Everything I Wish I Knew as a D1

This is by far the best 4 years of your life. Here are some tips to make it the best experience ever.

Dear 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, ⁣ ⁣ I am so excited about the incredible four year journey you are about to embark on! Here are all the things I want you to know (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸) ⁣ ⁣ 1️⃣ 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐍! Don’t forget this and stay passionate. You worked so hard to get where you are, but the real work is just about to start. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦 and keep looking at the big picture. This is where you always wanted to be! And the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 thing keeping you from being that amazing dentist you always aspired to become is four years. But believe me these are undoubtedly the 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝟒 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.⁣ ⁣ 2️⃣ Your most 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 resource - Your UPPER 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧. Alright so the D2s were literally just where you are right now. Who better to guide you than the ones who 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 hustled through the craziness of simlab, juggling quizzes, tests, perfecting the explorer grasp, provisionals, impressions, waxups and conquering the learn-a-prep. ⁣ ⁣ 3️⃣ 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 🛑 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. This is something I wish I realized earlier on I would have had a few extra nights of good sleep and about 55 less wrinkles. Alright so there’s going to be classmates of yours that were born with the hands of Picasso and literally may not even need to try that hard because the hand gods are always smiling down on them. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘮𝘦. I had to put the sweat, tears, and many extra hours in simlab. And that’s ok because I worked for it and that was 𝐌𝐘 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲. Everybody has different strengths, and you will discover that as you go through school. ⁣ ⁣ 4️⃣ Do not be afraid to 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Your faculty and TA’s really are there for YOU. Yup! That’s right they are here to teach you the ropes, but they are 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. If you don’t understand a concept ask immediately. It’s so easy to fall behind or worse yet pick up bad habits (or wrong habits) if you don’t get assistance along the way. 𝘈𝘴𝘬, 𝘢𝘴𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦⁣ ⁣ 5️⃣ 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝. This was my greatest joy. I was lucky to be involved in organized dentistry (#CDAproud#CDAproud) as the CDA rep for my class. And along the way added a bunch of other things to make my dental school experience more whole. Community service, mobile clinics, Dr. Stat, student research group, volunteering at skid row, externships, inter professional educational opportunities, and special patients selective to name a few. My goal in dental school was to 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 - so become that “𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧” you won’t regret it ⁣ ⁣ 6️⃣ There is no competition, other than with 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. Dentistry is a highly team-based collegiate profession so all your classmates will be your colleagues. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 with each other, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 each other, 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 to each other, and make the bestest friends of your life here. ⁣ ⁣ 7️⃣ Don’t allow 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to be your greatest enemy. Strive for continuous 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. As type A personalities it is so hard to get 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 and stuck when we are always trying to achieve perfection. I did this and it was really painful. It hindered my progress and I honestly was critical of my self and 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯. In dental school you are juggling multiple things, and can’t afford this to happen.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions it was so great meeting a bunch of you yesterday. You can also follow me on Instagram @toothfairydiaries