I will be starting dental school next fall and recently talked to first year in dental school about some things that he wished he would have done before he started. He suggested that I start working in a dental lab and learning how to wax teeth. I am nervous about my handskills and I think his suggestion is good, but does anyone know who I would contact for this experience? or some programs that are available for this sort of thing?
Waxing Teeth Before Dental School
- Thread starter bamadent
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I'm not sure how much help practicing beforehand will be, but since you asked:
http://www.allonesearch.com/dental-labs/alabama/birmingham
http://www.superpages.com/yellowpages/C-Dental+Laboratories/S-AL/T-Birmingham/
Just call around these places and see if they would be willing to take on a volunteer.
http://www.allonesearch.com/dental-labs/alabama/birmingham
http://www.superpages.com/yellowpages/C-Dental+Laboratories/S-AL/T-Birmingham/
Just call around these places and see if they would be willing to take on a volunteer.
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Just enjoy your free time off before school. I didn't even know what a wax up was before dental school. Everyone does just fine.
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...the F is wrong with you?! Make the most of your time instead of wasting it on wax ups.
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Know what you want to get out of something before you do it. Dental school is a huge undertaking and you will be instructed on how to wax teeth. That being said if you can get some experience at someone else's expense by all means. Just remember that YOU need to know WHAT you want to get out of it.
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Before you wax, you would need to know the tooth anatomy very well. Waxing without knowing the anatomy very well would be pretty useless. Plus, it helps tremendously when you have a prof around to ask questions.
It's a huge undertaking doing it solo with no help, and exponentially more time and effort than just waiting until dental school and letting it be taught to you.
Don't worry about it too much, you will have enough lab time to practice during school.
It's a huge undertaking doing it solo with no help, and exponentially more time and effort than just waiting until dental school and letting it be taught to you.
Don't worry about it too much, you will have enough lab time to practice during school.
If you can do it for free sure try it out. It sucks. I find it super boring. But don't spend money on it. you wont know the anatomy but we didn't our first week. We were just copying the prep tooth. But seriously don't spend much time trying because you will be bad (even if you think its good) and get discouraged.
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Honestly, just enjoy your free time while it lasts.
If you are really dead set on improving your handskill, I would recommend working on your non-dominant hand. If you are able to SRP, perform incision, and suture with your non-dominant hand it would definitely make your life a lot easier in the future.
N
NAVY DDS 2010
Most people who go through dental school have no lab experience before they attended d-school. Do some people struggle more than others? Yes, but very few people fail out of d-school because they cannot wax. If for some reason you are one of those people who are struggling, just ask for help as soon as you feel you are struggling. Ask an upperclassman or professor to help. Most people will be willing to give you pointers.
Don't stress out about this. You will do just fine. Just enjoy the fact you are going to be attending d-school. Relax as much as you can now!
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Practice writing backwards through a mirror - you know, so you can read what you're writing in the mirror but not if you look directly on the page.
Buy a plastic model (circa 3rd grade blob of plastic and glue) and be as meticulous as you can be painting and connecting the parts. Make it pretty.
Carve soap. Use an exacto blade (found at any hobby shop), a sewing needle, or anything else with a fine blade/point. Carve whatever you want (doesn't have to be a tooth) paying attention to detail and scale.
Pre-clinic isn't so much about teeth. Rather, it gets you used to looking at/thinking about teeth. Carving a molar doesn't prepare you to prep a real crown - but it does train you to look at the prep and envision your final restoration. You can practice this "vision" with some of the exercises above. You can also do a search online for "dental anatomy" and draw what you see - make tooth #19 look different from tooth #31 from the occlusal view, buccal view, etc...
Buy a plastic model (circa 3rd grade blob of plastic and glue) and be as meticulous as you can be painting and connecting the parts. Make it pretty.
Carve soap. Use an exacto blade (found at any hobby shop), a sewing needle, or anything else with a fine blade/point. Carve whatever you want (doesn't have to be a tooth) paying attention to detail and scale.
Pre-clinic isn't so much about teeth. Rather, it gets you used to looking at/thinking about teeth. Carving a molar doesn't prepare you to prep a real crown - but it does train you to look at the prep and envision your final restoration. You can practice this "vision" with some of the exercises above. You can also do a search online for "dental anatomy" and draw what you see - make tooth #19 look different from tooth #31 from the occlusal view, buccal view, etc...
