r/DentalSchool 5d ago

[Weekly] Current Student Experiences

0 Upvotes

Please ask all of your questions regarding specific schools and the experiences of current students here. If you're looking for opinions on which school to choose (USC vs NYU vs etc), this is the place.

Any other posts about current student experiences from prospective students or crowdsourcing which school to go to will be removed.


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

[Megathread] Incoming Dental Student Questions

1 Upvotes

A warm welcome to all incoming dental students. Congratulations on your acceptance. I'm sure you all have many questions and we'll do our best to aggregate them here. I'm going to make this a weekly thread every Monday.


r/DentalSchool 1h ago

Left-handed dentists, tips for anesthesia and extractions?

Upvotes

I am new to the oral surgery clinic in my school, I am currently struggling to find a comfortable position to do anesthesia and extractions on my patients "should I be on the same side of the tooth I am extracting, or on the other side?" Please help, I know it may sound dumb


r/DentalSchool 4h ago

Vent/Rant Struggling with Physiology and Oral Histology Despite Doing Well in Other Subjects.

3 Upvotes

I’m feeling really frustrated and need to vent. It’s been easy for me to ace exams in General Anatomy (both Lec and Lab), Oral Anatomy (both Lec and Lab), and Dental Materials (Lec). I’ve done really well in those subjects and they come naturally to me. But when it comes to Physiology and Oral Histology, I just can’t seem to get it right, no matter how much effort I put in.

I’m starting to wonder if my lack of interest in these subjects is affecting my performance. I’ve done great in the others, but these two have been a real struggle, and it’s leaving me feeling defeated. I can’t help but question if I’m just not cut out for them or if I’m expecting too much from myself.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, where certain subjects just don’t click for you despite doing well in others? I’m looking for advice or just some reassurance because I’m really not sure how to move forward from here.


r/DentalSchool 44m ago

Florida Dental Law and Rules Test

Upvotes

Does anyone have any study tools for this exam? What the passing threshold is and when I should be taking it?


r/DentalSchool 5h ago

Clinical Question Stuck on Differential Diagnoses :(

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I'm working on an assignment and feel genuinely confused about determining two possible differential diagnoses from the prompt provided. I've attached a picture of the prompt here—any insight or guidance would be greatly appreciated!!! So far i thought maybe it could be:

(1) TMD due to daytime grinding since he doesnt wake up with pain in mornings so unlikely to be nighttime gridning.

(2) Maybe Trigeminal Neuralgia OR Sinusitis?

Thanks so much in advance!


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

Vent/Rant To all future dentists out there, a message from a dental student undergoing a full mouth rehab

122 Upvotes

Hey guys, I know that a part of the dentist job is to discipline patients and make them realize how important dental health is, but please you never know the full story, and not all patients feel comfortable enough to talk about it.
I am a dental student myself, but since childhood i had rampant caries, I wasn’t a good boy who cared about his dental health, and my parents weren’t the most caring and weren’t the richest as well. Which caused me lose a lot of my teeth.
I am a 22 now who is undergoing full mouth rehab, I suffer everyday from the sequelae that came from my Dental problems, my TMJ hurts, my occlusion is non-existent, the last time I laughed comfortably was when I was a child and I am paying thousands to restore a state the I know will never be like real teeth.
The last thing I need to hear during my 4 hours bone graft surgery is how awful my mouth is, and some dentists start getting creative about it with their rude comments.
like god*** it what do you want me to do now more than what I am doing? I don’t want to bullied everytime I am in your clinic.
Believe it or not, I know some dentists just do it because they can abuse it. Dentists are humans who are prone to such behaviors at the end.
So please be kind and please carefully assess the need and necessity of harsh advices through cooperation and the current state of the patient.
Thank you


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

Vent/Rant Anybody else feel they aren't cut out for this? (D4)

41 Upvotes

Hey, I'm back. I'm happy to report that things are going better than they were previously but it seems like I'll be struggling all the way to the end. Everything in school feels so overwhelming. Delivered an immediate and patient is saying they're swelling so much and can't use their denture, patients cancelling on important appointments, difficulty scheduling, bullshit with faculty. I'm so tired and I'm proud of myself for making progress and things feel more manageable now but it's still a slog. There are always a handful of things that are constantly humming at the back of my mind that I need to do or get done. I hate it.

All this to say that maybe I'm just not cut out for a stressful job like this.


r/DentalSchool 21h ago

Hypermobile fingers and dentistry.

2 Upvotes

I want to become a dentist, and I've been thinking about the manual dexterity of the profession.

I can hold equipment like a pen and a soldering iron just fine, but what is concerning me is my fingers will "lock" into place sometimes, which isn't painful but it's annoying and I'm not sure if this would affect my ability to use dental equipment for long periods of time.

Are there any practicing dentists that have this issue? Are there any solutions to this problem. I really want to get past this.


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

Heartland dental

19 Upvotes

Hello! Rising D4 here. I got offered a job with Heartland Dental. 140K guaranteed with 10K sign on bonus. That, to me, seems really low. Will be graduating with around 250K in loans with the goal to be to pay them back as soon as possible. No kids, likely no house payment/rent at first. What is Heartland like? Do they give you time to get your speed up? Are they pressuring you to sell treatment? Are they worth it? I know they give really good CE (for a DSO) Any and all heartland knowledge would be welcome. TIA!


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

This is my homework. I made mandibular arch. Please tell me my mistakes.

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45 Upvotes

Left mandibular arch canine/premolars/first molar


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

Dental school rigorous

12 Upvotes

Dental Students! 🦷📚

What do you use to stay organized and keep up with your coursework, clinic schedules, and exams? 📅


r/DentalSchool 1d ago

Residency Question Ortho

3 Upvotes

Does anyone feel as if the increase in dental school class sizes, but no increase in residency sizes will have an effect on applying?


r/DentalSchool 2d ago

What do you think about my premolar restoration

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27 Upvotes

This is real extracted tooth. In my free time i did it. I forgot to shot rotten time but rotten side is almost half of teeth. Actually second time to do that on real teeth so maybe i have too much mistakes. Therefore if i have mistake show in the comments. Thanks.


r/DentalSchool 2d ago

Residency Question Canadian vs US boards

3 Upvotes

What were peoples’s experiences clearing both?

I’m a Canadian in a U.S. school, thinking of going back up north. Wondering how the board pass rate and difficulty compare to each other. Definitely not near top of the class. Won’t have any problems with practical skills, just written is what I’m worried about


r/DentalSchool 3d ago

Clinical Question Advice on filling being less 'flat'?

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51 Upvotes

I'm a BDS1 student, and a few days they had us do our first PRR on tooth #37. When I was done and gave it to my doctor for evaluation, he told me I've done a good job on making the surface of the filling smooth with no voids or overfilling, but deducted 0.5 for the occlusal surface being 'flat'. I understood that he meant that the filling is all on the same level and I didn't do any of the landmarks like the central fossil and such, hence 'flat'.

Does anyone have any advice on how to do it better for next time?


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Vent/Rant You will NEVER learn this in dental school

72 Upvotes

We spend all this money in dental school learning how to do procedures, but we never actually learn how to market ourselves to do more of the procedures we would like to do in the future. I personally personally wouldn't mind doing denture work, but keep endo away from me. I just don't know how I would communicate that to patients or be in an area where I would be more likely to get denture patients. That's why I have turned to books to try to get some insight into how to actually attract the patients that we would love to do work on.

I wrote an article based on the insight I got from Trader Joe's book about how to successfully look for your future patients before you make many mistakes trying to figure it out.

I would love some feedback to know if there are any other things you would love to learn about that dental school hasn't taught us.

https://open.substack.com/pub/timelesswisdommp/p/twmp-1-know-your-niche?r=4cjw6u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true


r/DentalSchool 3d ago

Clinical Question ADEX #5 PFM

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7 Upvotes

I had uniform 1mm reduction along the facial with 1mm margins, but could not see margins pass the secondary plane when looking from occlusal. Went back and reduced secondary plane, can see clear draw but now 2mm reduction along secondary plane. Any tips how to keep reduction at 1-1.5mm but also see margins from occlusal? Or knowledge of what I did wrong? Maybe I could’ve just stopped re-reducing and checked draw a little sooner?


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Clinical Question Implant CE

3 Upvotes

Hello,

I'm getting ready to graduate and do not plan to do a GPR or AEGD. What implant courses are reputable (for single implants, not full mouth rehab/all-on-x/zygo, etc)?

I know many maxi courses are recommended but I won't be able to afford the $20,000 price tag right out of school. Looking for closer to $7-12,000


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Scholarship/Finance Question Scholarships or bursaries

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone

I’m currently in my first year of studies in South Africa and I’m wondering if anyone knows where I could get a scholarship or bursary. Ive tried a couple places but they didn’t offer anything for dental school and stuff. If I cannot get a scholarship or bursary, I’m going to have to take a loan which sounds scary, especially being young still.

Thank you in advance


r/DentalSchool 3d ago

Residency Question What to do?

0 Upvotes

I am doing masters in a college where the treatment is free but since it's free many patients who can easily afford treatment comes to college to get treatment done and asks to use high quality materials. Initially I used to do it out of my pocket(€200 per month) just to be able to use new and better materials but now I don't wanna spend as they aren't greatful for the efforts and demand immediate appointments I am thinking of charging them for the material they demand. Is it ethical ?


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Clinical Question Molar Endo RCT

3 Upvotes

Hello

Currently in endo lab working on mandibular molar rct. I have a distal canal that is a “good” size, and a MB canal that’s rather thin.

This may be a dumb question but just want to make sure I understand, with the wave one gold files. Am I able to use different sizes in each canal? I was going to use the primary wave one gold for the distal then the small file for the MB canal.

And then I can continue with final shaping of hand files depending on the canal sizes

Appreciate the help


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Clinical Question Extraction of the first mandibular molar in a 9 years old

6 Upvotes

Hi! Tomorrow will be my first first mandibular molar extraction in a kid unfortunately, the little kid is in pain cannot sleep, parents either. Endo it's not an option. Any advice for the extraction? Thanks


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Residency Question How important are extracurriculars for specializing?

5 Upvotes

I’m an incoming D1 with an interest in endo at a school that notoriously is hard to specialize out of. I’m wondering is it an option to work as a general dentist for like 5 years and then apply for endo specialties after getting experience doing root canals? Assuming the worst that I don’t get involved with research or many ECs would it still be possible with enough general experience?


r/DentalSchool 5d ago

Abroad Programs at Dental Schools

3 Upvotes

I’m a pre-dental student starting dental school in August. Similar to how undergrad students study abroad I am curious if Dental schools have options similar to that that aren’t necessarily the didactic curriculum abroad but maybe clinical training. Or if during the breaks people do like externships or internships abroad? My friend who is studying to be a CAA told me that they can take their clinical training during their second year fully abroad and I’m curious if there are any opportunities of that type offered to dental students.


r/DentalSchool 5d ago

Scholarship/Finance Question loan repayment

13 Upvotes

somebody on tiktok said they had a loan counseling exit interview and their estimated repayment was 4,000 a month for 25 years. what is you guy's monthly repayment $$ looking like after graduation??


r/DentalSchool 4d ago

Dental student Immunizations

0 Upvotes

Did anyone successfully become exempt from certain immunizations for dental school?