What if you break your hand/wrist during d-school?

[PickMe]

haha, this crossed my mind today. its kind of funny to think about, but what would you do if you had a cast on your wrist during the clinical years?

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[beredsox2]

haha, this crossed my mind today. its kind of funny to think about, but what would you do if you had a cast on your wrist during the clinical years?

Simple answer to this: become a lefty.

 

[Rezdawg]

you're pretty much screwed. Your hands are very valuable from the time you start dental school until the day you retire from dentistry.

 

[beredsox2]

On a serious note, I guess once in dental school maybe you can get your hand and wrist ensured?? I mean they will have some value. I know college athletes get some sort of insurance to cover for them, and JLo insured her behind. I'm sure some kind of insurance is out there.

 

[blankguy]

Train yourself to use your feet. JUst think of feet in the patients mouth.

 

[howui3]

Train yourself to use your feet. JUst think of feet in the patients mouth.

like the guy on the 2005 World Series of Poker main event. lost the use of his arms in an accident so now he plays golf and even poker with his feet.

it's doable, but i am not sure how the patients will react!

 

[Audio]

Yeah, you could use your toe jam to floss your patient's teeth mmmmm toe jam

 

[coral2005]

Sick.

 

[50dent]

After dental school- My dad(insurance agent) said that for jobs which require a specific type of mobility and training like an airline pilot or dentist, you can get "job-only insurance" or "job-specific insurace" where u collect 2/3rds of your salary or less depending on the level of premiums you decided to pay and you pay less taxes since I believe you can file for disability.
Ive read where a dentist cut his finger off in a wreck trying to claim disability but the cut clearly was caused by a handtool found in his car and he couldn't..I may of read that on sdn

 

[Rezdawg]

On a serious note, I guess once in dental school maybe you can get your hand and wrist ensured?? I mean they will have some value. I know college athletes get some sort of insurance to cover for them, and JLo insured her behind. I'm sure some kind of insurance is out there.

Yeah, you will get your hands insured when you get to school.

 

[fightingspirit]

hey guys, this issue actually crossed my mind many times before. i mean seriously guys, it would totally suck if a d-student or a dentist looses one or both hands....

i guess from now on, we should really be carefull....you know.......drive slowly, be carefull at the gym, ....i dont know, one can only minimize the risk......man i dont even wanna think about this...

 

[Sephisabin]

The dentist I interned for said my hands are my life now and made me promise to wear wristguards any time I go snowboarding... I guess precautions are necessary too now...

 

[Dentalist]

Good stuff to think about.. I tend to hurt my wrist easily from working out. I know hand injuries can significantly affect dental career, but the same goes for every other profession. People have to take risks to succeed, and nothing in life is guranteed.

 

[duh?]

Yeah, you will get your hands insured when you get to school.

really?

 

[trust068]

yes you can buy disability insurance. However, i would think that only applys to people who actually can work (i.e. had state license) or some sort of limitation.

http://www.guardianlife.com/solutions/product_portfolio/disability_insurance.html

but you just have to be extremely careful with your million dollars hand. my bro quit motocycle riding for this reason (11 years of riding pride)

 

[Kniles5]

you could also lose your sight. then you are really screwed.

 

[fightingspirit]

yeah but the eyes are in a more protected area than the hand..

 

[teefRcool]

you could also break your back.
or break your neck.
or lose ur memory and not know what your doing.

I mean this type of question applies to every job.

 

[PickMe]

i know it applies to every job, but dentistry has a greater investment in education. its not like you are a mailman and you lose your hand. you did not have 4 yrs of undergrad and 4 yrs of dental school preparing you for the job. i was also asking more along the lines of being in school. is it possible to just take a month off of clinical if you break your wrist? do you graduate late? haha, im not expecting this to happen, its just another one of those what if questions. im also wondering if anyone has any good stories about this happening to someone they know.

 

[gryffindor]

We had a classmate break a wrist/arm in a skiing accident during the clinical years.

He had to stay an extra semester in clinic to make up for it.

I have never gone skiing and I never intend to go either. Not worth it.

charlie711 - The scenario you described depends on the wording of your disability insurance. My policy says I can get hurt while on vacation/being pregnant/walking home and if it makes me unable to practice dentistry in my office, you can collect disability benefits. You also have to make sure there is a specific clause put in so that if you can't practice in your office, you can collect your disability and still get a job teaching at the dental school. There are specific terms for these scenarios I'm describing, but I can't remember what they are.

 

[dentropy]

If you loose a hand you could get a special prosthetic...each finger could be a dental tool
Thumb=drill
index finger=explorer
middle finger=mirror...etc.

like Edward Scissorhands!

 

[INFNITE]

what if you go blind or deaf

 

[Rezdawg]

really?

Yeah, Im sure you will get it at Penn.

 

[coral2005]

Does anyone know if carpal tunnel be treated to the point where it won't hurt you as a dentist?