Dental School: Verse Two

I don't know how it happened. My summer has ended.

Yes, today is my first day back in the world of academia at dental school. We have been warned and scared by the upperclassmen about this 2nd year. Apparently it is the most difficult year of the four-year dental education. Yikes.

To quell my fears (and allow me to sleep last night), I reminisced on last year's events and how far I came toward those special three letters that I hope to have after my name in three short years: D.D.S. (And by the way, that stands for "Doctor of Dental Surgery," so WE ARE "REAL" DOCTORS! Haha.)

It was interesting to look back over my lab work from the 1st year and see how many of our first projects that seemed so difficult at the time became easy projects that could be completed in a mere half hour or less. The first project that we did in the lab was to fill these tiny wells with green wax using our new instruments. We spent hours on this project, worrying over its appearance and making naive mistakes, only to find that we would soon laugh at the simplicity of its parameters.
The next project involved making rudimentary tooth shapes from the wax using some little blocks that provided a jumping-off point for our waxing. Again, we spent hours on these little teeth, and cursed our clumsy hands for not being able to replicate the delicate and gentle lines and angles that our eyes saw in the demonstration teeth.
Soon we had renewed frustration as we began to wax teeth completely from scratch. Beginning with a flat base or a small preparation, we were to wax an entire tooth, polish it, and demonstrate it to our teachers for a grade. My first grades were not impressive. Tiny dents and minuscule details cost me point after point until I finally realized that dentistry, as they say, is a game of 1/4 millimeters.
Little by little, I trained my fingers to behave and work with the instruments and the wax. Gradually I was able to know how the hot, melted wax would behave before I touched it to any surface. And luckily, with each improvement in my skill, I saw improvement in my grades and in the speed with which I could complete these projects. Even still, the difference between my first time practicing a particular tooth and the second time practicing that same tooth showed vast improvement.
Finally we came to our last projects. One involved working with a material called "composite" which we will someday use on real patients--we were all very excited to be working with true materials. The final exam involved waxing 9 teeth in 2 hours and waxing them in such a way that they properly contacted the teeth on the other jaw.

After reviewing this year's lab work, I felt good about how far I have come, and hopeful about how far I will go in the next three years. It won't happen overnight, but I know that I can figure this out. I know I will be challenged, and I know I will get frustrated at times, but I also know that I will be able to look back and laugh at my first attempts at fillings, dentures, and bridges, and I will be able to look at my good work and be proud of the excellence that I will give to my patients.

For now, though, it's back to lecture...