhead (built new office other wise would be lower) 4 days a week. Graduated in 1997. He lives in a town of about 9000. There are 5 county areas with no dentist. My wife (D1) plan on moving there after graduation, its a gold mine waiting to be tapped. Also the state is wiling to reimburse up to 20,000$ a year if you will serve a underserved area. The only down fall I see is you have to live in ND!
 
I'm flattered that you agree with me. Really. Heh.

If Billy-joes and Bobbie-sues in underpriviledged areas are the kind of patients you want to treat, more power to ya.

But if you want to pull in patients who can put down that 33%, there is no better advertisement than putting out quality work, even in North Dakota I would imagine. Hell, I suspect North Dakotans put their pants on the same way as other people and prefer to spend their money on practitioners who do quality work.

Me, I want to work in Westchester NY. That area is full of people who wouldn't hesitate in plopping down a 100% deposit if they know you are good. How do I know? My sister (already graduated) practices dentistry there and is already tapping that gold mine. 😛
 
what's a sim lab and what kind of procedures can you do in one?
 
Originally posted by anamod
I agree it does really matter where you practice. The ones willing to plop down 33% are usually the ones that really care about the apperance and not just a quick fix to the problem. Thank you for the compliment about my moral character. It's not my morals that are making me lean towards practicing in a underserved area, it's the pure economics of it. We had the North Dakota dental assc. come talk to our school. There are 280 dentist in that whole state. 40% of them are retireing within the next ten years. To spark our interest in ND he told us the number from his office. 1.3 million collections, 60% overhead (built new office other wise would be lower) 4 days a week. Graduated in 1997. He lives in a town of about 9000. There are 5 county areas with no dentist. My wife (D1) plan on moving there after graduation, its a gold mine waiting to be tapped. Also the state is wiling to reimburse up to 20,000$ a year if you will serve a underserved area. The only down fall I see is you have to live in ND!
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Anamod
Your statistics about ND caught my eye. My daughters Ortho just sold his practice and moved to ND. I did a quick search on google to find ND's population(634,000) for a Dentist/patient ration of approx. 2250:1. Is this good??? I don't know. I would think this ratio could be achieved in nearly any small town across America. Now the fact that nearly 1/2 are retiring sounds wonderful$$$$
 
Arizona's dentist/population ratio is worse than NDs. Arizona's is 1:2520. This ranks 46th in the US.

The ratio that anamod quoted can be found in nearly every rural county in the US. To have entire states at this ratio is interesting, though.
 
Originally posted by ItsGavinC
Arizona's dentist/population ratio is worse than NDs. Arizona's is 1:2520. This ranks 46th in the US.

The ratio that anamod quoted can be found in nearly every rural county in the US. To have entire states at this ratio is interesting, though.
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Gavin,
Where did you find the ranking of 46th for AZ? Is their a list with rankings availabe somewhere? Whereas i'm not at all surprised with ND's lack of DDS's-man it gets COLD-I am kinda surprised with AZ's stats especially with the incredible growth in population it has seen in the last 25 years. I would imagine that the large cities in AZ (50,000+) are probably saturated while the more rural area's and the indian reservations are lacking.
++++
 
It is odd to have to whole state at that ratio. A great deal of the dentists are in the larger cities. That total (280) is including all specialist in the state. The most shocking if I rember is that there are 2 pediatric dentists in the whole state. It does get dam cold there. I was surprisd to hear Arizona's rate was that high. Prior to the dental school opening there I've the state board is pretty though on letting out of state dentists in.
 
In regards to us not doing wax-ups:

Our Dean just discussed this with us. A dental lab is moving into a building here on our campus, and they will be on-site as long as there is a dental school here.

We'll be working with them in our labs and developing an understanding of how we can give them all the information they need in order for them to create the best materials for us.

We will be doing some wax-ups to gain experience (or to HAVE the experience), but we won't do many, and our on-site lab will do all of the castings for us.
 
I know how to wax up and cast crowns - BIG DEAL!
 
Gavin,

I understand your eagerness to embrace the new technology-driven curriculum at ASDOH, but you still haven't (that I've seen) addressed one of the most important related questions: You've acknowledged on this thread that skills employed in waxing are valuable to dental education, but in the same breath you dismiss the waxing itself as archaic and antiquated.

My question to you is, how will ASDOH teach you to apply didactic tooth morphology material? Learning it in lecture is grand, and so is watching simlab demos, but you have to learn the morphology of tooth-sculpting before you can be turned loose on anyone. How will you get that practice?


•EDIT:• My impression on what sim-lab procedures entail, according to DrRob below, is apparently mistaken. With that in mind, please soften any responses to the above original post 😉
 
Actually, Sim Lab is prepping and restoring teeth on mannequins.
Our practical restorations were graded on occlusion, proximal contact and anatomy carved - all at equal value. Actually on the crdts exam (boards) - you can fail with lack of proximal contact or a restation that is left to high - but not for poor anatomy.

There is lots of ways to learn tooth morphology, I would suggest practicing endo on natural teeth - it gives you a lot better sense of root morphology than waxing or carving a tooth.

Occlusion can much better be taught by just looking a equilibrated dentoforms or looking at different types of denture setups rather than actually fabricating them.

Pre- clinic should be used as time to simulate patient tx, not lab work. 1st year crown and bridge we made a gold crown - whether I made it or not I can still recognize a good crown. Maybe we should have been given castings and asked to adjust the proximal contacts and occlusion.

Making provisionals is also a good way - Again another skill I think I did twice before clinic and then had to learn the hard way. Also, once we got to clinic we never had to wax again!

Enough said.
 
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