Learning to wax

[Ex_EE]

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I have seen several people recommend learning to wax prior to entering dental school. Can anyone give any pointers on how to start the whole process? I really have no idea what is involved with waxing.

 

[scalpel2008]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=waxing

 

[Ex_EE]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=waxing

Not quite the waxing I was talking about 🙄

 

[scalpel2008]

oh, ok. but really, don't worry about it. you'll pick it up in dental school. infact, don't do anything even remotely related to dentistry the summer before you start. especially waxing (atleast the type you want to know about).

 

[shinji]

The list of materials you need to do waxup:
Electric waxer or bunsten burner with PK Thomas piece, a half hallenback (calving tool), a beaver tail (calving tool), wax, teeth pattern casts, and a die.

The goal is to mimic the teeth pattern casts and waxup a tooth.

The link provides some videos of waxup.

http://www.columbia.edu/ccnmtl/projects/virtechs/main.html

Since you probably won't have all these materials, you might want to ask your dentist whom you shadowed or a friend of yours who is in dental school lends you these materials.

 

[johntara04]

I knew nothing about waxing before dental school and glad I didn't. You will do so much of it that it is pointless to waste time on it now. Enjoy your time off. Relax. Don't, Don't, Don't waste your time now learning how to wax.

 

[INFNITE]

waxing is totally annoying and pointless. I had to do like 5 of them this weekend cuz I procrastinated and it's due this upcoming week. Wax up is there mainly for you to practice with your hand skills and tooth morphology.

 

[jcheungdds]

not to sound redundant, but yeah, don't bother learning how to wax before school starts...u've gotta waste a bunch of time in lab during u'r D1 year, so might as well learn then. atleast then you have all the right tools and u'll have u'r friends in lab with you.

you might want to look into electric waxers...its all a matter of what u feel comfortable with. when you start school, find someone who has an electric one, and ask if you can try it out. i personally like my bunsen burner, so i stay away from the electric waxers....but that could be because i'm a pyro...lol 😀

 

[johntara04]

not to sound redundant, but yeah, don't bother learning how to wax before school starts...u've gotta waste a bunch of time in lab during u'r D1 year, so might as well learn then. atleast then you have all the right tools and u'll have u'r friends in lab with you.

you might want to look into electric waxers...its all a matter of what u feel comfortable with. when you start school, find someone who has an electric one, and ask if you can try it out. i personally like my bunsen burner, so i stay away from the electric waxers....but that could be because i'm a pyro...lol 😀

Whoa, what's an electric waxer. Sounds cool. I think I NEED one. Now, if I could just find out what it is.

 

[fightingspirit]

waxing is totally annoying and pointless. I had to do like 5 of them this weekend cuz I procrastinated and it's due this upcoming week. Wax up is there mainly for you to practice with your hand skills and tooth morphology.

i hear ya all the way......but at columbia, you guys are blessed with pass/fail system. here at stony, these wax ups are graded strictly and seriously......the grade affects your GPA in a big way. off course all of that does not matter if one is good at it. but if one is not good at it, it ruins your GPA.....big bummer!!!!

 

[Atombomb]

Get a job/intern with a jeweler, you'll make some cool stuff for a mom girlfriend grandma whatever and you'll learn to wax in the process

 

[Mach band]

waxing is totally annoying and pointless. I had to do like 5 of them this weekend cuz I procrastinated and it's due this upcoming week. Wax up is there mainly for you to practice with your hand skills and tooth morphology.

IMO, waxing is one the most important things I learned from first year. If you don't know the anatomy, how will you shape your restoration? Most likely our patients won't know if we did a crappy job on a posterior tooth, but when it comes to anterior teeth (like class IV), the skills you learned from waxing become extremely crucial. It takes a lot of time to get aquainted with or feel comfortable. But pointless? No way.

 

[beannaithe]

I wouldn't wax before I got to dental school. Trying to do a waxup without having dental anatomy is like trying to drive without a lisence. You don't know the anatomy so you don't know if your cusps look right, your ridges are off, etc.

If you're really worried about it, you could get your hands on the tools and just practice to get a feel for the insturments. But I wouldn't ever try doing a real waxup without knowing what I was doing. It's just a waste of your time.