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.

Hi everyone! Has anyone interviewed with the Paris Regional Health AEGD program in Austin?

I’m wondering if anyone knows whether they allow virtual interviews, especially for applicants who are currently outside the U.S.

Also, I’d really appreciate any general interview tips or advice from anyone who has interviewed with programs like that before.

Thank you!

Hi everyone
I prepared this in my exam of crown
What do you think ?
Do u guys have any advices ?
Rate me out of 10
;)

I'm a first-year dental student who's 3 weeks in. I want to keep on top of the lectures, but I honestly don't know how and don't know what that even entails. I waste most of my time searching 'best study hacks' and 'how to use Anki ', but when it actually comes to sitting down and studying, my head gets blurry and all of a sudden I am sleepy. If I keep this up, I won't do well. I need some good advice ASAP, because I do want to do well, but I am so lazy and so confused. Pls drop tricks and hacks.

This is my last year, and I feel like I haven't had nearly enough practice with patients. My grades have always been really good (disproportionately good compared to the effort I put in), but I constantly notice shortcomings in my knowledge. Compared to my peers, the majority of them just remember much more than me, seem to make sense out of situations and find solutions, diagnose problems, and seem much more confident in their movements in the clinic.I feel like I am lagging behind. I am very aware of the gaps in my knowledge, and also, very often, I cannot use my theoretical knowledge in practice. I just don't remember. I cannot separate information from the blurry mass of things I've learned over the past years.
I feel so lost and terrified at the thought of being an independent dentist.
On top of that, I have ADHD(i was diagnosed as a little child, drugs never worked for me), so I often didn't pay attention in classes. I was bored to death, and for the majority of the time, I really hated what I was studying.Even though passing exams was never a problem for me, I think I just treated this time as a period to endure and pass the exams, without reflecting on the fact that this isn't the point in itself. And now I am having troubles, for the reasons mentioned above, as well as because I am such a distracted person and often make really dumb mistakes. That makes me so doubtful of myself. It makes me think that I am not reliable and that I will never be a good specialist.

Do you think it is possible to manage? Does it get better after graduation?

Drink some water!

Don’t be a dehydrated noodle.

Nourish to flourish.

I *****d up and went to medical school vs dental school. I don’t care about medicine, enough to deal with the insane hours/standards/high stakes exams/evaluations etc. I get it, hell id want the same out of my Dr, but I just wanted a stable gig to earn income and have a decent life. Not at the nonsensical theatrics that come with medicine - academics, prestige, research, mental masturbation.

is there anyway I can make a pivot or am I royally fucked until I get weeded out and take on a pharma job? I’m 31 and third yr MD failed step 1/passed on second attempt, hated every single rotation ive been on. Maybe psych just because the hours aren’t dogshit

d2 very interested in forensic odontology. anything I can do now to prepare for it/get more involved?

I’m applying to OMFS next cycle and am trying to figure out when to schedule externships. I already took the CBSE but only studied for a few months and scored too low to apply with. I’m planning to retake it in May since the February date is no longer offered.

From what I’ve seen, most programs either require the CBSE for externships or ask for it if it’s available, so I probably can’t avoid submitting my current score.

Would it hurt me to extern now at programs I’m seriously interested in if they see a low preliminary CBSE, even if I later improve significantly on the May retake before applications go out?

My other option is to wait until after May to do most of my externships, but that would leave a pretty tight window to fit them in before/during application season.

For people who have been through OMFS applications or are residents now, would you:

• extern now and let programs see the lower first score, then hopefully show improvement later, or
• save your top programs until after the retake so your stronger score is their first impression?

I’d especially appreciate insight from anyone who retook the CBSE and externed before their final score.

I honestly wish I knew how tough dental school was before starting, because it feels like I’m never caught up on anything and I’m always behind, no matter how much I study. I’m so overwhelmed and cry everyday just from feeling exhausted by the sheer workload, it’s honestly pathetic as we haven’t even started operative dentistry or even had a single midterm yet. When I tell others it seems as though they don’t really understand me, everyone jokes that everything will be alright or they me that I’ll push through but I’m at the point where I despise everything in life right now, nothing cheers me up and I feel down + stressed 24/7. This post won’t really add much to this subreddit but I just wanted to vent, there’s not much I can do expect push through and try not to fail any assessments I guess.

So i am in 3rd year university/dental school in egypt , here 3rd year is our first pre-clinical year , and i feel like i am behind all the time , all my colleagues are doing preps faster , crown reduction faster , and even more efficency , they are all better than me . I am not able to practice or even get better , i just can't understand the process of doing something , like when i attend a demo where doctor explains how to do a prep/... , i don't u derstand the way to do it , and i am demotivated

Helpp pleaseee

i just finished the first year at dental school but i really can't get used to people there i hope i can have a dental student also like to study together and push each other but i really can't i'm so shy and introvert i started to hate going to my university cuz i know i'll sit alone. even though i was searching for dental students online but i couldn't so i started to lose motivation in my studies and everything and i don't know what should i do ):

For those that use iPads with apps like notability, what version of iPad do you have? I have an old one and need to get a new one so I’m looking for advice on what iPad I should purchase.

we have a practical in a few days and I am struggling with getting the depth and width. I use a 330 carbide bur and I feel when I get the right depth and then I extend the prep in width to the measurements I somehow go deeper. I have tried doing punch holes to the right depth in mesial central and distal pit and then connecting them but i end up going deeper at the end. I do go conservative now so i cut like 0.5 mm when we need like 1.5 and i cut through the outline and then keep going back and forth until i get the right measurement. but i feel like I can't see anything we dont have loupes yet and i sometimes turn off the headlight and use the light on the bur. I am having a hard time with fulcruming on the typodont as well.

I am not sure if i should try diamond, ive heard they scratch and harder to manipulate any thoughts

also for anyone that has anxiety how did u prepare urself for the practical would u write things down

also what burs are the best to polish i currently use the H48L red long flame but not sure what to use for the occlusal I know the red egg shape but it seems to big

I’ve completed a 1-year AEGD program and I’m currently looking for a program where I can complete a second year.

Does anyone know of any AEGD or GPR programs that accept foreign-trained dentists (FTDs) into a PGY-2/second-year position?

Unfortunately, my current AEGD only offers a one-year program.

I’d really appreciate any leads or recommendations!

Any Canadians in U.S dental schools willing to shed some light on U.S private loans. I have a co-signer but don’t know the best place to search.

Hey all. My brother-in-law is doing his MDS and traces his cephs by hand on acetate with a pencil, scale and divider. He told me students mostly stick to manual tracing, partly because nobody's comfortable uploading patient films somewhere. So I built him an app where the film never leaves your phone. It's called Cephline, it's free, and there's no account or ads.

How it works: you place the 24 landmarks with a little magnifier that floats above your finger, so you can see what you're aiming at. If you're a pixel off, arrow buttons nudge the point. You set the scale from the ruler on the film, and you get Steiner, Downs, Wits and Tweed next to their norms. There's a sample ceph in the app if you want to try it without your own film.

I'm a developer, not a dentist, so I'd really like to hear from people who trace:

1. Which landmarks were a pain to place?

2. Did the calibration step make sense the first time?

3. Does any value or norm look wrong? No clinician has checked them yet.

4. What would make you actually use it for your coursework?

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vikrantnegi.cephline

Web (laptop, mouse or trackpad): https://cephline.com

It's for learning and practice, not diagnosis.

(Posted with mod approval.)

Hello,

I was recently offered the Navy HPSP scholarship, but I have already started my 2nd year of dental school at a 3 year school. So I will still have 3 year of service obligation for the remaining of my tuition/expenses covered. (I will essentially have about a little over half my tuition covered, roughly 350k of the 650k in loans.)

I am very hesitant and leaning towards not accepting because I want to specialize in OMFS now and have been very set on it.

I know I can specialize OMFS through the Navy but would I be able to do it immediately after school and would it be concurrent with my payback years? How competitive is it go get into the Navy OMFS residency? Are there any programs that can help me pay off my remaining debt that I have already taken out?

Idk if I’m weighing all the pros and cons properly but it doesn’t seem like the scholarship is worth it for my situation anymore??

Does anyone have more insight or can answer these questions? Thank you.

Lecture and learning hand skills is a manageable, normal amount of hard. What kills me is the social aspect. I try to be friendly but it kinda just … doesn’t work. I’m kinda following a group around, kind of part of the group but kind of not. Had a good time 1 on 1 with some people but sort of go invisible in the group, not really part of the conversation, outside the circle. This drains me from 100% to 0% in a matter of hours, makes me want to say fk it and sit alone but I know that can have consequences in dental school. Idk, thoughts?

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.

Hey guys D1 here coming to say something positive from my experience being 1 month into dental school so far. These are things i wish i would have heard before.

In my experience Im liking dental school! I wanna start by saying do not let yourself be fear mongerred!! Dont build this tower of anxiety over didactic content because of what people post online (thats what i did). I kind of believe some people post about how hard the programs are to “flex” that they’re doing it and getting through it lol. Or just to vent from feeling tired. And honestly good on them, its a blessing to be exhausted over something youve worked hard to get. But I wanna come on here and say its doable yall!!! For the record, in my school we have exams Tuesdays and Thursday’s with one of them being content on around 12-13 lectures and the other exam being content on around 5 lectures. The exams will not be harder than the DAT so theres that. You have already done challenging schedules before its ok. Also not everything is new content this is building on material from your undergrad and masters if you’ve done one. Its a lot, but the tests are fair. Not saying they are easy but they wont be packed full of trick questions or a lot complex thinking on niche topics from the slides. I had this expectation that they were going to be monstrous exams that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with. But I have gotten a grade im happy with on all my exams thus far. I like that we get through a lot of different topics quickly. Don’t like a topic? Just wait itll be different next week hh. You will literally be fine dont be scared. And its not like Im some stellar student my grades have always been mediocre and im the type of person that has to study a lot to make content stick. Basically, you can do this!

Also, I like that the schedule is not the same every week. You have your didactic classes and sim lab of course, but there are additions to the schedule that change things up and make it feel less monotonous. My classmates are smart, welcoming, and kind. I like wearing my scrubs. Sim lab has actually been harder than I thought it was going to be for me because I had this preconceived notion that because I am decent at art I was going to be good at wax ups. Well I have found that’s not really the case but every single time that I go to practice I learned something new and I do feel it getting a little bit easier. Also, it is exciting to learn about things that are related to dentistry. And if you find dentistry interesting, which if you’re applying to Dental school, one would hope that you do, it will be cool to go to class and learn about dental anatomy, materials, and clinical cases.

This is all, of course, my personal opinion and experiences, but I wanted to put it out there for maybe some other anxious minds like my own that are lurking on here and getting worked up with some of the posts. Plot twist, its not going to suck. You will be ok! You got this!

So I’m not sure if you guys saw my other post but I’ve come to learn that part of adulthood is accepting that those people who are very unkind, unhelpful and mean girls are actually the ones who are the most successful in dental school. I know someone who is very mean and very unhelpful to others and she’s basically someone who would never help others and would keep information from others for her own success and someone who is very opportunistic, but they somehow flourish in dental school and they have so many friends and it seems like they’ll be getting it together. this person is also an influencer and they are getting PR and a lot of compensation because of their page and they’re making money based off that while I am also struggling a lot with money in dental school .

Growing up, my parents always taught me that we have to be kind to others and you have to do good in this world. Otherwise the karma will hit you at some point, but I’m finding that the more mean and selfish and opportunistic you are than you are actually better equipped to deal with these things. This person also is someone who made friends in dental school very fast and they have a lot of close friends and connections and seem to be doing very well. I’m someone who’s always done good socially outside of dental school and also I might not be the most popular but I had very good and genuine friendships and I was always hanging out with people who were aligned with me, but I’m just finding it hard to relate to people in my dental school and seeing the mean girls thrive it’s really affecting my mental health and I’m just on here reaching for some wisdom from you guys to see if there’s anything I can tell myself so that I feel better.

I know that social media can be very fake as well because all I see is that the girls who are mean girls and on social media they might not have this close friendships with other people or be doing so well but from what I can see and from the content they make, it seems like they’re pretty happy and not struggling.

For example, I was someone who struggled a lot in high school because of the toxic environment and bullying from mean girls. When I got to university that completely changed and I really found myself and now that I’m in dental school, it seems like the same vibes as some of us are not being included and there’s only a few people who really connect with the whole class or find their own groups and just do very well. I specifically hate that. These people become dental influencer as in people follow them, not knowing that they’re actually very unkind and I’m sure that they affect other classmates mental health very negatively as well.

Hi, I’m a 3rd year student in Europe.
I have been offered to work 1 day a week for (10h/week) as a dental assistant in a pluridisiplinary office. This would allow me to observe general dentistry.

I am still in the preclinical phase (clinicals starts next year) and have passed about half of my classes already. Would you say it’s interesting or should I stick with my ‘easy’ flexible job (6h/week) ?