We all studied at least one topic like our life depends on it .Stayed up late , gave it multiple revisions and what not !But when the real practice starts , it’s just not there .
For me , one such topic is silver amalgam restoration!
We spent months learning it in detail in dental school . Learnt the mixing ratios, condensation, mercury safety, clinical indications… everything. Even completed our patient quota in third year.
And now? I don’t see it in practice , it’s not relevant anymore .
Why ? because of several reasons like ..
Composites improved.
Aesthetics became a priority.
Patient preferences shifted.
concerns around mercury toxicity and environmental impact also played a role.
I feel topics like cast gold restorations, complex articulator settings, and theoretical knowledge learned in public health are not of use in actual clinical practice.
I agree with you completely , I have spent so much of my energy in both preclinical and clinical postings to achieve the perfect amalgam restoration , from learning about how to titrate it using motor and pestle and don’t even get me started with how obsessed I was with gauze cloths to squeeze out the excess mercury. Just to realise later that it’s absolutely USELESS in everyday clinical practise . I should have invested time in learning composite restorations earlier during my BDS days .
And one useless thing according to me is everything we learned about dark room and manual IOPA processing . ABSOLUTELY A WASTE OF TIME . They could have taught us to use PSP scanning instead .
I wouldn’t call anything in medical or dental school completely useless—because even the most obscure facts teach us how to think critically.
But if I had to choose, memorizing countless biochemical pathways that I rarely use in daily practice felt less relevant at the time. When it comes to practical exercises making POP cubes and cylinders was the worst practical exercise which was the part of our curriculum.
removing all of the rings watches strict instructions to work carefully with it squeezing excess out then carefully cleaning the area with cotton …full year of amalgam even knowing we dont use it anymore
