Monthly Archives: June 2007

Dental School: Book Bag, Backpack, Messenger Bag

Posted on June 29, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

Chances are that in dental school you will be carrying around quite a few things with you. Think about all the things you may be carrying around with you:

  • laptop
  • paper
  • pens
  • notes
  • books
  • lunch
  • discs
  • iPod
  • water bottle
  • personal items
  • etc.

There is an advantage if you attend a school that requires all of your textbooks to be on the computer. I have two shelves dedicated to notes and books from only my first year in school. If you do attend a school that has everything loaded onto your laptop then the amount of loot you carry around is considerably less. At Temple we don’t have to have a laptop so we do it the old fashioned way – the way I prefer – but this also means that we have to carry much more around with us. Anyone who uses Carranza’s Periodontology book will know that carrying around this book alone is plain miserable. Add some of the above mentioned list and your back will go out before you can say graduate.

So what are the options for book bags? I used to have a nice large JanSport that could carry everything. I could carry 5 text books, a coat, calculator, pencils/pens, an umbrella, my iPod, and a water bottle and still have extra room. Unfortunately it has been discontinued. I used it for four years and it never showed signs of wear, never ripped, and the most important, never developed any holes in the bottom. So I have looked at the newest editions to the Jan Sport line-up and have linked to them below. These ones might hold more than my old dinosaur back pack. I stopped using it because I bought a laptop and needed a bag that had a laptop sleeve for extra protection.

I replaced my old bag with a messenger bag. It is a little smaller than my old bag but it has many pockets and compartments that organizes things better. It is the Ogio Boss SS (minus the Schling – if you don’t know what a Schling is then visit the website below). For whatever reason mine didn’t come with one. It helps the bag to sit better on your back, like a traditional backpack. Check out the websites for one that you like and keep in mind the following ideas:

  • Make sure the bag fits everything you want it to. Test it out in the store. If it is online, make sure it lists the amount of stuff it can fit. The JanSport and Ogio website do an OK job with this concept.
  • Make sure it fits your budget. If you look around for prices on the Ogio Boss SS bag I bought you will see that it is expensive (one site had it listed for $229.00). I found it online for a steal of a deal at $45.00 which I gladly paid. Unfortunately the website I bought it from no longer exists.
  • Make sure it is durable material. The crappy one pocket Jan Sport will last about one year. They get holes in the bottom and around the zippers. You may have to spend a little more initially, but if the bag lasts for four years then it was a good investment. Look for thick bag material, bigger zippers, and thick stitching.
  • Look for a warranty. An example of an excellent company that stands behind their products is Burton. I have a jacket that is ten years old and a zipper broke on it. I sent it in to Burton and got it back, cleaned and laundered and with a new zipper. There is no reason a backpack should have a similar warranty (maybe not for ten years, but 2-3 is good).

Jan Sport Exchange ~~~~ Buy the Jan Sport Exchange
Jan Sport Super Student ~~~~Buy the Jan Sport Super Student
Ogio Boss SS ~~~~Buy the Ogio Boss SS

Here are some that other readers have either commented on or have e-mailed to me:  (send yours in too)
The North Face Big Shot

I know there are more brands out there. I encourage you to respond below with the type of backpack or messenger bag you use and what you like about it and what you don’t like about it. What are you using for school?

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Accessories

Making a Custom Tray

Posted on June 28, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

The need for a custom tray arises for a couple of reasons: The impression material is typically an elastomeric compound and these types of materials are most accurate when they have a uniform thickness. The custom tray allows the material to have a uniform thickness. Stock trays do not fit the mouth as well because of their universality. This is important for the pouring of models used later in the process and it is important when making a fixed partial denture. When using a custom tray a more accurate abutment distance is achieved. Before I say that it is detrimental for anyone to use a stock tray the differences in bulk of material were les than 1mm and the differences in abutment differences were 100 micrometers or less. Even so accuracy in dentistry is an important factor. I am not sure how often custom trays are used in the everyday practice of dentistry, but it is better to be exposed to everything than just a little. So this is how to make a custom tray:

Before any one gets their hopes up I did not have my camera when I made the custom tray so few pictures are available. The process is pretty simple though.  Here are the steps: Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Crown and Bridge, Restorative Dentistry, Triad

Gold Crown

Posted on June 26, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

UPDATE (11/14/2007) : Added videos of the Gold Casting Process.

Our final project in Restorative II is to make a gold crown from start to finish. Looking at all the steps required to make a gold crown can give you an ulcer. In total it took about 2-3 weeks of work. When I say 2-3 weeks this doesn’t mean 2-3 weeks of solid work. We had a couple of practicals to do in this time along with daily work and physiology every morning. There are some things about making a crown that SEEM like they are a pain, but I chalk this up to being inexperienced. I have written about the learning curve in dental school before and this project is no different. At first it can be uncomfortable. With experiance it become second nature and then it becomes fun. One important thing before I discuss the process: You have to be anal over the quality of your work, because if that gold crown comes out and doesn’t fit your tooth…you’re STARTING OVER!

So to ease the burden of some of the new dental students or to those of you who have not done this yet here are the things we have been doing. Those of you who have done this before, then please share your tips!
We made a crown preparation of tooth #3 (maxillary first molar). After the preparation is done (MAKE SURE IT IS EXCELLENT) you make a temporary for it and you also take an impression using a custom tray. The custom tray is made out of a material called Triad. It is made on a stone model of your typodont. Here is what it looks like: Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Crown and Bridge, Restorative Dentistry, Wax Ups

Iraq SGT Shot in Face, Saved by Incisor

Posted on June 18, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

1) We got this in our dental school email today and even though it is a year old I had nPhoto courtesy of Flickr user nagillumever seen it and thought it was a very cool story. Cliffs notes: A SGT rounded the corner in a house being raided and came face to face with a 9mm handgun. The gun was fired at point blank range right into the upper lip of the SGT…

…well if you want to read more check out the story at Snopes.

2) I have also been introduced to another website that you can bookmark for further reading. It is called The Endo Blog by Dr. Jason Hales. It is new, so be sure to bookmark it or add it to your reader and welcome him to the world of blogging!

3) Also coming soon is the long write up of my gold crown. I finished it today! I have some other things to do before our projects are due on Thursday like finishing my provisional for #3 (the tooth we did the gold crown on) and finishing my three unit bridge. Just some minor adjustments like polish and occlusion. Here is an excerpt from my gold crown article:

“The polishing steps for a gold crown entail about 7 jaw clenching steps from start to finish. I was biting down so hard while I polished that I went through 3 acrylic mouth guards. After so much work with impressions, models, waxing, investing, and casting you don’t want to screw up the crown while polishing it. The sweat equity, tears, and blood devoted to this project would have been enough to kill an undergraduate student. Why do you think they make AADSAS so hard? It weeds out the weak and the timid, the faint of heart, and those with high blood pressure. Applicants like that couldn’t handle this type of stress. If you fail this crown you have to repeat the year. Needless to say the tension in the pre-clinic was thick. After finishing the first 6 steps I’ll admit I was disappointed. My crown looked as dull as a slab of granite. I felt like someone had painted it gray and then stabbed a knife into my back. The crown and the knife sat there, festering. I was a beaten man.
I had no one to reach out to, my classmates had their own crowns to worry about, my teacher had that glossed over look in his eyes that said “If another student comes up here for advice I will go postal�, and I couldn’t see an upperclassman anywhere. I am sure the upperclassman had enough problems anyway. They didn’t want to deal with a mere ‘D1′. What did I know anyway? After all, I wear scrub pants and don’t even work on real patients. I would be scoffed at. With no one to turn to I looked at my work area and saw Red Rouge. It seemed to look at me longingly.

“PLEASE! Pick me up and rub me on your gold crown with your low speed hand piece and a polishing wheel!�

Caught up in the moment I replied, “Okay�, as my classmates glanced at me clearly annoyed that I was talking to myself again.

I picked up the Rouge and started to rub it into my polishing wheel softly but with great purpose, like I had done it before. It felt right. The quiet, slow ‘whirrrrrr’ of my hand piece drowned out the moans and wailings of the classroom. I was alone. I began to gain confidence in the skills I had learned over the past 6 months. The feeling of complete and utter belonging overwhelmed me, and a tear fled from my eye and floated onto my polishing brush as if to calm the raging sea of red that had enveloped the polishing wheel. I lifted the hand piece to my gold crown, which was seated firmly to my stone die. The red bristles began to dance off the gold like sparks in the wind. Everything was moving in slow motion now. Some of my classmates looked up to watch the magnificence that was unfolding before their eyes like spring blossoms. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I were to say I saw tears of wonderment well up in their eyes. The dull gold, which had once been a nagging wound in my back, slowly subsided as the gold began to sparkle like the salmon of Capistrano. As I looked at my reflection in the gold crown I no longer saw a beaten man. I saw the chiseled face of a student who had been whittled and pruned by instructors. It was this moment that I had realized my true calling as a dentist. I have Red Rouge to thank for it.

Okay, well maybe that was a little overkill. I had fun writing it and there are some truths to it. The crown does look ugly until you add red rouge to it. It wasn’t as difficult as this excerpt claims to be, but there IS truth to every joke. DID ANYONE CATCH THE DUMB AND DUMBER PHRASE I USED? It also feels very good to almost be done with a class that has been going for 6 months. That is half a year (duh), but it is long. Our instructors are great. Dr. Boberick is also an excellent instructor in my opinion, although today he told us that he has been called every four letter word in the book. I am sure all of us have been. Here is my four letter word for this class: It has been pure ‘gold’. Stay tuned for the real article.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Crown and Bridge, General Info, Restorative Dentistry

In the meantime, check out some interesting articles…

Posted on June 6, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

Please check out some interesting articles I have found through other dental related blogs.  Much information can be gleaned from these sources and I would suggest bookmarking them for future reading.  Exceptional Dental Practice Management linked to a website called The Happiness Project which I read and found very insightful.  It is not dentistry related, but we could all broaden our horizons a little.  The taking notes article written by Gretchen reminded me of sitting in lecture furiously writing down as much as possible.  In some ways this is good in some ways this can be bad.  I have thought of a couple of reasons to take notes and a couple of reasons not to take notes.

POSITIVES

  • Hear it, see it, write it = remember it.  I find that if I write something down a couple of times it helps me remember and retain the information better than if I had just read it a couple of times. This is especially helpful in biochemistry when writing out all the mechanisms of the body and what turns into what and what enzymes carry out the processes, etc.
  • Helps you stay awake in lecture.  You will no doubt fall asleep in lecture a couple of times…maybe a couple of times a day.  How to stay awake while your instructor drones on about alginate (this is an example – both of Temples materials instructors are awesome teachers!) or the proper placement of wedges (an example I heard about from Case Western), etc.?  Pull out some paper and write down or draw what you hear!  Maybe I WAS falling asleep during materials…but I pulled out a piece of paper and started drawing a mouth getting an impression.  Next to the drawing I would list all the properties of alginate.  I would do the same thing with another topic.  I would also find that I would remember the material better.
  • Rewrite your notes afterwards helps retention better and helps you compare what was said in class to what is in the book or notes.

NEGATIVES

  • Don’t take notes just for the sake of taking notes.  I found that in anatomy I would be better off just listening to the lecture and trying to figure out in my mind where everything was and how it fit into the big picture.  It was easier to concentrate the lecture than to ty to write and listen at the same time.  After lecture I would review the class notes and book and take my own notes on things that were not clear or that I would know I would forget.  Recall was easier this way.  Plus trying to write down 100 terms in one lecture was pointless.
  • The only other negative I could think of was that taking too many notes would waste pencils or ink and you would have to buy more and spend more money on an already tight budget…

Next item: I was reading the Dental Implant Blog and saw that the author, Teresa, referred to one of our instructors here at Temple Dental, Dr. Jon B. Suzuki, a periodontist.  The article is about bisphosphonates.  This is an interesting topic in dentistry and medicine today and it would help you to learn more about it.  Dr. Suzuki has lectured to us once as a guest speaker in Introduction to Periodontics.  His lecture was on implants.  We also learned that he was a high ranking black belt and had recently been in a large karate match.

There are other articles out there that provide useful real world knowledge.  One of my favorites?  Lifehacker.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Info

Down to the Wire – Summer I is on Fire

Posted on June 4, 2007 by CheerioKing| Leave a comment

I wanted to rhyme a title. Check. Three weeks left and this is what I need to do:

  1. 5 tests and 2 quizzes
  2. Gold Crown project
  3. Two more practicals: Crown prep #18 and #20 for the second practical a three unit temporary.

Yes, that’s it. I know the list is only three long, but it will be interesting. Dental physiology is going well and starting to speed up. We have a test today (why am I not studying?!?!) and have already gone into the material for the next test by about 100 power point slides. We have 3 more tests after today and then a final, all in three weeks. Add in two quizzes (free points – not much, but they help a little) and it makes for a hairy schedule. Add in restorative two lecture and lab which we have one more quiz in and then a final and it starts to get hairier. Then add in our gold crown project. We have to finish this (not as simple as pouring gold into a mold) AND do it in three weeks. Our lab time that we normally have to complete this project will be taken up by two more practicals. We will be prepping teeth 18 and 20 (there is no #19), and then next week we will be making a three unit provisional for this prep. We will have to come in during other times along with one lab day a week to finish our gold crown.

I think there is adequate time, but I am reiterating that even in summer I block schedule we are busy. I am still documenting what we are doing, along with pictures (thank you to one of my readers for the help of upgrading my flickr account – I now have unlimited downloads and can show more pictures than before) so please stay tuned for the next couple of weeks and I promise I have not abandoned anyone!

Please anticipate:

  • gold crown procedure
  • review of Dental Physiology Class
  • my other projects (I have recently bought a server account and have been setting up some more domains and other projects that will be worked on in the summer – stay tuned)
  • other helpful tips for the Class of 2011 (or if you go to UoP the class of 2010) Let me know if you have a question and I can help by exhausting all possible answers.
  • Material Review (Cranial Nerves, dental anatomy, etc.)

So if you have not done so I would highly suggest signing up for the automatic updates through your email account.
It only sends an email when I post an article and you don’t have to refresh this site three times a day to find out if I have posted (Does anyone do that?)

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Info