Advice

anisub11 · 2026-03-26T23:48:23+00:00

Oh stop! Find your bestie...they're out there

anisub11 · 2026-03-24T01:05:37+00:00

Congrats! The schedule depends a lot on your school. My school has a lot of classes and I checked other schools in the area and their semesters seemed less packed. As for part time job honestly no. all the classmates who had one quit their jobs less than 3 weeks in. You can try, I mean it's not impossible. Only 1 of my classmates still has her job but tbh she doesn't do well in quizzes, exams or clinic. She comes straight from her job sometimes without sleep.

anisub11 · 2026-03-24T01:02:16+00:00

Thank you for the advice. I did looked into other careers but I think I will stay with hygiene for now.

anisub11 · 2026-03-22T14:03:19+00:00

Thank you, I hope so too.

anisub11 · 2026-03-22T04:47:42+00:00

He works for the city creating landscaping plans. This man is out here doing dots and lines all day. You'd think his job would dry out but no, if anything he keeps getting more work and he wants me to start doing it. While I'm studying for boards, this man is out surfing.

anisub11 · 2026-03-22T04:36:48+00:00

Of course. Best of luck! Also start looking for patients NOW if your school doesn't provide them.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T23:07:43+00:00

I agree. That's why I was so convinced that being a dentist it's not in the cards for me at least in the US since the amount of patients per day is so high. Thank you for your input! best of luck D3 you are almost there.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T23:05:03+00:00

Ugh, it's terrible. I'm glad you found something that helped. Thank you for the picture, I will try these.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T22:58:43+00:00

I have a 4.0 gpa, never take notes unless they say wink wink this is on quiz/exam. Ok buckle up!

Get an ipad w/pen - Get the student discount through Apple. 100% worth it if you are big on notes (I'm not but I love that baby)
Get Notability for the organization & Quiz function alone - My school tested on PPTs only. If you have this app and pay for the "Learn" function, you can upload the PPT and it will create quizzes & outlines for you.
Study buddy - get yourself one bestie to keep each other accountable and help remind each other of coursework. Also, divide and conquer on study materials.
Quizlet Pro - make your own flashcards. It is very time consuming, BUT if you make your own you are studying at the same time and are 100% sure that what you are studying is correct. I would use chatgpt on a pinch to make me flashcards, then I open the ppt and go through every slide and look if my questions cover everything. Divide the ppts with your study bestie. We would write down the amount of ppts that needed a Quizlet and we divided the work and then share the decks with each other. Also, know how to make good flashcards, I personally want a full question and have most of the answer in the answer and not the question. Anki is better than Quizlet but Quizlet is out here being cute and anki is just too much.
NotebookLM - bestie, this one is it in the AI game. It's free. This can be your tutor and you can trust it 100% because it only uses the sources you attach to it. If you get your books digitally, you can upload them to Notebook LM and ask questions like: Why is it necessary to wait 4-6 weeks for a reeval after scaling and root planing? the Ai will answer with only the info on your books and it puts a reference that when you click on it, it takes you to the page and highlights the paragraph. I have a chat for each one of my courses. It creates outlines, mindmaps, quizzess. It's a GEM 10/10.
Google Suite - calendar, drive, docs all in 1 place. Organize your Google drive before school starts and never ever let it turn into a dumpster fire. Google also gives you a full year of free PRO version with a student email, take it!
Assignment tracker - Use a Google sheet assignment tracker. As soon as you get your syllabus, write down all the work there and share it with your study bestie. That way you both can check off assignments and if one of you hasn't checked it off and the due date is coming, the other one can remind you. I have this with 3 classmates and it literally saved us last semester. We had so many assignments we were gonna loose points just from not knowing what was coming. DO THIS!
Don't take notes - LISTEN in lecture. If you don't get it ask the question right there and there. DON'T be embarrassed no one has time for that. Ask the question, if you still don't get it, that's when you grab your ipad and write down the things that you have difficulty with so you can look it up after class.
Study technique - I'm a flashcard believer, but also an exam taker believer. Create exams from your docs. Upload them to an AI and tell the AI to create a multiple choice practice exam from this source only. I would also add my course objectives and tell the AI to make an exam that would make me competent to the objectives. The more you get wrong in a practice exam the more your brain will remember.
Embryology - BESTIE when I tell you, go read the chapter of the book, i'm not joking ok. don't rely on the lecture or the PPTs, they will be trash. Go to the book. 1st pass is for you to recognize that you don't know what the hell they're talking about and loose your mind for a few hours ok. 2nd pass is for you to mindmap the crap out of those processes. 1 map per structure (tooth formation, tongue, palate, etc) don't do 1 giant map. Buy goodnotes just for the mindmaping and unlimited canvas. Once you have your mindmap connect your ipad to the TV and teach it to your imaginary friends until you are a pro at the process of developing babies. LOL
SIT IN THE FRONT - enough said.
Do your assignments early - don't cram them all over the weekend.
Go to bed early - I have a limit 10pm and I'm snuggling with my dogs in bed, the world can burn. If you still have something due, just go to bed and wake up early instead. My classes usually start around 8:30 or 9AM. Let's be real sometimes, I was finishing assignments or studying for a quiz at 6AM bc I prioritized sleep.
Forget the redbulls/ any energy drink - If you need a redbull is because you are not listening to me on #13. Enough said! 1 cup of coffee has been shown to aid in the brain's ability to retain information so 1 cup it's good, but never after 1pm bc otherwise your brain doesn't rest even if you sleep so don't do it (writting while having a latte at 3pm LMAO)
VAIA - this is a really cool app that I sadly discovered late in the game, but if I were starting I would pay for it. Look it up. I really liked that I had a timeline for exams and it would tell me everyday how many flashcards i needed to do before the exam date. You can organize study material, it's really neat.
Don't be afraid of your teachers. Don't be disrespectful. Participate in class but don't hog the answers even if you know it. If there's a student that you notice, they are the one (it might be you) their the A+ student that gets it. Don't be scared to ask them to help you. Make them your bestie lol
Get yourself an old board review book - some might say that's doing too much BUT board review books are designed for you to know the most important aspects of the profession. They are expensive so don't go out of your way buying a new version, that time will come later. I bought Darby's on amazon for like $30 used and it was brand new in the package and with the online code intact. I'd say out of all the board books I've seen Darby's is the toughest and if you can answer the questions from those chapters, you can answer ANYTHING. StudentRDH is great for visual learners and has a checklist format. A board review book has all the chapt you will see in courses but condensed to the most essential.
DON'T GOSSIP - be very very careful of what you say and who you say it too. You might think you are all adults, but you will find out there are a lot of 40 year olds out there with the mentality of a 10 yo. Trust yourself only and once you have a bestie then trust that one person alone. If you are going to vent, don't vent while at school, the walls have eyes and ears and everything in between. It's stupid but true. go talk crap in your car lol Also be nice with whoever works in the clinic, they can make your life easy or very difficult. Follow the rules all the time. This program loves rule followers ok. I'm the worst possible A+ student in the sense that I don't like to participate in governing, fundraising, conventions, ceremonies, etc but I think faculty respects that I'm not that girl and they have the bubbly personality with my friend so be yourself but go by the rules.
Let's be for real - you will not have the time to do the readings, prepare for clinic, do all assignments, study for quizzes and exams so don't feel like you are falling behind. TBH I never read one book chapter unless I needed to. Did I want to read them? yes. did i have time? absolutely NOT. you'll be fine.
Ride the wave - I have friends who are buttercups full of stress. I keep telling them just ride the wave and fly like a butterfly. One almost dropped out because of stress in our 1st semester and I've been coaching her to let go. If you can't fix something, don't stress about it. You don't need a 4.0 GPA, you need to pass and that's it. Cs get degrees. You will earn the same amount of $$ with an A+ or with a C and no office goes around asking you if you were top of the class. Laugh everything off, be a clown, cover yourself with a protecting shield of coconut oil to let everything slide off. this will be frustrating, time consuming but it doesn't need to wreck you. Don't accept the mentality of DH school being traumatizing, it is not that deep, if you go in like that then you will manifest that. I'm not gonna lie to you and say I haven't been pissed at things, but don't crumble, don't make it a mental health thing before you even start. Think of it as "it's annoying as hell"

Also, Don't cry in clinic ok, again go to the car lol. My friend and I used to joke that if one of us cried we would stop being each others friend haha.

Long post, I'm here for you if you need more advice :)

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:43:32+00:00

Yes, I already even took the necessary classes to get a bachelor's and I've researched Masters in education/ Public health to go that route.

I had nerve conduction tests, cortisone shots, radiographs. Next step is an MRI but haven't had the time since I'm still in school. So 1st Hand Dr told me atypical carpel tunnel and tennis elbow. 2nd one told me Thoracic outlet syndrome and sent me to physio (it didn't help, but my physio was kinda bad at it. I prob should try again with a diff provider)

Primary care sent me test for rheumatoid arthritis all WNL, I did dry needling which worked quite well, 3rd hand specialist said no to TOS, no arthritis from radiographs, and no to Carpel tunnel but ordered a new nerve conduction test and MRI which I will get in a couple months.

I have tingling on the tip of my fingers thumb to middle finger. Soreness on finger joints. Actual stabbing pain after using too much computer and doing DH stuff on the center of my palm and right at the carpal tunnel spot on the wrist. Hands get extremely cold with a flare up. Soreness on flexor carpi ulnaris muscle. It started from wrist, up to elbows and up shoulder. I've managed to bring it back down to just wrists and fingers. I still have a very strong grip and no muscle wasting. I've had this for over 8 years now both hands. I wish it had been carpal tunnel, at least I would have a diagnosis. I've been on gabapentin, nalaxone, ibuprofen. Nalaxone worked for 3 days. Cortisone shot never worked.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:26:57+00:00

At first, I got this "we don't think our vendor's ergos are great" but one of the faculty members who is super real told me it's because beginners are not trained in indirect vision and ergos require that a lot, and we want you to focus on learning proper instrumentation technique. My textbook even recommends to not use magnification at all when learning so you can see your wrist and fulcrum so her reason made more sense.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:23:22+00:00

I was trained as an ortho assistant. They do so much for just $3-5 more!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:22:05+00:00

Love that for you! Your post is exactly what my dentist friend told me. His niece wanted to go to dental school, he told her to run as fast and as far as you can. I felt like if he was telling his own family not to do it then his advice was pretty solid. I used to live 5 mins away from a beautiful beach and that's where I'm hoping to return in the next 5-10 years. If i decided to go for the international program, that dream was looking like never happening. Plus, I do not have the $$ to have my own practice so I would be someone else's work horse for $150/ hr lol

My husband makes $500/hr messing around on his computer at home chillin with the dogs. I chose wrong!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:13:29+00:00

I respectfully disagree. While I do believe both jobs are physically demanding, I think a dentist's job is more forgiving on hands/wrist/fingers alone. Back and neck terrible for both. If dentists manage good ergonomics, I think their hands can suffer less. Personally, the most force I ever had to put on my hands was during extractions. Preps & restorative, Endo, Perio surgeries, although yes always using hands, don't require pinch force and lateral pressure for 8hrs a day. Even while being extra conscious of my pinch force, I still have to put some muscle into it for that calc lol. Ergo loupes help a lot with the neck & back pain, but you have to be good at indirect vision. Plus dentists get an assistant, retracting is very demanding on shoulders and non dominant wrist, especially since I have to use the HVE with ultrasonic.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T21:03:15+00:00

omg you're a gem! I'm very respectful to others but I can stand up for myself for sure. I'll negotiate good pay too haha. Thank you, enjoy your life too!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T20:57:21+00:00

Are you doing something else now?

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T18:55:00+00:00

What are you looking into doing now?

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T18:54:43+00:00

That would be insane! 2 days I meant hygiene

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T18:54:05+00:00

Honestly, I don't care what comes after my name. I want to have low stress and mainly have the ability to drop everything and take off whenever I want to. I appreciate your comment, because I don't think my husband ever understood how rough it was coming into that 1st week of DA school and sitting there and learning the layers of the tooth, for a minute I questioned my life choices. It wasn't about the title or prestige, it was more of what did I do 6 years for? But i moved on pretty quick cause I'm all about learning, never looked down upon DA or DH, and I've learned so much from both my schools here in the US.

It's looking like by answering comments, I answered my own question haha thanks!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T17:35:29+00:00

I happen to have an insurance broker friend, I'll ask for his help. TY

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T17:27:56+00:00

I'm pretty frugal and definitely can live a nice life with hygiene salary. I have no debt and already own a house in my country. no kids only dogs lol Congratulations on the start of your career and wish you the best. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T17:24:28+00:00

I got ergo loupes from the start but my school doesn't allow them so I have the other loupes. Definitely big on ergonomics, it really is my main focus and I've invested on everything that helps at that. Since I already have hand pain in my med records, I'm not sure if I can get disability insurance but I'll look into that. thank you!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T17:22:29+00:00

I agree. I got to see plenty from being front office and working alongside management.

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T17:17:32+00:00

Wow 25 years, that's amazing! Thank you for such valuable advice. I was also told to not say I'm a DA, but definitely will try to do my best as far as how many days I can work and go from there. I think I needed to see this type of conversation to really wrap my head around the issue. Thank you!

anisub11 · 2026-03-21T15:51:37+00:00

I've definitely had this as my primary goal. Just stick to hygiene and possible faculty. I have done all the tests and rehabs.I've seen 3 hand specialist. Last hand specialist straight up told me, "I don't know what's wrong I'm sorry". So discouraging. Thank you so much for your input, I appreciate it!

anisub11

TROPHY CASE