would OCD hurt in DS??

[bigstix808]

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i have been diagnosed with mild OCD. i'm not crazy i swear 🙂, just a perfectionist (cleaning, writing in pencil, WAXING). i have now learned that it affects me when i'm waxing. i'm not in DS yet, but i learned how to wax a few weeks back. i've been doing some stuff at home and it takes me forever to do one tooth (mainly molars b/c i haven't done much else) i'm not sure if this is normal or if it always takes a newbie a while to learn. i swear i'll sit there and the tooth will look perfect to everyone else but i want to keep working on it.

could this perhaps mess me up while in clinic once in DS. i don't want to spend 3 hrs with one patient when it could have taken me 25 min to do... ya know??? i mean, i know i'm going to be more of the quality over quantity dentist...but damn...this sux!

 

[tinman831]

could this perhaps mess me up while in clinic once in DS. i don't want to spend 3 hrs with one patient when it could have taken me 25 min to do... ya know??? i mean, i know i'm going to be more of the quality over quantity dentist...but damn...this sux!

You just summed up your problem in a nutshell right there. It's hard to give you any advice without knowing the severity or degree of your OCD. Nobody is perfect, even dentists. How you manage to deal with it will be up to you.

 

[Saddleshoes]

OSD will kill you as a private practice dentist.

But, you have what it takes to be a dental school instructor!

 

[sddat]

I can't really help you with advice...but where did you learn to wax? I want to become familiar with this before I get in to dental school.

 

[BuckeyMcGee]

It isn't necessarily a bad thing, a lot of scientists and people in the medical field have problems with perfection and striving to be perfect. You will eventually need to feel comfortable and happy with your final product. Like someone said, in private practice it will hurt you and possibly push people away. You need to work fast, but also carefully and properly. You'll become much faster once dental school starts. Once you hit dental school, you won't have much time to worry so much about your wax ups or else you'll end up putting other important stuff off!

 

[bigstix808]

well, i learned to wax from my gf's mom. her and her aunt own a dental lab. she took a weekend to teach me.

i'm hoping it will get better the better i get at the skills. i've been this way my whole life. i'm a perfectionist...but over time, i tend to get better than everyone else at a skill and i am quicker and better just because i DO perfect the technique. my own personal dentist said she was similar, more quality than quantity, but i just wanted to know if anyone else had had a similar problem.

i could see this hendering me, but at the same time...i would think that it could help me if i get good enough to where i wouldn't mess up (theoretically of course 😀)

ps: i'm not that severe of a case. i have a tendency to rewrite words on my notes to make sure they look "right", wipe things on my counter 3-4 times to make sure it's clean, vaccum twice, spray bleach in my shower every day to make sure nothing grows there, and minor things like that...just for those who were wondering

 

[rocknightmare]

i swear half my class mates have OCD but it might be just me..

anyways i don't have the complete details of the story - but there was a person at VCU who was very slow - due to taking their sweet time trying to perfect things that the school did not allow him/her to continue with school -- person apparently sued the school and school had to let him/her back in...

i would recommend that you control the ocd, try not to show it during the interview nor talk about it. and manage it during the dental school years so it doesn't interfere with your progress. and then god help you post dental school

well, i learned to wax from my gf's mom. her and her aunt own a dental lab. she took a weekend to teach me.

i'm hoping it will get better the better i get at the skills. i've been this way my whole life. i'm a perfectionist...but over time, i tend to get better than everyone else at a skill and i am quicker and better just because i DO perfect the technique. my own personal dentist said she was similar, more quality than quantity, but i just wanted to know if anyone else had had a similar problem.

i could see this hendering me, but at the same time...i would think that it could help me if i get good enough to where i wouldn't mess up (theoretically of course 😀)

ps: i'm not that severe of a case. i have a tendency to rewrite words on my notes to make sure they look "right", wipe things on my counter 3-4 times to make sure it's clean, vaccum twice, spray bleach in my shower every day to make sure nothing grows there, and minor things like that...just for those who were wondering

 

[pine88]

I actually think dental school would be a good choice. It requires perfectionism, meticulousness, and strong attention to detail. I am not a perfectionist and am working hard to try and change my personal standards, but I wish I had more of it naturally. My friends here that are perfectionists do get frustrated with not having enough time, but in general they perform very well. Everything is a matter of balance, and you will need to manage your OCD no matter what you decide to do with your life, so why not enter a profession where your OCD tendencies can be counted as an asset?

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

i have been diagnosed with mild OCD. i'm not crazy i swear 🙂, just a perfectionist (cleaning, writing in pencil, WAXING). i have now learned that it affects me when i'm waxing. i'm not in DS yet, but i learned how to wax a few weeks back. i've been doing some stuff at home and it takes me forever to do one tooth (mainly molars b/c i haven't done much else) i'm not sure if this is normal or if it always takes a newbie a while to learn. i swear i'll sit there and the tooth will look perfect to everyone else but i want to keep working on it.

could this perhaps mess me up while in clinic once in DS. i don't want to spend 3 hrs with one patient when it could have taken me 25 min to do... ya know??? i mean, i know i'm going to be more of the quality over quantity dentist...but damn...this sux!

There is nothing wrong of being a perfectionist as that is a trait that many excellent clinicians have. However, there is a point where perfectionism becomes a symtom of OCD. If your quest to have the absolute best is preventing a task to be accomplished, then you need to seek professional help as soon as possible. DP

 

[Bifid Uvula]

I wouldn't discuss the OCD at all during the interview. I'd leave that stuff completely out of your application and essays. If they find out, just blame it on your OCD.

As far as it affecting you through dental school... As long as you don't have OCD tendencies when you are injecting the patient (here comes a pinch, here comes another pinch and another pinch and another....) you will be fine.

Good luck to you.

 

[DrJeff]

To one extent or another, I think that most dental students and practicing dentists have atleast some mild OCD tendencies. It's just a simple by product of the repetitive nature of what we do every day combined with what tends to be the driven nature of folks entering the profession.

Where it can become a problem is if you're really, really, really obsessing over every last little minute edge/angle etc, etc, etc and then when you see down the road that the patient that you worked on so hard to achieve perfection does a poor job of taking care of your "masterpiece"😱😱

I like to take the approach that I will give my 100% effort each time I glove up and do some work, I will learn what I can both from others and from watching my existing work "age" over time, but the reality is in many cases that age, combined with wear and tear, and sometimes suspect homecare will lead to most work I place in peoples mouth's failing and needing to be replaced at some point in their lifetimes. That's just the reality of the environment we work in on a daily basis, it's tough on most materials!

 

[Ething]

Haha i was just discussing this with a friend. Most dental students are probably OCD. You will fit right in.

 

[Dukie]

Haha i was just discussing this with a friend. Most dental students are probably OCD. You will fit right in.

But, see, this is where many of you are wrong. Like many of you, I am truly a perfectionist and always seek to do the perfect work for my patient. This is a good thing. HOWEVER, true OCD is a very serious problem that can be quite debilitating. While dentistry may be a good career choice, it is essential that you get this under control as well. You will have a difficult time being successful if you are constantly agonizing over your work. Best of luck!

 

[SugarNaCl]

I'm wondering if you were diagnosed with OCPD or OCD. OCPD is the strict conformity with rules, order and perfectionism, without the ritualistic performance of activities. When I was in 6th grade, starting in a new school, I started exhibiting severe OCD symptoms. Activities I would take part in... generally praying or touching random things in series of 3 would take up about 4 hours+/night. I would hide it from my family and friends and it was VERY stressful. I didn't find out until many years later that I was very textbook for the disorder. By then, my symptoms had largely subsided. I know what you are going through and I know it is VERY hard, if not impossible to control.

Now as far as dentistry there may be some problems. At VCU, for most of your wax tooth carving competencies, you HAVE to finish in 4 hours. Furthermore, no patient when you are out of dental school will want to come to you if it takes you 2.5 hours to give someone a restoration and if you work for a group, you won't last very long. Those are probably the biggest challenges you are facing. You somehow will have to learn to let well enough alone, though knowing the nature of the disorder, I do know that is VERY, VERY difficult. They may have medication to help you out, I'm not sure. Furthermore, many schools have all lecture and very little hands on experience the first 2 years. If you choose one of those schools you may be far into it and very much in debt before you realize that it is a problem. I agree don't mention it in an interview... common sense but I don't think it has to kill the profession for you either. Good luck.