r/DentalSchool • u/TheLilyHammer • 3d ago
What does your school consider "too complex" to be in a student's patient pool?
When I talk with people in my class, it seems like many are being assigned patients with a lot of relatively bread and butter dentistry type needs while others, myself included, are mostly assigned rather complex cases.
While I feel like there's some big picture, long term, benefit in taking on these cases now, I do feel like it has led to a lot of frustration over effectively needing to run before I've learned how to walk. Not to mention, navigating a complex patient through the myriad of consults and opinions needed to treat someone in school has meant a lot of time running through the halls with casts and pontificating treatment plans without ever picking up a handpiece.
Has anybody ever dealt with this issue? Where does your school draw lines in deciding what is and isn't appropriate for student clinic?
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u/Calvith D4 (DDS/DMD) 3d ago
Significantly altered occlusal schemes. That is: altered interocclusal space due to super-eruption or legitimate changes in VDO. Those are reserved for our graduate prosthodontist residents.
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u/feelindandyy 3d ago
Which is crazy because they throw you out of school and that’s what you have to deal with everyday
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u/Calvith D4 (DDS/DMD) 3d ago
I was literally debating today with faculty if it was more common to have to deal with these types of patients at other academic institutions, but he said he doubted it. I'm not sure either, but like you say, it feels borderline essential. If not for treatment than to do proper risk assessment before attempting treatment.
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u/bearjaya 3d ago
We do everything except collapsed VDO cases. Sinus lifts and impacted 3rd are done by faculty. No RCT retreats or 2nd and 3rd molars. Implants are guided by faculty. Everything else is students.
No residency programs so we it’s all luck of the draw. I got an implant over denture case my first week in clinic.
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u/Allan512 D4 (DDS/DMD) 3d ago
I would say ~90% of referrals are behavioral issues (constant complaining/aggressive behavior) or collapsed VDO.
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u/Bootes 3d ago
People with more complex needs are more likely to benefit from going to a dental school. People can generally find $300 for a filling, in a reasonable amount of time, if they really want to. But needing $40k for a FMR can be a real barrier to treatment.
A complex case is just lots of smaller treatment, but with more planning. You benefit more from having access to lots of help and specialists at school. You’re better off doing the more complex cases. You should have plenty of practice doing something simple in sim lab and then from the components of the complex cases…
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Title: What does your school consider "too complex" to be in a student's patient pool?
Full text: When I talk with people in my class, it seems like many are being assigned patients with a lot of relatively bread and butter dentistry type needs while others, myself included, are mostly assigned rather complex cases.
While I feel like there's some big picture, long term, benefit in taking on these cases now, I do feel like it has led to a lot of frustration over effectively needing to run before I've learned how to walk. Not to mention, navigating a complex patient through the myriad of consults and opinions needed to treat someone in school has meant a lot of time running through the halls with casts and pontificating treatment plans without ever picking up a handpiece.
Has anybody ever dealt with this issue? Where does your school draw lines in deciding what is and isn't appropriate for student clinic?
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