is dental school really exciting?

[logistical99]

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Salutations. I have a somewhat subjective question to ask, but I'm sure I can make good use of any response to it.

I'm about to start my first year of dental school in either August or Sept but I'm concerned about the curriculum that awaits me and it doesn't sound so interesting to me.

What exactly would I be learning for the first semester? Are the instructors first going to review pre-med courses like general bio and orgo? Also, for the dental basic science courses, will we be starting totally from scratch? Or are we expected to build up on the science background acquired during college years?

I realize that academic semesters in dental schools total at around 20-25 credits of sciences each. As with most science classes, there is heavy lab work involved too.

Do these classes actually get any exciting in dental school? Are they boring? What about the clinical years? I imagine the clinical years to be of a monotony, as the students usually do nothing but watch a senior dentist treat a patient or do some very simple procedures with a large group of other students.

Lastly, can anyone tell me about the gross anatomy courses in dental school? ( if anything, this is probably the only thing I am looking forward to ) When do dental students usually take these courses? Will we each get our own cadaver? If so, can we pick and choose? What do the cadavers look like? How old are they usually and do they look real? Where do medical schools get these cadavers from?

 

[Supernumerary]

Lastly, can anyone tell me about the gross anatomy courses in dental school? ( if anything, this is probably the only thing I am looking forward to ) When do dental students usually take these courses? Will we each get our own cadaver? If so, can we pick and choose? What do the cadavers look like? How old are they usually and do they look real? Where do medical schools get these cadavers from?

When my sister was in dental school, she had her own cadaver. My Dad built a room off of the garage where she kept it. When she needed it at school, she put it in the back of the station wagon on a fold-up gurney (sp?) and took it with her. They wouldn't let her keep it after she graduated, though. She was kinda upset cause she'd really gotten attached to it.

 

[DcS]

Dental school is fun for about the 1st week. After that, it gets like anything else in life...routine. Yeah, taking 20-25 credit hours in intense, including lab time. You just have to face the fact that you will be in school from 8-5 Mon-Fri, and then throw in study time on top of that. Of course, it takes some time to adjust to it. But really, you get used to it mentally and physically and eventually it becomes routine.

I shudder when I hear people ask what they should study to prepare for dental school! Nothing, people. Relax, lounge around, read a good book, sip margarita's in the sun...whatever floats your boat. But please, relax and clear your head and energize your body. That will be the last time for a while you will get to do some of those things stress-free. Trust me, I was worried like you about the courseload, not remembering any of my sciences from undergrad. You will be taught everything that you will need to know once you get to school. I have not heard of a program that expects you to be on top of basic sciences from the past without giving some type of review. They will at least gleam them over. You have to remember, there will be some people in your class that don't even come from a science major, so you will be ok.

For me, the classes weren't necessarily exciting, but it was just exciting to be in dental school, learning about classmates and where you will fit in, adjusting to a new life, all that fun stuff. Then spring of the 1st year gets exciting because we got to Operative, so we actually got to take part in some dentistry related things other than biochem or gross. I actually loved gross, we had a cadaver per 4 people, and we got to choose our own. Here's a little piece of advice. If you get to choose your cadaver, get a skinny one and avoid a "large" one at all costs. The nerves and veins will be easier to find, skin will be easier to cut off, and organs will not be coated with yellow globules of fat. Sorry if that was graphic, but you asked.

The best advice I would give you is to remember that almost every other person in your class is probably having the same hesitations and thoughts as you are. Be confident, dental school is doable and it will go fast.

Good luck

 

[tinker bell]

Dental school will be fun when you go to morphology class. You look at your wax up, it looks like something else but not a tooth. Then u go to your classmate station to look some more. Every one wax up all look like something else but not a tooth. You realize that you are not the only one....And then, you realize how much trouble you are in. Because you have to turn in those wax up much sooner than you thought

 

[StarGirl]

dental school is fun on the night after exam (or after the last of a block of exams), on nights/days before vacations starts, on long three day weekends...and weekends where exams are like a month away 🙂

oh anyone coming to Columbia make sure to work on your OH tolerance this summer... 🙂 you'll have more beer/wine here than probably the rest of your life combined... 🙂

 

[sjdent]

Dental school is exciting at times. Most other times....uh, no.

It was definitely exciting when I first started, making new friends, etc. Getting used to this incredibly new life and routine that you have been thrown into. I remember VIVIDLY my first quarter...I was so scared that I was the dumbest person in my class and was sure that I was going to fail out. By the time midterms rolled around and I discovered the biggest piece of advice that I could give to someone about to start any dental school.....

IT'S TOUGH BUT DO-ABLE!!

But it will take figuring this out on your own time to believe it. I discovered very quickly that no matter how unprepared and stressed out I was about a test or quiz, someone ALWAYS did worse than I did. One wise teacher told me, "We only choose people that we know can make it though. If something happens, (i.e. failing out) it's your fault." I believe it. They picked you b/c they have faith in your abilities.

As for Gross, I actually can't stand the class and it was probably my weakest class so far. Cadavers aren't exactly fun for me to be around, but you get used to it very quickly. We worked in groups of 4.

So, NO....dental school is definitely not always exciting. But is anything?

 

[StarGirl]

SJDent what school do you go too?
dental school's only bad during exam time 🙂 it's fun the rest...and heck...14/73 of us are going to see the matrix next thrusday right in the middle of the exam block... (more of us wanted to go but it sold out and we couldn't purchase more tickets)