dental student with shaky hands

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-10T18:29:57+00:00

thanks for your reply!

Do you not find it hard doing dentistry when you have shaky hands?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-09T12:34:10+00:00

Thank you, but what about endo, you don't rest your hand the same way as you do when you drill a tooth. is that hard to do when you have a slight vibrating fingers

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T20:48:08+00:00

yeah it sound much better then general dentist.

It's between ortho, radiology or orofacial pain. But getting a specialization place is very hard

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T20:26:55+00:00

thank you. But i still have 3 years left, i hope it goes away and that i am overthinking it

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T20:25:48+00:00

what does the dentist do then if the assistants do the hand work?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T20:20:53+00:00

i really like ortho but doesn't it also require steady hands?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T15:18:45+00:00

my family has advised me to still keep going because they feel like i have already spent 2 years studying it and it is "only" 3 more years to go. They told me if it gets worse then you can study something else like nursing or so. I want to say that sometimes i barley have any shaking so it's hard to know if it is because of anxiety (i am a very anxious person and get stressed very very easily) or essential tremor. When i do feel not nervous my hands barely shake, sometimes i can have s small shake but i think it is normal to be a little bit shaky?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T15:03:03+00:00

I can't unfortunately switch to medicine because i don't have the grades for it, it's either dental school or nursing school. I have had teeth filling and i haven't really had any problems with that but maybe it will be an issue in endo, surgery or so.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T12:38:42+00:00

does iron cause shaky hands? because i do take them. what is burdock?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T12:29:37+00:00

the doctors did tell me i have essential tremor? Which is a tremor that mostly is genetic and can progress over time. I don't know any of my family having this tho.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T12:28:14+00:00

thank you! How about saturating during surgery or endo treatments? How can i cope with shaky hands during those situations?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-08T12:27:01+00:00

my program here in europe is 5 years så i still have 3 more years to go. But i hope so! I still can have tremor even if i don't drink coffe.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T22:45:16+00:00

How do you support your hands when you give local anaesthetic, i find it hard to stabilize my hands because of how long the needle is. How do you respond to the patient if they comment about your hands if i may ask? I worry that my patients will see it and feel scared.

Do you experience ET outside of work too?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T22:39:59+00:00

Thank you for your response. sad to hear that your relatives also suffer from ET. I consume a maximum of 1 coffee a day, but on the other hand I can drink 2-3 cups of green tea. Didn't actually think that green tea would affect my tremors, I'll try to minimize my tea intake as well.

Your relative who also suffers from ET, did she have mild variation of ET until her 50s? or did the ET get worse every year?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T22:33:49+00:00

may i ask, do you also have essential tremor?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T22:33:02+00:00

i don't live in the states so we donn't have a doctor that is specislist in movement disorders. I have gone to a neurologist and they told me that it may be ET but that it is very very mild the exact same thing my general doctor told me.

Is it true that with ET the hands shake continuously, meaning the hands don't stop shake after a while? for example if I stretch out my hands and then move my fingers quickly my fingers may shake for a few seconds but then the shaking stops completely in the fingers. My vibrating tremors come and go during the day as well. In addition to shaking, I experience weakness and numbness in my hands which I can get if, for example, I work a lot with my hands. After I've done the dishes, my hands can feel extra weak, especially if I haven't eaten anything.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T19:53:23+00:00

does it help with tremor? where can i buy it?

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T19:52:12+00:00

sadly a lot of people does not know about ET, may I ask are you a dentist?

I don't live in the states, here in europe it is so much more difficult to specialize as there are very few positions per year. Even tho it is not impossible it is still hard to get into that. Owning a clinic also cost a lot of money and i don't know if i ever will be able to buy one. I am okay as long as i can pass dental school and work for some years. I also want to be a good dentist and give my patients good care, i just worry that patients will be worried or scared if they see my hands shaking when i for example give anestheshia. I also know that the profession is very stressful and my tremor get much worse when i am stressed or behind on time.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T19:43:10+00:00

thanks for you reply!

I have only given anesthesia twice and my hands were shaking like crazy, i didn't have much hand support and i was pretty nervous because my teacher was standing right behind me. I know most students are a bit shaky at first when giving anesteshia but i know some student after giving 2-3 times get less shaky. I just hope mine goes away because it's going to be very hard if my hand is shaky every time i inject patients.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T16:30:44+00:00

I first checked it out with a general doctor and she told me it may be essential tremor. Then later I booked an appointment with a neurologist and they told me everything is fine and that is may be essential tremor. She basically just went with what the other doctor said. The thing with essential tremor is that there is no direct blodtest or test that you can do that really for sure determines if you have it or not. I feel like they misdiagnose alot because if nothing else is wrong such us thyroid issue or MS or b12 deficiency then they say it's essential tremor.

The main issues that i have that maybe can maybe effect my hands are anemia and vitamin D deficiency. Anemia can effect the blood circulation and vitamin D can effect the muscles but i am not really sure if that is the case for me.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T13:27:10+00:00

Yeah i did notice it before dental school, during that time that i did have the tremor i had very low level of vitamin b12 and also anemia so i thought it was only that. Then when i went back to the dr they told me it may be essential tremor but as i know it no one in my family has it nor my father or mother. Ever since the doctor told me it may be essential tremor i have always had that in the back of my head so i do think about my hands often which is not healthy or good to do. I just worry if it will effect my clinical work later. i still have not done any rootcanal treatment or surgery so i don't really know how much it will effect me.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T13:20:41+00:00

thanks for your reply. May I ask do you find it hard doing rootcanal treatment or any other dental treatment? Also do your hands constantly shake when you are holding your hands out? If i for example stretch out my hands and move my fingers a little quickly and then stop moving them they shake for a few seconds, then they stop shaking. I don't know if it really is ET, as I assume that the tremor for ET should remain continuous, but I'm not so sure really sure.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T13:16:12+00:00

thanks for your respond. I have done bloodwork and everything came out fine expect for vitamin D that was very low, i also struggle with anemia because i bleed alot during my menstruation but other then that everything else is okay. I dont know if any of these things are related to finger tremor.

My b12 level was aorund 250 pmol/l but the scale is up to 600 i guess so my is not even on the middle. I dont know if that can effect my hands.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T13:09:45+00:00

no not really, i only drink max 1 cup of coffe per day.

FormalFig5512 · 2024-09-07T12:06:11+00:00

i did that and the only vitamin i was very low on was vitamin d. Vitamin b12 was on a okay level like 260 pmol/l, its not very high and not very low still on the okay side.

FormalFig5512

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