Thread by @Themaxfaxsurge1

This is a common misconception. A lot of people pop this question to us every now and then. Here is a thread about what dental students go through 4 years of BDS and what BDS is actually about..i am writing this just to clear certain things. let's go #dental

https://twitter.com/hunnykumar1908/status/1595990707470479360

BDS stands for Bachelor of dental surgery (note the term surgery) , A dentist doesn't concern him only with the teeth as people think , we have to deal with anything and everything about the oral cavity which includes the mucosa , teeth ,tongue , palate , lip , salivary gland etc

A BDS student has to read anatomy of head and neck ,basic physiology and biochemistry +oral histology and tooth morphology in first year ( it's anatomy of tooth -cusps , grooves etc etc - a lot to remember) +respective practicals - we have to carve the tooth (art part of dentist)

In the second year we read DENTAL MATERIALS (This deals with every material used in dentistry - amalgam , cements , metals used in crown , implant materials - their reactivity , setting time etc etc - again so much stuff to remember) ,Microbiology , general pathology + practicals

In second year dental students start with pre clinical practicals in conservative dentistry+ prostho which starts from making plaster cubes (starts in first year) to doing fillings in typhodont tooth + dummy dentures (upto 9 in a year- all steps)
The engineer part of dentist

In third year a dental student attends classes in general medicine and surgery + oral pathology ( the branch which deals with all oral diseases and their H&E slides) .We also start attending clinical postings in the 9 branches of dentistry during our 3rd year.

We start performing minor procedures in the 3rd year like hand scaling , class 1 dental caries restoration etc. In final year it gets even more fun... 8 subjects which i will give an intro about in the upcoming tweets

1. Oral medicine and radiology : The black and white part of dentistry . We learn about all different radiographs - IOPA , OPG , CBCT , PNS , SMV etc and how to interpret them. We also are taught to take IOPAs and develop them properly while minimising the exposure

It also deals with all the clinical presentation of multiple oral diseases from dental caries to oral cancer and how to diagnose them and the treatment protocol for each and every disease.The nodal point of the college ,the first line of dentistry

2. Prosthodontics : it's really hard to live without the teeth right , every individual has a different dental imprint and once a tooth is lost , it's this department which steps in to fabricate an alternative customised to the patient

Dental students fabricate a complete denture , multiple RPDs and Fixed partial dentures based on the curriculum of the university. In some cases implants. I found this department super tough. Excellent precision ,calculations and planning are required so that the denture retains

3. Oral and maxillofacial part :My favourite , i will cut short though. The doctor part of dentistry. It deals with everything about the face - starting from extractions ,disimpactions ,fractures , tumors , orthognathic surgery (to treat facial deformities)

TMJ surgeries , cleft lip and palate management... I can keep going on but UG students do extractions , assist impactions and arch bars(to treat fractures). The feeling of doing a painless extraction and patient thanking u..priceless moment. I fell in love with OMFS at that point

We read about fractures of frontal bone to mandible here and how to treat each . Yes Oral and maxillofacial surgeons deal with orbital floor fractures

4. Pedodontics : It involves toned down versions of all the branches of dentistry but you r dealing with kids.Taking an airotor rotating @ 100 k rpm to treat a kid for the first time is more tense for us than for the kids.

We learn about child psychology ( not everyone's cup of tea , some students can hypnotise kids though) , cleft lip and palate management , space maintainers , treatment of milk teeth and reimplantation of newly erupted permanents and fracture management in case of trauma

5. Conservative dentistry and endodontics : Everything about filling , removal of caries , Root canal treatment , periapical surgery , esthetics. You are expected to learn about root patterns , different materials , esthetics etc

Dental students perform class 1 and 2 dental caries restoration , anterior RCTs assist periapical surgeries , get introduced to microscope assisted RCT in certain institutions

6. orthodontics : Magicians these guys are. Refer to Ronaldo's previous and present pictures. It's mathematics , It's about applying the exact amount of force in the right direction to align the teeth. So much pre op planning and principles are to be read here

The UG students are taught wire bending , fabrication of retainers , analysis of orthodontics problems , bonding etc. I hope one day these people can be more friendly with OMFS

7. Periodontics : Deals with the micro environment around the tooth - The periodontal ligaments , gingiva and the alveolus. One of the pioneers in the implants in dentistry. We learn about flap surgery - a method to counter gingival recession , periodontal microbiology etc

UG students perform hand scaling ,US scaling , assist in flap surgeries during their periodontics postings.I started giving out oral hygiene instructions voluntarily to people after attending this posting. Oral cavity can be filthy.. u won't believe it until u see

8. Public health dentistry : the most tedious subject ever. Indices , camps , epidemiology etc etc. Students have to attend various screening camps and postings at speciality centers to treat special kids and geriatric patients

Attend treatment camps in a mobile dental wagon at remote people. Identifying early oral cancer and referring to terminal centers etc etc. Yes i hate the indices

This thread is to spread awareness about dentistry to the general public. I have used many common terms instead of using technical terms . Yes we do have fun while studying but not because we have nothing to do , everyone should have fun in respective departments.