Friday, July 29, 2005

On Friday's, the second year students monopolize the simlab for their removable prosthodontics course, so the first years can't get into do any work until 5pm. We were in lecture all day again.

Biochem was business as usual. After about 30 minutes, most of the class was either asleep or browsing the internet. We finally finished a two part lecture covering the structure of proteins.

After a short break, we were back in room 308 for more anatomy. Dr. Burk presented a two hour lecture on the central nervous system. About 2/3 of the way through, the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate. Nobody was upset about that.

After lunch, we went back to room 308 for another anatomy lecture. This time the topic was the vertebrae and the spinal cord. After the lecture, we went upstairs to the cadaver lab. Today was our first day in that lab. We met our cadaver and learned about his health, occupation, and cause of death. Our cadaver died of pancreatic cancer, heart failure, and a handful of other causes. Because of the pancreatic cancer, his skin turned an alien green color.

On Monday, we leave for our first year retreat. Each class has an annual retreat. It's usually one or two nights at a fun location. So, I'll be gone until Tuesday night. On Monday night we go bowling after a series of lectures. On Tuesday morning, I'm going golfing with some other students and faculty. Should be fun.

And, I'd like to thank everyone for helping to get the troll banned.

I Need a Dental Assistant

Thursday, July 28, 2005

I love Thursdays. A full day of operative means a full day of using our handpieces to cut teeth. Today we started working on the maxillary arch. Our task was to cut a nice prep on tooth #3. Using the mirror to look at the tooth as you cut takes some getting used to. It is difficult to get your bur oriented so that it aligned with the long axis of the tooth. I tend to lean it to the side, which results in a sloppier cut. And, the mirror gets wet quickly. I found that if I held the mirror in the location of the left mandibular canine, it didn't get wet as quickly. But, without loupes, once the mirror gets wet, it becomes impossible to see the developmental and supplemental grooves on the teeth. So, I had to stop, blow off the water, and go again. Thank goodness for dental assistants three years from now. I cut five preps on #3, and I think I'm getting better slowly. They aren't terrible, but there are some mistakes I'm making (going to deep, cutting to wide) that I need to fix before it comes due in 2 weeks.

During the afternoon of operative, we had some folks come in and teach about correct chair posture. You can really screw up your back, neck, and wrists if are not careful. They took about 20 minutes.

Friday, is another day of lecture, except that we will meet our cadavers in the afternoon. I'm kinda looking forward to it.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Class started at 7am today instead of 8am. We all met in the clinic and our individual Fundamentals of Restorative Dentistry row instructors each took an impression with alginate of our maxillary arches. I was lucky to be one of the first, so I was all done pouring up my mold by 7:30 and I had another hour until lecture. I spent the time studying for anatomy.

Anatomy at Pacific is a huge class. I spend half the time just trying to get a grasp on what is going on, and the other half of the time in lecture. In any given week this quarter, we spend 10 hours a week spread over 3 days. The only other class that comes close to that is Operative, which all day every Thursday. For any future Pacific students, make sure to take a physiology, anatomy, and histology course before coming to Pacific, if you can. You'll thank me later when you are going to bed at a decent hour.

For the remainder of the morning we had restorative lab. We learned how to mount our casts onto our articulators. We spent a lot of time polishing them up and making them look presentable. Pacific does a great job on reminding us of the practical applications of things. Although it makes things harder, instructors demand excellence in presentation of our projects. The bar is high but I prefer it that way. I like making something that I know in the end is going to look really good.

After lunch, we had biochem and anatomy lecture. Biochem covered the 3-d structures of proteins and anatomy dealt with blood. We were done by 4pm, instead of 5pm.

I stayed after school until 8pm working on my preps on #19 and #31. They are looking good, but I still need more practice. My hand skills have come a long way in 3 weeks.

After I got home, I ate some dinner with the family. Then I got out my wax tooth, popped in a movie, and widdled away at my little piece of art. It's due on Monday, so I need to get all finished up so I can study for my biochem test.

Wax On, Wax Off

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Worked on polishing my stone models this morning. Filled in some holes and got them all ready to be turned in tomorrow. Afterwards I studied for the dental anatomy quiz at 9am. After the quiz, we came into the sim lab, and spent the remainder of the morning finishing our wax-up of #8. I'm almost finished, I just need to polish it up real nice.

After lunch, the afternoon was all Human Anatomy. Although, it could be argued that it was more of a physiology lecture than an anatomy lecture. We were done by 3pm.

I went into the lab and cut preps on #19 and #31. I've done 7 preps on #31 and 5 preps on #19. I'm getting better, but I'm still a little rough on the corners. I've found relaxing really helps.

Tonight I'm studying for a restorative quiz in the morning. I also need to look over my biochem notes.

10 More hours of Lecture Today

Monday, July 25, 2005

Arrived at school at 6:30am. Spent the next 90 minutes studying histology slides and notes. By, 7am, the place was packed with other first year students doing the same thing. The quiz was at 8am. It was tough. We had to identify structures on slides, answer fill-in-the-blank questions, and write an essay about one of three topics. I choose to write the essay on muscle contraction and to diagram the gross and histological structure of skeletal muscle.

The remainder of the day was OCP. We had a lecture in the morning on how to give a Head and Neck Exam to new patients. At 10:30am, we went down to the clinic and practiced spray-wipe-spray and taking vital signs (blood pressure and pulse). There are three of us in my group, and we each had to take a turn sanitizing the operatory and taking vitals.

Once we were finished, I had a quick lunch and then ran upstairs to the simlab to work on cutting preps in #31 and #19. My most common mistake is that I cut the distal or mesial end of the prep to shallow. I need to get my bur aligned more correctly so that I make a better cut.

After our lunch our, we had a health history lecture followed by an oral cancer lecture. The latter was tad bit dry. By the time 4pm rolled around, I was ready to get home.

Has it Already Been Two Weeks?

Friday, July 22, 2005

Arrived at school at 6:30am again to work on impressions. Finally got a perfect mandibular impression. Spent the remaing hour before class looking over my anatomy notes.
Biochem was at 9:00am. The lecture was so stimulating that the professor actually yawned during the middle of it. I need to catch up on reviewing my notes. Our first Biochem test is a week from this Monday.

The rest of the day was anatomy/histology. The lecture covered the histology of skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle. During the afternoon, we broke out into smaller groups and discussed the benefits and drawbacks of supplemental drugs like glucosamine and chondroitin. Not sure how it tied in to what we are currently doing, but I went anyway.

After I got home, I dropped the kids off at the neighbors and I took my wife on a motorcyle ride up onto the cliffs above the golden gate bridge. The view was fantastic. Then we went for a walk in downtown Sausalito and ate an ice cream cone. Thank goodness for moments like that. Otherwise, life might get lost in all the dental school stuff we do.

Cutting the Cavities . . .

Thursday, July 21, 2005

During the first quarter, Thursdays are operative days. That means we have an hour lecture in the morning, and then we spend 3 hours in the lab. We take a lunch, and come back for an hour long afternoon lecture, and then we spend anohter 3 hour in the lab.

This morning, the carpool got to school around 6:15am. The doors were still locked and our badges don't open the doors until 6:30am. Today, a faculty member saw us waiting and let us in a few minutes early. Class didn't start until 8am, so I used the time to try and pour up some more molds. It took me another 4 attempts on the mandibular arch until I was able to get a good vestibular fold all around the tray. Unfortunately, I used a terrible vibrator so the stone didn't flow into all the mold, and I ended up missing a few teeth. Frustrating. It was time for class, so I abandoned it until lunch.

Our operative lecture covered the GV Black's steps for preping a tooth for restoration. Then we narrowed it down to preparing the tooth for an amalgam restoration on the occlusal (biting) surface of a second molar. Essentially, you cut a trench that is 1.5mm following the cental groove and around the cusps by partially going up the supplemental grooves that separate the cusps. There are a few other little details like keeping the walls parallel to the long axis of the crown, sloping the pulpal foor from buccal to lingual, and flaring the mesial and distal dovetails. When you are all finished, you have a prep that looks like a dog bone. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and post it.

The tooth we cut was number 31--that is the second molar on right side of the mandibular (lower) arch. Since it was our first prep on a typodont tooth, we cut it on the bench top. We made our inital cut with a #330. Then we trimmed it up with a #56. It took me about an 2 hours to cut it all down to size. The row instructor thought it was really good for my first try. Then she reminded me that eventually, that same prep would only take me 2 minutes to cut.
I ate a fast lunch, then I ran back upstairs to the simlab to take another impression. I nailed it the first time. It was the best one yet. The trick is making sure to get the alginate goop that squirts out the back with your finger and the then spreading around the vestibule before it gels. Also make sure to press down hard enough (but not too hard) on the incisor portion of the tray to get a good clean impression of the anterior teeth and vestibule. I had the whole thing poured and mounted by the end of lunch--I'm getting faster.

After lunch, we had a lecture on how to cut the first molar on the left side of the mandibular arch (#19). This tooth was a little different because it had 5 cusps instead of 4 like #31. We also learned about proper chair position and patient height for working on the mandibular teeth. We were in the lab by 2pm, and this time we cut the teeth in the dummies mouth. I have affectionately named my dummy, Buddy. Each student has to name their dummy and treat them like a real patient with charts, etc.

Cutting teeth in the mouth took about 20 to 30 minutes to get used to. I had gotten accustomed to using the bench top. After a few minutes, I actually preferred the dummies mouth. Some students didn't make the transition as smoothly, but I'd estimate that 50% of the class adjusted as easily as I did.

During the next 3 hours I cut a prep on another #30 and I did one more #19. We have 2 weeks to come up with the best possible prep we can muster for each of those teeth. I'll probably carve at least 10 more of each. I found a couple more burs that I like to use in addition to the #330 and #56. For those of you in dental school, you'll recognize these. I liked the #56 diamond, the #57, and the #957. All good burs for getting the prep done quickly and cleanly.

I've got a load of anatomy to do tonight. So, I'm off.

Making A First Impression . . .

Wednesday, July 21, 2005

This morning we did our took our first impressions using alginate of the maxillary and mandibular arches. It took me 4X on each arch before I got an impression that was acceptable. We are scored on scale of 1 to 5--5 being the best. You get 2 points just for coming to class, 3 points for attempting to do the task, 4 points if it's good, and 5 points if it is perfect. Some row instructors tell you what you got, and others don't. My row instructor doesn't tell.

After we took the impressions, we had to pour stone into them to prepare a nice looking stone model of our simulators' arches. The trick was to get no bubbles or airpockets in the final mold. I got lucky and didn't have any in either the maxillary or mandibular arch. Unfortunately, when I was trimming the base and sides of the model down to size, I accidentally shaved about 3 mm off the distal part of one of the third molars--now I have to try again. I have until next Wednesday to finish it up.

During the afternoon, we had a biochem lecture and an anatomy lecture. We just finished discussing water in biochem and started talking about amino acids in biochem. In anatomy, we had a lecture on bone formation--both interosseous and endochondral. We have a quiz in anatomy on Monday that covers all the material up to this Friday. The quiz is 30 questions, non-multiple choice. Upper classman say it's a test not a quiz. I guess that means another long night of memorizing info.

First Wax-Up Today . . .

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

We had our first quiz this morning. The subject was dental anatomy, and it covered general tooth anatomy, terminology, and the three numbering systems. Nothing tricky. Most people were a little paranoid. The buzz was that the quiz was going to be very, very hard. My opinion was that it wasn't too bad. A decent review of the notes was enough to do well on the quiz.

After the quiz, we moved over to the simlab and began our first wax-up exercise. For those who haven't had the opportunity to do this, all it involves is taking a plastic tooth that has been cut down to look like a crown prep and adding hot wax to it in a series of steps until you have recreated the crown portion of the tooth. There is a short learning curve, but after about 30 minutes, most students were humming along just fine.

The afternoon was filled with a histology lecture. Nothing to report here. Trying to ascimilate all the material during the two hours is like getting a drink from a firehose--you miss 99% of the material.

Spray-Wipe-Spray

Monday, July 18, 2005

Back to school again. Classes started at 8am with OCP. We listened to a one hour lecture on the intraoral and extraoral structures of the head and neck, which was then followed by a 90 minute lecture on how to control infection in the clinic by cleaning our operatories. We went over basic things. At 10:30, we went down the clincs for a tour. Around 11:30, we each had to go through all of the steps to "prep" an operatory so that it was "clean." To do that, you spray everything down, wipe it all up, and then spray it down again. You let the last spray soak for 10 minutes before you wipe up any remaining disinfectant, hence the name "Spray-Wipe-Spray." We were finished by 12:30.

I went to the simlab and worked on 2 preps with my handpieces. I got the pulpal floors really smooth and flat. The walls weren't too shabby either.

When 2pm came, it was back to OCP for another 90 minute lecture on how to take and record vital signs. For every new patient, we have to record pulse and blood pressure. And, if the patient is hypertensive, we have to take their blood pressure more often.

Our last class of the day was "Computers in Dentistry." Basically, a seventh grade "Intro to Computers" class. If you are reading this blog, you would be bored to tears with the material we covered in that class--it is beneath you. Fortunately, except for today, the class is self-study. I hope to pound it out in about 3 hours one night this week.

Tonight, I've been catching up on some reading. Apparently, I could have been "browsing" chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 of our histology book. Oops. I chaulk it to the fact that our course syllabus is located in 5 different areas--some on paper and some on blackboard. The hardest part of that class is finding out what you need to do in order to come prepared to class. I propose a single syllabus online with links to our assignments. Any takers?

First Week is Over

Friday, July 15, 2005

The first week is finished. Only 119 more to go until graduation, haha! I feel like I've finally got a handle on how to get around the building. I also finally got all of the different syllabi read, so I've got a little better idea of what assignments are due. However, at the same time, next week will be much busier than this week. Next Thursday we start our first cavity prep on a tooth. We also start other pre-clinical work.

The reading assignments for the classes aren't too bad. In fact, most 2nd year students say it's pointless to read the books. They say that the professors all test off the notes. That sounds nice, but if you could see the amount of homework and projects I have in my To Do list you might change your mind.

I decided to go with the 3.5X magnification loupes. I think I'd like to have a better look at my preps. The extra $675 is hard to swallow, but in the bigger picture it's only a small drop in the ocean of debt I'll amass over the next 3 years.

Today, we had seven hours of lecture--one hour of ethics, one hour of biochem, and five hours of human anatomy. I wasn't as tired today. I must be getting used to the schedule. That's nice. After classes, the Alumni came and fed us Cioppino. It's a fantastic stew with large prawns, crabs, and scallops. You use your hands to eat the prawns and crabs, so you get really messy, which is part of the fun. The experience really added to the uniqueness of Pacific. All you future Pacific students will really like it.

Tonight, the first year students are out at another all night party. This one is at the Velvet Lounge. It promised to be a good time.

Tomorrow, I'm going into the lab to work on my preps. I had fun doing it on Thursday, and the course instructors recommend we practice one hour a day.

Best Day So Far . . .

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Operative dentistry was our only class today. We met from 8am until 5pm. We got our hi-speed and slow-speed handpieces back today with our names engraved on them. We hooked them up to our simulator and took them for a test drive. We cut patterns into a "learn-a-prep" material that somewhat represents the enamel and dentin of a tooth (but, much, much softer). It was a blast. I didn't think it was too tough, although it is something that I'm far from being good at. Our goals were to try and cut down 1.75 mm and create a flat and smooth pulpal floor with vertical smooth walls. I found that an inital cut removing 80% of the material with the hi-speed handpiece using the #330 bur, followed by the slow-speed with a #55 produced the best results.

Honestly, it was almost like Christmas. By the time 5pm came around, it was hard to put it all away and go home. We spent the entire day learning how to hold the handpiece and using to cut preps. Next time we meet in Operative, we will be cutting our first prep on a tooth. We will be cutting an MO on #30.

I also got fitted for my loupes today. It took about 10 minutes total. I'm looking forward to trying them out in the lab.

Tomorrow is another 8am to 5pm day. We'll be in Biochem for an hour, and the rest of the day we will be in Human Anatomy. However, at 4pm tomorrow we are having a Cioppino feed hosted by the Alumni. It's a seafood stew that is supposed to pretty good.

Day Three Is Over

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

The day started with our fundamentals of restorative dentistry class taught by Dr. Geisberger and Dr. Streaker. We were briefly introduced to all of the specialties within Dentistry. Following that, we took learning style and personality tests. The purpose of the tests was to give us an idea of how to best study material. I wish we could've skipped the tests and gone to the lab sooner.

After the tests, we had a presentation on loupes. We can either get the 2.5X at no extra cost or we can pony up an extra $675 for the 3.5X expanded field specs. Initially, I was tempted to buy the 3.5X, but then they told us we could try the 2.5X, and, if during the first year, we decided to upgrade to the 3.5X, they'd do it for the $675 price. So, I'm going to go with the 2.5X for now.
We moved into the simlab after the loupes lecture to meet our row instructors. Each row of work stations gets a teacher to provide help and instruction. Today, each row instructor took their rows on a tour of the neighborhood around the school. Afterwards, we came back to the school for lunch on the school's dime.

We had a little break before our Biochem class at 2pm. After biochem, we had a 2 hour human anatomy lecture covering cell biology. We were done by 4pm.

Long Days . . .

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Today was the first full day of lectures. However, about half of the time was still taken up with introductions.In the morning, we had an ethics class warning us not to cheat and what to do if we suspect cheating. Some of the methods were a bit altruistic, and I doubt any student would pursue the matter using the suggested method.

After ethics, we had our first Dental Anatomy course. We spent the first 90 minutes going over tooth anatomy, the arches, numbering systems, and critical vocab. During the last 30 minutes we went into the sim lab and found the tools we needed to start our first wax carving project--tooth #9. It's due August 2nd.

Following lunch, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in Gross Anatomy/Histology. Most of the class time we spent discussing whether or not oral health was directly related to cardiovascular diesease. We broke up into our dissection groups to discuss an article. We came back to class, discussed the article, and then wrapped up class.

I am not used to sitting in class for 10 hours a day. I've got to build my stamina.

Tommorrow, we have fundamentals of restorative dentistry in the morning and Gross Anatomy again in the afternoon. We also get fitted for our loops.

Last Day of Orientation

Monday, July 11, 2005

School started this morning with Dr. Yarborough telling us how great the school is. He shared some statistics about how many students applied, how many were interviewed, and how many were accepted. He also gave us some numbers on the demographics of our class.

He was followed by Dr. Peltier, the school psychiatrist. During his 30 minute lecture, he gave us a bunch of tips on how to succeed at Pacific--priortizing, organizing, and working hard.

After Dr. Peltier, it was time for our first class--OCP. OCP is Orientation to the Clinical Practice of Dentistry. They gave us the "Patient Health History" form and then we went through it with Dr. Jacobsen. For anybody that goes to Pacific, Dr. Jacobsen is something you have to experience to appreciate. He makes it a point to call on random people in the class and ask the answer to questions that no one knows the answers to. Today, his job was to introduce us to how to think like doctors. We'll have him full-time during a 3rd term course.

After lunch, we broke into groups to meet with our faculty advisors and to have our ID badge pictures taken. The faculty advisor meeting was not much more than a "get-to-know-ya" meeting. The advisors, who are also our first year professors, are available to us anytime to help with problems.

Around 3pm, we moved back to our classroom on the 3rd floor for a health insurance meeting, followed by another meeting on finanical aid. By this point, after a full interview cycle, I think I've heard the same financial aid lecture nearly a dozen times. This was our last meeting for the day.

Tomorrow, classes start in full force. We have Ethics at 8am, Dental Anatomy from 9am 'til noon, and Human Anatomy from 1pm 'til 5pm.

Computer Orientation

Saturday, July 9, 2005, 12:00pm

At 9:00am this morning we had computer orientation. The meeting lasted for 90 minutes. I was placed in the "Advanced" orientation. There are two other orientations today--one for intermediate and one for novice computer users. In April or May, they sent students a computer survey. Based on the results they placed us in one of the three sections. It's my opinion that if you have ever turned on a computer, you will do just fine in the advanced computer orientation.

The computers are nice. We got 1 gig of RAM, a 1.86 gHz Pentium M processor, and a 55 gig hard drive. They gave us all of our login information to access the school networks. Wireless internet is only available in the cafeteria. But, if you are in a good spot in the simlab then you can actually access it from there. They have ethernet ports at each simlab station, so if you can't access the wireless internet, you can still get connected with an ethernet cable.

So that's it for today. We report to class on Monday at 7:30am to go through some more orientation, and our first class. However, by Tuesday, we are into the full swing of things when we start Anatomy/Histology.

Tired and Exhausted

Friday, July 8, 2005 7:43pm

We arrived at the school around 7:15am, and to my surprise, there were already at least half of the students there. What was even wierder was that they were all wearing blue dress shirts. It was almost like it was coordinated by Pacific.

After a short breakfast, we moved down to room 103 on the first floor where Dr. Dugoni, the dean, addressed us for two hours. He talked about the responsibility we had as students, the return on our investment, our health, and other various topics. I was impressed with his candor and his experience. It was obvious this man had had his finger on the pulse of dentistry for nearly 60 years.

After listening to the dean, we had to do some paperwork, pick up some lab clothes (smocks and gloves) and eat lunch.

After lunch, it was Christmas at Pacific. We went up to sim labs and unpacked $16,000 worth of equipment. I got a first look at my hi-speed and low-speed handpieces. We also got to check out all of the burs that we will have to become familiar with. I couldn't believe all of the stuff we unpacked. In the end we unpacked 4 or 5 good size boxes (around 2' x 2'). Essentially, we unpacked enough stuff to run a one operatory dental office. I wish I could list some of the things we unpacked, but I'm not even sure what it all was.

By 4:30, I was exhausted. The second year students who were there to help us unpack invited all the first years to a night out at the "Dirty Martini." I passed. I had other plans.

Tomorrow, we go into school to get our laptops. I'm a little geeked out to get it. It'll be nice to have a good computer. Check back tomorrow for more.

First Taste of Dental School Today

Friday, July 8, 6:10 am

Here it is--the first day of school. I had dreams about school last night, so it's obviously been on my mind. I'm eager to get through the day, meet new people, and get my first taste of dental school.

I'm meeting up with two other first year dental students and one second year student. We are going to carpool into school at 7am. Registration and a light breakfast will start at 7:30am. At 8am, we will Dr. Dugoni will address us. And, after that, the rest of the day hasn't been described to us. The letter we recieved in March told us to plan to be here until 4pm and to have a ride home so that we could carry 2 large (60-lbs) boxes of books home--ouch!

I'll post more tonight about what we did during the day.