Thursday, August 18, 2005

Sorry for making anyone wait to read Thursday's entry until Friday morning. We have a big anantomy/histology exam coming on Friday, and I have been up late studying for it downtown with a friend.

Today, we had our first quiz in operative. It was the same format as all of the other quizzes we have: multiple choice, 10 question, based on the lecture notes, and scantron. I did alright. Operative can afford to make the quizzes somewhat easier because of the challenging nature of the lab work.

After the quiz we had a lecture on cutting a class II amalgam prep on tooth #19. We prepped the mesial and occlusal surfaces (denoted 19-MO). Our professors tell us that the class II amalgam prep is the toughest procedure to learn in operative dentistry. You have to drop a box cut down the proximal surface without (ideally) nicking the other tooth. However, the most challenging feature (at least I think so) is that many of the cuts we are making have to be accurate to 10th of a millimeter! So, not only do my eyes have to be able to see very, very small depths, but also my hands have to be able to apply just the right amount of pressure to the handpiece so that I don't cut deeper than necessary. It's tricky, but after 6 weeks of playing with a handpiece, it's something that many students get a grasp on quickly. By the end of the day, students were able to produce very nice class II preps.