manual dexterity

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Niklu13

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Can having average manual dexterity cause you to get less than par grades in dental school or even result in your expolsion.

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I think it's pretty obvious that you're going to need above average fine motor skills to get through dental school. You're gonna be in someone's dark mouth working with a high-speed drill where cuts of less than a millimeter may mean the difference between success and total failure. If you didn't already enjoy that kind of detail intensive, manual labor, I wouldn't think you'd really be interested in dentistry anyway.

From what I hear though, a lot of people get into the labs thinking they're pretty hot stuff only to realize that dexterity is not just an innate ability. It takes hours and hours of practice. My roommate's brother was in dental school at Creighton - had great grades in his "academic courses" but ended up not being able to pass prosth and some other classes. The school didn't expel him, but he had to repeat the entire year!

Basically, if you aren't just plain clumsy you can probably learn what you need if you're willing to put in the time. Even if it takes an extra year. :eek: Ouch!

:D
 
I like working with my hands doing detailed things on a SMALL scale.....just i cant draw for my life and have 0 artistic ability
 
You don't need to be artistic. You just have to be accurate at what you are drawing. My first day at dental morphology, we were told to draw the central incisor. So, the nicest looking drawing wasn't even a perfect one. (Didn't mimic exactly the contour). Don't panic, just make sure you pay attention to your details, and you'll get there. Your ability to draw doesn't relate whether you are a good dentist or not. You will take longer time to master your carving, and eventually will get it. (Hope not having to repeat the prostho class). Just remember that once you are a dentist, you can send all your lab work out.
 
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