Starting D1 in 3 months. How do I deal with the doubt

[GoToHolmes]

Hey, SDN. I start school in 3 months in a totally unfamiliar city. I'm going to be honest, I'm really worried about being the guy who fails out/drops out. I like to think that I worked really hard to be where I am today. Got through a pretty competitive undergrad school (UCLA) with As in the classes I cared about and Bs in the classes I didn't. Worked under a really demanding dentist as a DA and regularly assisted during wacky procedures like implant surgeries and sinus grafts. Really enjoyed them.

The thing that scares me is 1. the amount of material I'm expected to learn in such a short amount of time and 2. handskills.

I deliberately took light courseloads during undergrad to preserve my GPA as much as possible. Typically 3 classes a quarter when most of my peers were taking 3 or 4 with some maniacs taking 5. I still remember how stressful it was to run the gauntlet of having a midterm or two every week for at least 4-5 weeks during the quarter. From what I've heard dental school is undergrad x10. For what it's worth I have a friend at Midwestern-AZ rn and he says he's doing way better in dental than in undergrad academics wise.

As for handskills, what are the expectations? It's embarrassing but I doubt I could even draw or cut in a straight line.

TLDR: worked hard to get in but feeling more and more unsure if I am prepared for the rigor of dental school/have the handskills necessary

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[PerioDont]

Its pretty normal to have self-doubt before embarking on such a journey. Just don't worry too much about it, everyone else is in the same boat.

When you get to school, make a group of friends in your class and stick with em. Find a few upperclassmen, buy them lunch and ask them how to do everything. Practice in sim clinic on weekends and nights and you will get the handskills. study consistently 2-3 hr every day, not just week before the tests and you will pass every test.

 

[oralcare123]

Everyone feels like that. You will adapt
Make sure to take dental school seriously

 

[pab-l0]

Keep in mind that at whatever absurd rate of acceptance there is for dental schools these days, YOU made it in. That means that you've done well so far, and there is no reason you shouldn't continue to. It's hard for everyone, that's just the bottom line. Keep your head up, make sacrifices, don't screw off like others will, and you will do fine.

 

[Lemillion]

I have similar doubts when starting dental school. All the above comments are similar to what I would say looking back.

1. Find a good group of friends to support each other
2. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Reach out to upperclassmen or faculty
3. Be kind to classmates and faculty. The kindness you show them will be returned back in more ways than one
4. Have a good routine for diet, exercise, rest and studying. Prepare ahead for exams. Keep your grades up in case you decide to specialize.
5. Get involved in dental fraternities, clubs, etc.

Clinic-wise
1. Have a high expectation for yourself with preparation and restorations but don't beat yourself up over everything. Essentially take pride in your craft.
2. Don't be afraid to make a mistake early on. I would prefer to make a lot of mistakes early on, learn from them and make the adjustments sooner than later.
3. Dental school has a flow for training you. Everyone goes in not knowing a lot of dentistry and typically leave qualified with a dental license in hand and ready to work.

Another post worth mentioning is that you'll find many of your classmates will have similar thoughts/doubts/frustrations. It may not feel that way when talking to them but I suspect many internalize these feelings because they want to appear to have it together. Best of luck, you will do great!

 

[d9m7]

What I've heard is that it will take some time to learn what works for you in terms of studying and learning the material, but becomes more manageable once you have determined that. As for hand skills, you have time this summer to practice! Try taking on a new hobby or just practicing your handwriting X amount of times per day. Some examples of activities: https://dentistry.uic.edu/news-stories/how-to-practice-hand-skills-before-dental-school/

I am starting D1 this year and I am also scared, but we will make it through!

 

[PerioDont]

What I've heard is that it will take some time to learn what works for you in terms of studying and learning the material, but becomes more manageable once you have determined that. As for hand skills, you have time this summer to practice! Try taking on a new hobby or just practicing your handwriting X amount of times per day. Some examples of activities: https://dentistry.uic.edu/news-stories/how-to-practice-hand-skills-before-dental-school/

I am starting D1 this year and I am also scared, but we will make it through!

this is all fine and good...but honestly I don't believe these activities will make a huge difference in your hand skills for dentistry.

It's learning an entirely new skill and craft. It must be practiced. Time must be spent in the simulation lab with many, many repetitions. Some will be naturally better than others but at the end of 2 years of sim clinic, you will all be able to do basic dentistry.

 

[Blueshirts]

Before you start ripping a million reps of class 1s and class 2s set aside time to practice just looking through your loops, moving the manakin head around, using the mirror and bouncing the light off it to check interproximally.

If you dont know how to position your body in the chair comfortably, can't move the head around left to right or at a different tilt to be able to visualize a structure with indirect or direct vision, or even know what the working length of your loupes is really supposed to look like, then your going to have a very difficult time and will not be producing your best work no matter how hard you try. Its like a sport in that sense that you have to get down the fundamentals, then you can actually start moving forward with your hand skills. Do it as soon as you can in simlab because within a few weeks you'll be drowning with didactics or lab work to hand in, and you will end up telling yourself it isn't worth doing something so trivial, but it is the best use of your time either way.

 

[Cold Front]

Hey, SDN. I start school in 3 months in a totally unfamiliar city. I'm going to be honest, I'm really worried about being the guy who fails out/drops out. I like to think that I worked really hard to be where I am today. Got through a pretty competitive undergrad school (UCLA) with As in the classes I cared about and Bs in the classes I didn't. Worked under a really demanding dentist as a DA and regularly assisted during wacky procedures like implant surgeries and sinus grafts. Really enjoyed them.

The thing that scares me is 1. the amount of material I'm expected to learn in such a short amount of time and 2. handskills.

I deliberately took light courseloads during undergrad to preserve my GPA as much as possible. Typically 3 classes a quarter when most of my peers were taking 3 or 4 with some maniacs taking 5. I still remember how stressful it was to run the gauntlet of having a midterm or two every week for at least 4-5 weeks during the quarter. From what I've heard dental school is undergrad x10. For what it's worth I have a friend at Midwestern-AZ rn and he says he's doing way better in dental than in undergrad academics wise.

As for handskills, what are the expectations? It's embarrassing but I doubt I could even draw or cut in a straight line.

TLDR: worked hard to get in but feeling more and more unsure if I am prepared for the rigor of dental school/have the handskills necessary

Very legitimate concerns. At least you getting worried about dental school workload itself is setting you up for the rigorous road ahead mentally.

Take it by the day. As long as you can narrow things down by the day through time management, the rest will fall in place.

Good luck. You will survive!

 

[GoToHolmes]

Before you start ripping a million reps of class 1s and class 2s set aside time to practice just looking through your loops, moving the manakin head around, using the mirror and bouncing the light off it to check interproximally.

If you dont know how to position your body in the chair comfortably, can't move the head around left to right or at a different tilt to be able to visualize a structure with indirect or direct vision, or even know what the working length of your loupes is really supposed to look like, then your going to have a very difficult time and will not be producing your best work no matter how hard you try. Its like a sport in that sense that you have to get down the fundamentals, then you can actually start moving forward with your hand skills. Do it as soon as you can in simlab because within a few weeks you'll be drowning with didactics or lab work to hand in, and you will end up telling yourself it isn't worth doing something so trivial, but it is the best use of your time either way.

Noted. How difficult were the lab classes? Is it true that dental school is difficult because of how many classes you have to take at once and not because of the intrinsic difficulty of the material/work? I'm willing to sacrifice my free time to do well in school and lab if that's what it takes

 

[Blueshirts]

Noted. How difficult were the lab classes? Is it true that dental school is difficult because of how many classes you have to take at once and not because of the intrinsic difficulty of the material/work? I'm willing to sacrifice my free time to do well in school and lab if that's what it takes

There is a learning curve to everything, the first obstacle is just getting your bearings and figuring out what is the best way to study/balance time or stress/how to check your lab work as your doing it so you know you are cutting preps or waxing to the right dimensions (you can check with various tools and make sure to compare contours/marginal ridge heights of adjacent teeth, etc. Its all detail work).

For the most part, even if you are gifted academically the lab work, while very fun, is difficult and afterall this wouldn't be a well paying profession if it was so easy than anyone could just pick up random tools and do good work. You will find that you have to learn many things to be good in the lab, and it's time consuming to be good:
Which burs and when to use them. When to replace a bur if you notice it isn't cutting as well (if you cut enough preps you'll notice that the burs will sound different as well).
What hand instruments you can use to finish preps and how to use them.
How to work materials, are they light cured, self cured, dual cured. What is their working time, what is their setting time. Can you add more material after it set or does this material not allow it to bond. Using cold water vs warm water with certain materials matters.
Knowing the contours of teeth, where there contact points are, etc.

The list goes on and on. During year 1 you may feel like you are starting to know some things, but it is very incomplete. I'm now at the end of year 2, and that feeling for the most part is gone because our education is tailored to be dental related class heavy this past semester. All of the questions that i had were answered, and the material and knowledge from the whole 2 years blends in. You kind of have to accept that you'll have gaps in your knowledge that will be filled and that some of the work you are doing early on in dental school, although it doesn't currently make sense, that there is a reason and it eventually will. There is always something more to learn though, but the further you get into dentistry the more secure you feel because at least you now know what you know and have an idea of what you dont know; personal example is that I'm currently working on getting used to the axium clinic software.

 

[deleted1073010]

Noted. How difficult were the lab classes? Is it true that dental school is difficult because of how many classes you have to take at once and not because of the intrinsic difficulty of the material/work? I'm willing to sacrifice my free time to do well in school and lab if that's what it takes

I'm just finishing up my 2nd year and I agree with lots of things that have already been said. There have been a couple of classes that I thought had difficult material but overall it hasn't been the material itself that was challenging, but the amount of stuff you have to remember. We sometimes have 3 exams at once, each exam covering 10-12 lectures with anywhere from 50-150 slides per lecture. It adds up but definitely doable if you stay on top of things.

I can't speak for everyone on this but I haven't spent nearly as much time on work/extracurriculars as I did in undergrad, so although school is much busier, there hasn't been a lot of other things for me to worry about.

I had a little bit of a mental breakdown after our first day waxing up teeth in lab. I didn't know what I was doing and the hand skills were pretty foreign. I remember feeling super discouraged. But you get plenty of practice and things eventually come together (I guess I'll find out for sure if that's true when I see my first patient in a few weeks lol)

 

[lol105]

If you were able to graduate UCLA with a phenomenal GPA, I wouldn't worry about the didactics portion. As for handskills... you'll get better. I have graduated a few years ago, and I can say that my hand skills are still in progress. When I compare my crown prep to a 20+ year prosthodontist's, mine is not as good - but it is way better than my first crown prep in dental school. So don't worry too much and enjoy the last few months of freedom before you start dental school!

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Move to your new city.
Party during orientation week
Be as social as you can to make new friends who will support each other during these new moments in your academic careers.
Nothing else to worry about. TBH I didn't even read anything except your TLDR. You did the hard part of getting into dental school. Just chill out

 

[Ivy.ch]

Move to your new city.
Party during orientation week
Be as social as you can to make new friends who will support each other during these new moments in your academic careers.
Nothing else to worry about. TBH I didn't even read anything except your TLDR. You did the hard part of getting into dental school. Just chill out

People fail to realize the importance of the orientation week partying. You have four long years - you need buddies more than you need good grades sometimes. Everyone will be fresh and worried at the beginning, so get to know as many classmates as you can.

 

[DocMon16]

People fail to realize the importance of the orientation week partying. You have four long years - you need buddies more than you need good grades sometimes. Everyone will be fresh and worried at the beginning, so get to know as many classmates as you can.

I second this x 100

 

[8_man]

Hey, SDN. I start school in 3 months in a totally unfamiliar city. I'm going to be honest, I'm really worried about being the guy who fails out/drops out. I like to think that I worked really hard to be where I am today. Got through a pretty competitive undergrad school (UCLA) with As in the classes I cared about and Bs in the classes I didn't. Worked under a really demanding dentist as a DA and regularly assisted during wacky procedures like implant surgeries and sinus grafts. Really enjoyed them.

The thing that scares me is 1. the amount of material I'm expected to learn in such a short amount of time and 2. handskills.

I deliberately took light courseloads during undergrad to preserve my GPA as much as possible. Typically 3 classes a quarter when most of my peers were taking 3 or 4 with some maniacs taking 5. I still remember how stressful it was to run the gauntlet of having a midterm or two every week for at least 4-5 weeks during the quarter. From what I've heard dental school is undergrad x10. For what it's worth I have a friend at Midwestern-AZ rn and he says he's doing way better in dental than in undergrad academics wise.

I took 12-credit semesters in undergrad and came out of dental school pretty okay, managing upwards of 27 credits per semester. The big difference between undergrad and dental school was that in undergrad, I had a TON of free time which was put towards other things (video games, volunteering, etc). Once you're in dental school, you will likely have to put a lot of this free time towards managing your new, higher workload. The amount of free time you have to give up really just depends on your own desire for a higher GPA/rank, but be sure to save ample time for activities you enjoy. Dental school isn't everything!

As for handskills, what are the expectations? It's embarrassing but I doubt I could even draw or cut in a straight line.

Expectations? Can you hold a pencil? Then you are fine. Obviously, everyone has their own learning curves and some are just more gifted than others, but that goes for anything in life. My biggest advice for you is to not compare yourself to others. As long as you are better than what you were yesterday, that's something to celebrate.

 

[GoToHolmes]

I took 12-credit semesters in undergrad and came out of dental school pretty okay, managing upwards of 27 credits per semester. The big difference between undergrad and dental school was that in undergrad, I had a TON of free time which was put towards other things (video games, volunteering, etc). Once you're in dental school, you will likely have to put a lot of this free time towards managing your new, higher workload. The amount of free time you have to give up really just depends on your own desire for a higher GPA/rank, but be sure to save ample time for activities you enjoy. Dental school isn't everything!


Expectations? Can you hold a pencil? Then you are fine. Obviously, everyone has their own learning curves and some are just more gifted than others, but that goes for anything in life. My biggest advice for you is to not compare yourself to others. As long as you are better than what you were yesterday, that's something to celebrate.

Thanks this helped a lot

 

[ESPN907]

Remember, the anxiety is more crippling than the actual work. As is with doing anything new. Recognize that once you get your hands dirty, that feeling goes away, then bask in your accomplishment because that feeling will give you just enough hope for the next experience.

 

[FutureDent020]

Man, a lot of really good advice on this thread, which means a lot of people had these exact same doubts including myself. I remember the first week walking my dog before orientation and classes wondering the exact same stuff. What if I don’t like it? What if I’m not good at it? I remember even calling my parents and expressing my concerns. So it’s completely understandable. Hopefully that doubt drives you to always do your best and get better, which I think it will. It did for me.

And yea, as everyone said, make close friends. I had more fun in dental school than I did college. And I still talk to about 10-12 guys every day on a group chat. That’s what makes the tough days in dental school easier. Good luck.

 

[Chicago_predental]

I love all the advice in this thread!