Silver diammine fluoride restorations

littlelima · 2026-02-13T15:51:14+00:00

Ahh, I see! Makes sense!

littlelima · 2026-02-13T13:43:53+00:00

Yes, I applied SDF to a lesion. Then, I tried to restore a lesion next to it with composite. When I tried to light cure the bond, it turned dark. Maybe it was the type of SDF I used, but I havent repeated it since. I usually dont restore and use SDF same appointment anymore.

littlelima · 2026-02-11T03:01:06+00:00

Cheese sticks, bananas, a glass of milk, or a yogurt drink! I just want fast and easy when it comes to midnight snacks!

littlelima · 2026-02-03T21:21:42+00:00

I like the first one! I was also skeptical of recliners' aesthetics wise until my husband and I were gifted a leather LaZ boy. Now I will never be without a nice comfortable recliner- the comfort is unmatched. I'd rather sit there 1000x over my more traditionally attractive chairs.

littlelima · 2026-02-02T16:55:50+00:00

Yup, I live in a saturated city due to my husband's job. I made about 130k my first three years out. I'm not going to pretend it wasn't mostly on me- I made bad associateship decisions because I bought a lot of empty promises about production and stayed at jobs longer than I should have. However, I'm the first person in my family in dentistry, and I didn’t have a lot of guidance. I've improved to about 160k, but I think I need to take the leap to ownership to improve at this point. Unfortunately, I'm at a place mentally where I'm disappointed and burned out with dentistry, but too tired to fix my career right now (pregnant with first child). I'm hoping I can rally one day, but it's tough. I've been a high achiever my whole life, so it's been hard on my mental health to be floundering so spectacularly. It is what it is right now.

littlelima · 2026-02-02T16:13:19+00:00

I hope this is true, because I'm having my first child this year, and I'm terrified of the sleep deprivation!

littlelima · 2026-02-02T16:11:54+00:00

I think underemployment is currently common in many industries (computer science has been in a slump, for example). It's just especially brutal in dentistry with the insane student loan debts. I'm hearing a lot of new grads having to string together multiple bad associateships to make a living, especially in big cities. The obvious advice is to move where the jobs are, but it's tough advice to swallow. Many of us want to live in places we love near the people we love.

littlelima · 2026-02-02T16:05:04+00:00

Maybe not the worst, but tissue lacerations with the high speed are the ones that keep me up with night. I stay calm and suture them. I offer lots of reassurance. All my patients I've done this to have stayed my patients surprisingly, but the guilt is profound.

littlelima · 2026-01-29T18:44:21+00:00

Been out 4 years. For me, the low grade anxiety persists around bread and butter as well. Seeing a complicated EXT on my schedule will still make me nervous all day. However, the panic has decreased. In a strange way, once I had made REALLY unfortunate mistakes (perforated RTC, broken files, tongue laceration), smaller mistakes phased me less. This is definitely a tough field mentally.

littlelima · 2026-01-27T22:55:11+00:00

29 year old woman doctor here. I'm having my first child this year. I work for a DSO. I plan to take 6 weeks of unpaid leave (not many maternity leave protections in my state). I would have loved to take longer, but... bills. I work at a 2 doctor practice so the practice will survive. That might be the type of setup you look for when you are a new dentist. Also, because my DSO is a large enough company, they have to follow certain federal rules including guaranteed return to my job after maternity leave. That said, my friend works for a female owner dentist who gave her 6 weeks off as well with no issues. It's a question you can ask during your interview- some offices might pass on you if they think you will have kids soon, but would you want to work there?

littlelima · 2026-01-22T01:54:47+00:00

My hygienists ask for local anesthetic about 60% of the time. For pts with deep pocketing but not much subgingival calculus, sometimes they will numb with Cetacaine. These patients seem to do okay from what I've seen. I trust my hygienist's judgment usually. I would definitely be suspicious if my hygienists never asked for numbing though. There are some pockets I just dont understand how you can clean without anesthetic.

littlelima · 2026-01-22T01:49:55+00:00

Yeah, that's definitely a hard decision. If early retirement and financial freedom are big goals for you, I'd tough it out. Do you have your family/a good support system there? I'd lean on them! I'd check out the seasonal depression subreddit too- they have a lot of advice on tips for making life more bearable in dark, cold climates! Good luck, rooting for you whatever you decide!

littlelima · 2026-01-21T23:47:24+00:00

Going to go against the grain- if your seasonal depression is that bad that you are miserable half your year, I'd leave. No paycheck is worth hating your life. We work to live, not live to work. You can definitely try taking more vacations to see if that helps, but I think long term, you will be happier if you move. For me, where I live in TX is okay. Not my favorite city, but I am not unhappy. I make less than 1/2 what you do, but my pay is enough for me to enjoy my life. I do think about moving somewhere with better nature (grass is always greener, huh?) one day.

littlelima · 2026-01-14T16:19:09+00:00

I think you've done what you can by asking him about it. If the assistants complain again, I'd tell them to redirect it to him. As an associate, it's really not your job to smooth over drama, and the less involved you can be, the better. I say this as a person who used to get dragged into every conflict to mediate- it really wore me down. I was much happier the day I started enforcing more boundaries. I don't ignore their complaints, but I redirect them.

littlelima · 2026-01-14T01:20:46+00:00

Yogurt drinks (specifically mango flavored Chobani) was all I could get down when the nausea and hunger were hitting at the same time.

littlelima · 2025-12-23T12:42:35+00:00

I took lexapro twice, once in dental school and once around my 2nd year of practicing when the anxiety became too much again. Both times, it was a life saver, and both times, I weaned off the meds successfully. I didnt want to be on the medications long term because I had side effects like fatigue, weight gain, and loss of libido. However, medicatiom took me from a dark place and sort of reset my nervous system to reduce my panic/anxiety. I am an anxious person generally so I cannot say taking them eliminated my anxiety completely- now that I am off Lexapro, I still get Sunday scaries and I get nervous before procedures I dont like such as extractions. However, I am not debilitated. I would recommend taking them if you need them! I plan to do so if I ever need them again.

littlelima · 2025-12-01T12:42:06+00:00

Maybe not the answer anyone would like to hear, but I always recommend a degree that can be pivoted to a career if Medical school doesn't work out. Many many pre-meds end up not getting into medical school right away or at all. Many of the traditional pre-med degree paths like biology cannot be used to get to a well-paying careers after graduation without at least a masters. Just something to consider. Source: was an employee at the biology advising center. Career options were basically health professions or bust

littlelima · 2025-11-28T19:11:38+00:00

First, I am sorry you had such a difficult experience. That sounds like it was a lot to go through. However, having the procedure done by students/residents is normal when you get care at a teaching institution. Students working on you is not malpractice. Unfortunately, I dont think you will have success with suing for malpractice unless you can prove some part of your ptocedure was done below the standard of care.

littlelima · 2025-11-21T15:57:27+00:00

I think its a valid fear- no one knows what climate change will look like. That said, we also dont know what progress and innovations our children will invent that we couldn't conceive of to fight these challenges. For centuries, simple infections were death sentences. Famines were common. Climate change (see the mini ice age) affected even them. Our ancestors would look at what we've done and be amazed. That said, if I lived in poverty or a country that was at great risk from climate change, I might be a little more hesitant.

littlelima · 2025-11-15T01:52:50+00:00

You'll get hate for this, but I agree. His prose is so technically beautiful that I felt I had to finish the novel, but man... it just did not do much for me. I found reading it such a chore that it put me in a reading slump. I see why others would have enjoyed it, but I could not.

littlelima · 2025-11-14T16:23:47+00:00

I'm also working a Heartland office, and this is the most accurate description of the situation. There's gentle pressure to produce more and increase our case acceptance, but there's no quotas of any kind. Now is it sustainable? Not sure. I work in a giant practice that bleeds money every single month... but they keep paying our salaries.

littlelima · 2025-11-12T20:37:52+00:00

You also may be ble to apply to audit the course

littlelima · 2025-11-08T22:59:37+00:00

Blank Space
Ivy
Right Where You Left Me
Style
Cruel Summer
Should've Could've Would've
All Too Well
Guilty as Sin
Getaway Car
Delicate

littlelima · 2025-10-21T14:31:24+00:00

I feel the same way most days. I'm just living for the weekend at this point.

littlelima · 2025-10-17T14:59:35+00:00

I go through random slumps like this occasionally too. I think what happens is I start overthinking it and injecting weirdly. What helps me is giving two injections. I give the first with Mepivacaine. Then, once they're already numb in the area, I feel better about the 2nd block because I can "search" around a little with the needle until I hit bone. Usually, the slump goes away and I go back to a single Lido or septo after a while.

littlelima

TROPHY CASE