3 Essentials to Succeed in Dental Foundation Training (DFT)

Written by by Dr. Zain Rizvi BDS (KCL) BSc (Imperial)

Right… so you’ve completed 5 years at dental school and whilst you may be relieved it’s all over, you’re also terrified about what’s to come. Yes, in a few months, you will feel like a complete fraud - asking members of the public to pay for the dental treatment you’re providing. They won’t know that you can count your total endo quota on one hand or that you’re actually talking to yourself when you tell them they’re “doing really well”. But by the end of the year, by some miracle, you will have become a fully fledged dentist.

This is a short guide to some things you can do to help ensure a smooth path through DFT:

1. Loupes & Camera

Yes – you’ve heard this all before, there is a reason that everyone suggests this. It actually makes a difference! But not all loupes and cameras are made equal, and more importantly, good ones cost money. You may have heard the saying “buy cheap, buy twice” and nowhere is this more true than for loupes and a camera.

I am in no way affiliated with any brand or company but having launched my own loupes company at university and researched the science at length, I chose Bryant Dental for their wireless light and 5x loupes. Why 5x? Because it’s the highest magnification on the market that still gives you a full arch view. I believe that for general dentistry it’s important to have a full arch view – especially when doing examinations and treatment planning. The wireless light reduces the faff of wires getting tangled around you and your chair when moving around.

With respect to camera set up – I went for a canon 77d body, canon 60mm macro lens and canon twin flash. My reasoning is as follows:

a) The body of the camera makes the least difference – this is where you can generally save some money but you do need a body that allows you to zoom into pictures without losing resolution (generally a camera body released in the last 5 years)

b) The general recommended lens for dentistry is a 100mm macro lens. I went for 60mm because this allows the light source (flash) to get closer to the subject (the teeth). As a result your pictures receive more light and generally look a lot better, especially if you’re using any form of diffusion (which I’ll get onto shortly). You can still go for 100mm but if you’re a short person it also means you will most likely be on your tip toes trying to take photos as the distance between the lens and teeth is larger than with a 60mm. Lens makes a big difference and so don’t scrimp on cash with this.

c) Twin flash – If you want sexy Instagram photos, you need a twin flash. The other important aspect is for anterior work where the twin flash allows light to hit the teeth from two angles thereby highlighting line angles which are important for aesthetic results. The downside of a twin flash is that it can be tricky to get photos at the back of the mouth as it’s harder to get light to those areas – but it can still be done relatively easily with some practice.

The alternative is a ring flash, which is easy to use and you wont have any problems taking photos at the back of the mouth but they will look very bright and the lighting quite harsh. If you’re adamant about using a ring flash then check out something called FlashKap – it’s a filter you place around the ring flash to diffuse the light and make the photos come out very nice.

With respect to diffusion – this is the aspect to photography that sets your photos apart from an average dentist with a camera. Diffusion refers to a method where you ‘soften’ and ‘spread’ the light source (flash). This is generally achieved by using a twin flash and wrapping either white paper or white card around the flash heads (see picture below). As a result your pictures come out very nicely. A final word on camera parts – you can get things cheaper on eBay and websites like MDP which are second hand but bear in mind this carries the risk of no warranty if parts are defective.

Fig 1. Diffusers on the heads of each flash on a twin flash

2. Invest in your education

Unfortunately, you don’t become a great dentist by reading one article. It comes from lots and lots of repetition to improve your skills. ‘Excellence is not an act, but a habit’ as they say. This also applies to furthering your knowledge. Some great (affordable and online) resources to educate yourself on all topics are: RIPEGlobal, Gordon Christensen Practical Clinical Courses, Dr. Tom Bereznicki’s website, GriyaRR’s youtube channel and there are also some great educational Instagram accounts to follow. Personally speaking – RIPEGlobal and Dr. Lincoln Harris’s work has changed my restorative practice significantly over this last year. It’s definitely a platform to check out – but education is lifelong, you need to develop an attitude to continue seeking information out in order to improve.

Continuing on this note – Dentistry is a hands on profession and sometimes the best way to learn is to observe others. It’s become more difficult to shadow other clinicians due to COVID but this shouldn’t stop you from trying. If you think someone’s work is really good – drop them a message and see if they can accommodate you the next time they have a composite veneer case or a crown preparation. You’ll be amazed what you can pick up from just watching. Worst case scenario – offer to nurse for them on a day off! You do get some spare time during DFT, so try to make the most of it.

3. Attitude

This is single-handedly the most important barrier to achieving success. I don’t want to sound generic so allow me to elaborate. You will have bad days. You will have so many bad days in this first year that you will often lose count. You will see brilliant work on social media, some of it by people in your own year and it will make you feel inadequate. The way you choose to react to this is what will define your career.

Before you get good at anything, you have to accept there will be a time where you will be rubbish. That time is now – have some patience and pluck up the courage to meticulously analyse your failures. This is why having a camera is so important and taking pictures of everything is key. If you can’t work out where you are going wrong, you won’t be able to improve. Ask others for feedback, don’t be embarrassed about making mistakes – embrace them and use them as an educational tool. If you do this you will improve exponentially and then you will derive satisfaction from your work. If everything in dentistry was straight forward and easy, there wouldn’t be any satisfaction at the end of it!

So next time you consider blaming your environment/nurse/lab for a bad outcome – acknowledge that more often than not, it is probably a failing on your part, and seek out where you may have gone wrong. Most procedures in dentistry can be executed to a good standard without requiring very specific materials or instruments. The biggest asset you can have in dentistry is time – and in DFT you can afford to take the time to do work correctly. So book yourself enough time and don’t cut corners. Your future self will thank you for it.

Conclusion

There are lots of specifics that we could delve into but they would be beyond the scope of this article. The key fundamentals have been outlined above, and most of the specific tips and tricks regarding procedures you will pick up through observing others and furthering your education. Be patient and keep your head up – if you’ve gotten this far, you will be fine in general practice. Just don’t let the bad days get you down, and don’t let the good days make you cocky. If you have any specific questions then DM me on Instagram: @Dr.ZainRizvi

Authored by Dr. Zain Rizvi BDS (KCL) BSc (Imperial)