Second year began abruptly with two new preclinical subjects. I thought I was ready, but I wasn’t at all.
It started with articulating the rims I had made at the end of first year over the denture bases.
Articulation became a nightmare.
No room for error.
Not even 1%.
I did it 15 times.
Still wrong. I was tired and frustrated watching everyone else move ahead. I went to the room and did it again and again until it worked.
The next step was the teeth setting, where every mm and angulation mattered. Somehow, I got through it.
But it wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning of the endless cycle of making denture bases, rims, articulating them, and doing teeth setting.
I had to repeat it nearly 30 times, and each process needed approval from the professor. With a 70% success rate of approval and a B grade, I was somehow managing.
My batchmates and I borrowed each other’s best work once or twice for approvals, which was like, “God, please don’t let us get caught.” And we still wonder how we got different grades on the same work.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped feeling like students. It began to feel like labor. Long hours in labs, constant physical strain, and the pressure to keep up became routine. Even in our rooms, we were chasing deadlines and approvals, testing our patience every single time.
Second year didn’t just teach dentistry.
It taught endurance.
MBH/PS