Starting a dental instagram?

[fantasticflossophy]

Pre-dent here. (I don't have a personal instagram).
Was wondering if it's a good idea to start a dental instagram? (To follow other dental students, post pics of cool stuff from shadowing, follow schools, etc.) Would this help me out later in dental school and in my practice? Thanks!

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[Chief's Pineapple]

I mean I wouldn't. Going to sound all superior and haughty here, but I feel it's kinda cringe. Either people post informative stuff on their pages (which, to be honest, I'm not going to social media in the first place to seek out) or it's TikTok cringe dance stuff. Let's not try to glamorize something that isn't exactly glamorous to begin with. But you do you. I DO follow one page in particular, but that's because he posts some epic, hilarious memes.

If you want to follow other dental students, by all means. Just create an account and follow them; you don't have to make your own account be dental-related. As for following schools, I'm assuming it's because you want to research stuff about them before an interview, perhaps. But once again, like the example above I made above, social media should be your last place that you're looking at. And even if it's not, the pages will probably be public. So again, create an account and go visit their page.

As for "cool" stuff you've seen during shadowing, what exactly would you post that wouldn't violate patient privacy? Genuinely curious here. My first healthcare job, we weren't even allowed to bring our phones into the OR. At my first duty station, we had to stop bringing our phones with us in patient care areas because someone took inappropriate photos. Unless I was using the OMFS' DSLR to take photos during LeFort cases, I don't take photos with my phone when patients are around. Call me paranoid, I won't deny it, but I genuinely feel uncomfortable being in an area with lots of PII around and having the camera function on my phone on.

 

[fantasticflossophy]

I mean I wouldn't. Going to sound all superior and haughty here, but I feel it's kinda cringe. Either people post informative stuff on their pages (which, to be honest, I'm not going to social media in the first place to seek out) or it's TikTok cringe dance stuff. Let's not try to glamorize something that isn't exactly glamorous to begin with. But you do you. I DO follow one page in particular, but that's because he posts some epic, hilarious memes.

If you want to follow other dental students, by all means. Just create an account and follow them; you don't have to make your own account be dental-related. As for following schools, I'm assuming it's because you want to research stuff about them before an interview, perhaps. But once again, like the example above I made above, social media should be your last place that you're looking at. And even if it's not, the pages will probably be public. So again, create an account and go visit their page.

As for "cool" stuff you've seen during shadowing, what exactly would you post that wouldn't violate patient privacy? Genuinely curious here. My first healthcare job, we weren't even allowed to bring our phones into the OR. At my first duty station, we had to stop bringing our phones with us in patient care areas because someone took inappropriate photos. Unless I was using the OMFS' DSLR to take photos during LeFort cases, I don't take photos with my phone when patients are around. Call me paranoid, I won't deny it, but I genuinely feel uncomfortable being in an area with lots of PII around and having the camera function on my phone on.

Ah ok! Thanks for the perspective, it's helpful to think about all that. One of the dentists I shadow lets me take pics of x-rays or before and after impressions of ortho cases -- so I was thinking along those lines. My goal with the instagram would have been to have somewhat of a "blog"/"photo scrapbook" for patients to view down the line (even though they probably don't care lol!) to see my dental journey or for future pre-dental/dental students I mentor. But again, I may just be really idealistic at this point and will think before deciding.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

Social media needs to die.

Closing thread.

Big Hoss

 

[Lemillion]

Creating a blog IG account seems to be the trend lately. Never been the biggest fan of the dancing dentist ones. If I had to choose, I always appreciated the ones where the dental students blog about their day to day/helpful tips for those applying. I think pre-dents gravitate towards those accounts because it gives them a perspective on the dental school life and kinda helps as a motivation tool. A lot of the other "informative" ones are dental students re-hashing basic dental knowledge that you learn as a 1st year. It does seem that accounts that get fairly popular end up being a side hustle itself. You end up managing the IG account then maybe a TikTok account followed by your longer videos being posted on YouTube. Can be time consuming to say the least.

 

[PerioDont]

Social media needs to die.

Closing thread.

Big Hoss

Couldn’t agree more.

OP if this will make any difference in your career I would guess it would be in a negative and not a positive way.

A first year student in my dental school was expelled over an Instagram post. True story

 

[AONLINE]

A first year student in my dental school was expelled over an Instagram post. True story

Do tell, if you don’t mind. Even vaguely. Was the post about touchy subjects such as races/sex?

 

[PerioDont]

Do tell, if you don’t mind. Even vaguely. Was the post about touchy subjects such as races/sex?

Nope. The student made a stupid joke about Covid.

On their private Instagram account.

A classmate screenshotted and sent to admin. Reported for unprofessionalism and expelled.

He made the joke in February 2020 before Covid got so bad in March.

 

[gunner4ever]

95% of accounts are totally useless unless you are an excellent clinician sharing tips

 

[redchesus]

As much as I want it to die, unfortunately social media is here to stay (and getting worse every day)... so I have thoughts on it

If you're a GD, Peds or Ortho, you're going to have some form of presence on the main platforms since you're public-facing. You will do some marketing through there and patients will google you and you're going to want to have some information about yourself out there (patients will find it suspicious if you’re not online). The platform depends on your target age group but this can be your office's account. I think most dentists pay someone to manage it for them.

If you're a specialist who mostly deals with other clinicians then it's less critical. They're nice networking tools to connect with other clinicians across the country/world (far away) but in terms of practice I don't think it will net you more referrals.

As for dental school, like others have said, you need to be very careful about what you post since you are under the school’s jurisdiction. Almost every school has a social media policy now so make sure you follow it. Otherwise I think it’s a good tool to network and engage with older clinicians not at your school.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Please don't. I don't need to see one more dental student wanna be influencer showing off their Figs scrubs or tips on placing resin restorations after placing 2 in sim lab. And for the love of all things holy, do not make your Instagram handle include any variance of Doctor until after you graduate, or ever for that matter.

 

[redchesus]

Please don't. I don't need to see one more dental student wanna be influencer showing off their Figs scrubs or tips on placing resin restorations after placing 2 in sim lab. And for the love of all things holy, do not make your Instagram handle include any variance of Doctor until after you graduate, or ever for that matter.

Lmao so true… so many “future tooth doctors” giving out advice on Insta.

If I had a penny for every post with sexy Figs pose that said “Did you know sugar frequency is more important than sugar amount for dental decay?!”

 

[fantasticflossophy]

Forgive me for coming with this counterthought, (not that I am trying to support the social media scene). I understand that using social media to flaunt is not going to help anyone in any way (I am against this too), but my main perspective was that having a public "get to know me" page / few photos from dental school with friends/etc (like a scrapbook) to be more personable to patients. I had some other goals with the account, but seems those are not very reasonable ones considering I'm simply a pre-dental right now. In smaller towns like I live in it seems to be a way that businesses are able to connect with people. From the shadowing around physician clinics and dental offices around here, folks sometimes ask about their doctors or dentists' journey (esp. those who are relatively new) and have a nice personal relationship. I'm mainly just interested in the connection aspect of social media and using it as a tool in a positive way.

 

[pubhealthdent]

Forgive me for coming with this counterthought, (not that I am trying to support the social media scene). I understand that using social media to flaunt is not going to help anyone in any way (I am against this too), but my main perspective was that having a public "get to know me" page / few photos from dental school with friends/etc (like a scrapbook) to be more personable to patients. I had some other goals with the account, but seems those are not very reasonable ones considering I'm simply a pre-dental right now. In smaller towns like I live in it seems to be a way that businesses are able to connect with people. From the shadowing around physician clinics and dental offices around here, folks sometimes ask about their doctors or dentists' journey (esp. those who are relatively new) and have a nice personal relationship. I'm mainly just interested in the connection aspect of social media and using it as a tool in a positive way.

Why not just have a normal personal Instagram account then? Where you can share normal life moments - which can include dental related things like your first crown prep on a typodont, white coat ceremony, etc. If you're just trying to seem personable to future potential patients, that's going to go a lot further than the student influencer type accounts I referred to before

 

[redchesus]

Forgive me for coming with this counterthought, (not that I am trying to support the social media scene). I understand that using social media to flaunt is not going to help anyone in any way (I am against this too), but my main perspective was that having a public "get to know me" page / few photos from dental school with friends/etc (like a scrapbook) to be more personable to patients. I had some other goals with the account, but seems those are not very reasonable ones considering I'm simply a pre-dental right now. In smaller towns like I live in it seems to be a way that businesses are able to connect with people. From the shadowing around physician clinics and dental offices around here, folks sometimes ask about their doctors or dentists' journey (esp. those who are relatively new) and have a nice personal relationship. I'm mainly just interested in the connection aspect of social media and using it as a tool in a positive way.

There’s nothing wrong with this. See my first post. There are a lot of dental students that use it like a journal to chronicle their journey and to get feedback that’s fine (it’s nice to look back to see how long you’ve come along). It’s when it gets away from that and becomes more narcissistic that we all roll our eyes a bit.

 

[fantasticflossophy]

Why not just have a normal personal Instagram account then? Where you can share normal life moments - which can include dental related things like your first crown prep on a typodont, white coat ceremony, etc. If you're just trying to seem personable to future potential patients, that's going to go a lot further than the student influencer type accounts I referred to before

Gotcha, that makes sense. I still don't understand influencers either lol.

 

[fantasticflossophy]

There’s nothing wrong with this. See my first post. There are a lot of dental students that use it like a journal to chronicle their journey and to get feedback that’s fine (it’s nice to look back to see how long you’ve come along). It’s when it gets away from that and becomes more narcissistic that we all roll our eyes a bit.

Makes sense! Yeah, agreed. Avoiding narcissism on social media is like keeping a cat in a bathtub lol.

 

[EvryDayImHustln]

Please don't. I don't need to see one more dental student wanna be influencer showing off their Figs scrubs or tips on placing resin restorations after placing 2 in sim lab. And for the love of all things holy, do not make your Instagram handle include any variance of Doctor until after you graduate, or ever for that matter.

Excellent post my friend!!

 

[Biodentist]

Nope. The student made a stupid joke about Covid.

On their private Instagram account.

A classmate screenshotted and sent to admin. Reported for unprofessionalism and expelled.

He made the joke in February 2020 before Covid got so bad in March.

Gotta love the supportive environment dental schools love to tell pre-dents about.

 

[Chief's Pineapple]

… so many “future tooth doctors” giving out advice on Insta.

As a predent myself, who are these advice posts for? It's not for dentists, that's for sure. It's not for pre-dents like me, because wtf is the difference between a Class II and a Class III? Yeah beats me. I don't know, and I don't care; I'll find out when I get to that point. It can't be for their fellow dental students, because after a full day of classes, lab/clinic, and studying, the last thing they would want to do is go on social media to see MORE stuff about dental school. Can't be for the general public, because I cannot find something I would rather not see any more on my social media than dental-related stuff.

And it can't be for the poses either, because I definitely have girls- I mean, ahem, other people I follow for that purpose on Instagram. So I am at a loss really for the whole purpose of it all (other than for the selfish, slightly narcissistic reasons).

In smaller towns like I live in it seems to be a way that businesses are able to connect with people. From the shadowing around physician clinics and dental offices around here, folks sometimes ask about their doctors or dentists' journey (esp. those who are relatively new) and have a nice personal relationship. I'm mainly just interested in the connection aspect of social media and using it as a tool in a positive way.

Now see this, this here is what I like to see. Establish a professional relationship with your community. You earn their trust and they will adhere to your ethical treatment planning, resulting in a successful practice. When you word it like this, and avoid the typical stuff you see on dental-school social media accounts, I actually take back (some) of my words in my first post above.

 

[pubhealthdent]

As a predent myself, who are these advice posts for?

Narcissism at its finest. For most of them, intent is purely to become "insta famous" and grow their following. Very few do it hoping to actually pass along knowledge because rationally, as you said, their target audiences aren't interested

 

[fantasticflossophy]

As a predent myself, who are these advice posts for?

I think you bring really good points to the table lol. This whole thread has actually been a good and really interesting discussion. You're right that the flex would be nice to stroke your own ego or come off as attractive to the public, but honestly, that's janky for any type of doctor/healthcare professional to do. We don't typically see an eye surgeon or etc. showing off on insta or posting pics of their cataract surgeries. I think dentistry differs since it also has a 'cosmetic' aspect, is very business oriented, and has that potential to be 'marketed' in a way. Basically, like you said, I think we should be careful and professional about going about this -- and just try to do it based on a good motive for being part of the community rather than narcissism.

Narcissism at its finest.

Yep... It never makes any sense lol *sigh*.

 

[Ivy.ch]

Pre-dent here. (I don't have a personal instagram).
Was wondering if it's a good idea to start a dental instagram? (To follow other dental students, post pics of cool stuff from shadowing, follow schools, etc.) Would this help me out later in dental school and in my practice? Thanks!

Sounds like an easy way to get kicked out of school if you post clinical pictures

 

[schmoob]

I’m a GP and I have an Instagram account. It is FAR FAR from obnoxious. It just has a few of my more interesting cases I did. I don’t have any videos of myself, no tutorials, no Figs scrubs, no cringeworthy self-promotion.
I connected with some more “dental famous” personalities and even collaborated with them IRL.
If you want to have social, just don’t be obnoxious.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

no Figs scrubs

You need to remedy this immediately! I heard that Figs is coming out with a new codpiece that looks absolutely fantastic with their jogger scrubs.

Big Hoss

 

[schmoob]

You need to remedy this immediately! I heard that Figs is coming out with a new codpiece that looks absolutely fantastic with their jogger scrubs.

Big Hoss

They don’t carry my size.

 

[Ivy.ch]

Sounds like a great way to get in HIPAA trouble with the school. Honesty, no one cares what you’re doing in dentistry. Use social media to learn from others - don’t use it to post. It’s cringe.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

It's a unique way to build a dental community

Is it really unique if everyone is doing it?

Big Hoss

 

[redchesus]

It can be a fantastic way to connect with other dental students, learn from their experiences, and share your own journey. You can also use it to showcase your passion for dentistry, share interesting cases or procedures, and even follow dental schools for updates and inspiration. It's a unique way to build a dental community and potentially create valuable connections for your future practice. Plus, with platforms like [removed], you can explore different strategies to effectively grow your dental Instagram. So why not give it a try and see where it takes you?

Are you a marketing bot? Why do you talk like one. And that is a link to a website on how to BUY instagram followers. Gross.