Going to clinic soon and struggling with indirect vision

[dentalchamp98]

Hey guys I am currently a D2 and we are transitioning to clinic soon. My problem is since the beginning of dental school I had to do whatever I could to pass all my pre-clinic practicals so I resorted to using direct vision (bending my back when doing maxillary teeth for example). I am now worried how I will do procedures in clinic since I am struggling a lot with my mirror. I am aware of the consequences of using direct vision on my back but now I am incredibly time pressured and am afraid of I don't have much to perfect my skills. Any advice would be appreciated

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[deleted903013]

My very first restoration was an #3 MO that was almost subgingival which was extremely difficult. My advice for indirect vision is use your mirror to see your bur and then move your bur back and forth on the tooth without hitting the rheostat. Then, once you see how the bur moves in your mirror, finally start drilling and just go slow. That way, it gets you use to how the bur moves in your mirror. One thing I also did was check out a mouth mirror and trace things at home looking through the mirror. After a couple of maxillary posterior teeth, you'll get the hang of it!

 

[knewstance]

My very first restoration was an #3 MO that was almost subgingival which was extremely difficult. My advice for indirect vision is use your mirror to see your bur and then move your bur back and forth on the tooth without hitting the rheostat. Then, once you see how the bur moves in your mirror, finally start drilling and just go slow. That way, it gets you use to how the bur moves in your mirror. One thing I also did was check out a mouth mirror and trace things at home looking through the mirror. After a couple of maxillary posterior teeth, you'll get the hang of it!

This is exactly the way I think about it. I don't even consider left/right/opposite.

 

[doktorinprogres]

Hey guys I am currently a D2 and we are transitioning to clinic soon. My problem is since the beginning of dental school I had to do whatever I could to pass all my pre-clinic practicals so I resorted to using direct vision (bending my back when doing maxillary teeth for example). I am now worried how I will do procedures in clinic since I am struggling a lot with my mirror. I am aware of the consequences of using direct vision on my back but now I am incredibly time pressured and am afraid of I don't have much to perfect my skills. Any advice would be appreciated

Practice cutting class 3 preps in the preclinic lab with your mirror. Heck cut a slot in the direct center of #8 or 9. Repeat until you feel like you can kinda get a sense for how it works. I didn't do this, an upper level student told me it will just click one day, he ended up being right. But you can get a better/faster feel for it by practicing

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Back to the sim head for an extra hour or two in the evenings once a week to practice boxes until you're feeling good about it. You got this 👍

 

[Jongki Lee]

Hey guys I am currently a D2 and we are transitioning to clinic soon. My problem is since the beginning of dental school I had to do whatever I could to pass all my pre-clinic practicals so I resorted to using direct vision (bending my back when doing maxillary teeth for example). I am now worried how I will do procedures in clinic since I am struggling a lot with my mirror. I am aware of the consequences of using direct vision on my back but now I am incredibly time pressured and am afraid of I don't have much to perfect my skills. Any advice would be appreciated

Mastering indirect vision skills requires a lot of practice. There is an App for indirect vision training. You may find it in app store by searching Dental MirrorWorks. Play with it consistently(at least 10min per day for one month) and then apply it to dentiform. You will pick up the indirect vision skills quite effectively.