Surviving first year of BDS was the most difficult phase of my BDS journey – new subjects, new terms, bulky chapters. The most challenging subject for me was Dental Anatomy and Oral histology.
I would like to share here how I “survived” this subject using various resources.
How I learnt Dental Anatomy
Tooth morphology:
I watched videos from YouTube channels like Dentistry Essentials (Dr Gunjan) and Dental Education Hub. These videos explained tooth morphology using 3D tooth models. I used to adopt a Watch-Pause-Read strategy.
For say, if I am studying maxillary central incisor, I’d first watch labial aspect of the tooth then pause the video and read the labial aspect description given in the textbook. Likewise, I’d study all the other aspects of the tooth – palatal/incisal/mesial/distal.
I used to collect natural tooth from nearby dental clinics. While doing tooth carving and studying tooth morphology, I used to closely observe the natural tooth and was able to get a clarity on the crown and root dimensions, shape of roots.
N.B. Most of the times a perfect natural tooth with all features might not be available from clinics. So, I mostly preferred the YouTube videos to understand the correct tooth morphology.
Moreover, I used to create comparison tables to learn differences between primary and permanent teeth, maxillary and mandibular teeth
Occlusion:
I used to closely observe plaster dentition models/typodont and refer to YouTube videos of the channel – Dr Teeth to understand the concepts and theories.
How I learnt Oral Histology
For most of the topics, I referred YouTube videos from the channel - Easy Dentistry by Dr. Pranali Satpute. Concepts are taught using concise, bullet points and simple pictorial presentations.
For understanding facial development, I used to watch 3D animation videos available on the YouTube channel – Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto and sometimes referred to videos by Osmosis Elsevier.
My Advice for First Year Denticos
-
Always adopt visual learning strategies for studying Dental Anatomy and Oral Histology concepts.
-
Our brain hates long paragraphs given in textbooks. It grasps visuals and concise matter easily. So, create mnemonics, summary tables and mind maps, watch 3D animated videos of concepts like embryology, tooth morphology – this helps to retain the concepts in a much better way.
-
Study small portions daily. Avoid cramming the night before exams.
Which subject was challenging for you during the First year of college? How did you tackle that subject? Share your thoughts.
MBH/PS