steady hand

[DAT_MAN]

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How do dentists keep their hands steady when performing dental procedures? I'm sure there are procedures that require precison down to a cm or less. Is it okay to rest your hand on a patients face? Is there tables or something to aid the hand?

 

[rocknightmare]

cm?? you mean less than .1mm buddy.. anyways you have finger rests..

 

[cdmOMR]

cm?? you mean less than .1mm buddy.. anyways you have finger rests..

It would be interesting if dentists were only accurate to 1cm 😱 😱 . But ya you gotta rest your other fingers on something and kinda acts as a guide. Think about the game pool...you dont just use one hand and let the cue hover, you use your left hand to support it...same concept. At least thats what works for me on models, an actual dental student or dentist would probably give a better explaination.

 

[JavadiCavity]

An accuracy to 1cm would be disaster, although, when you are first starting out you wonder if anything more accurate is possible. The above poster is right about being accurate to within the 1/10 of a mm. And, the way to do it is with finger rests. Essentially, you hold the handpiece like a pencil, and you use your ring finger to rest on an adjacent tooth. Add to that lots of practice, and pretty soon you are removing tiny amounts of enamel, dentin, plastic, or stone. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick.

 

[12YearOldKid]

I remember when we first started pre-clinic labs, the instructors would say things like you need to adjust that profile by about a quarter to half a millimeter. And I would think to myself... yeah right... nobody can see the difference in a half a freaking millimeter.

Now that half millimeter seems HUGE. 😀 It takes effort to think and work on such a small scale but it will come.

 

[12YearOldKid]

Yes you can rest your hand on the patients jaw. Its almost essential in fact. But it does have its drawbacks.

Like when the patient decides he absolutely has to swallow and closes his mouth driving your bur down a good millimeter into the pulpal floor during a competency. 😱 Things like that make your heart skip a beat.

 

[toofache32]

I prefer resting my hand on the patient's breast. Especially if using nitrous. And especially if it's a female.

 

[DrTacoElf]

How do dentists keep their hands steady when performing dental procedures? I'm sure there are procedures that require precison down to a cm or less. Is it okay to rest your hand on a patients face? Is there tables or something to aid the hand?

Yeah as posted above 1cm is huge! The more and more you work the more precise you will become. Plus you will get magnification which will help you see better. Your hands adapt over time 🙂

 

[scalpel2008]

I prefer resting my hand on the patient's breast. Especially if using nitrous. And especially if it's a female.

of course, the TUBE

 

[Dukie]

I personally find anything within an inch or two to be acceptable.

 

[rocknightmare]

I personally find anything within an inch or two to be acceptable.

honestly, anything better than that the human eye can't differentiate from 2-3 feet away so why bother? its like fps in gaming anything greater than 60 is not really necsarry🙂

 

[toofache32]

I personally find anything within an inch or two to be acceptable.

Are we still talking about dentistry?

 

[armorshell]

Are we still talking about dentistry?

I don't measure mine in inches, I use a graduated cylinder 😎

 

[cdmOMR]

I don't measure mine in inches, I use a graduated cylinder 😎

10, 50, or 100 mL? I find the 100 mL works best 😀

 

[I'mFillingFine]

I personally find anything within an inch or two to be acceptable.

Don't be so hard on yourself, Dukie