Problems in dentistry and Mission of Mercy

One of the biggest problems in dentistry is access to care,

but I believe an even bigger problem is the lack of information the
underserved communities are provided with rewarding the importance of
dental care. I truly believe that if kids and adults in underserved
areas were taught about proper brushing and how to keep
a good oral hygiene, the amount of people suffering from major dental
problems would decrease. I know it would not solve the problem of
access to care, but I think it would help. At least until a better
plan comes out or more dentist are willing to provide care to
underserved communities.

 Over the past 7 years that I have worked as I dental assistant, I
have seen many patients that have not been taught about how to
properly brush their teeth, the health risks that a bad oral hygiene
can bring and how important it is to keep their teeth. Many of these
patients come in to the dentist when they are in pain with a mindset
that the only solution to their problem is getting an extraction. I
always try to explain to them how important it is to keep their teeth
and the many ways they can do so. One of them being, going to the
dentist when they first started experiencing discomfort, at that stage
the solution would probably be a simple filling. Many of them complain
about how expensive it is to get a filling, but then I explain to them
that it would have been the same price as what they are paying today
for an extraction. These patients leave our office educated about the
right ways to take care of their teeth and most of them come back
before the problems get worst. I know dentistry is expensive but I
truly believe education is the best weapon for the dental problems in
underserved communities until the access to care issue is solved.
I hope one day I can reach my dream of becoming a dentist. When

I do, I want to be a provider that is actively involved in helping
the community. One of my biggest desires once I become a dentist is to
come up with ways on how we can educate the communities and help them
get the treatment they need. I also hope to inspire other dentist to
do the same.

 Mission of Mercy is a great program that it’s already
doing so much. I participated in the northern Virginia event this past
weekend and it was such an amazing and rewarding experience. It was estimated

that this year about $250,000 worth of dental services were provided to nearly 900 patients

Who qualify as living below poverty line. It’s
inspiring to see so many dentist and other volunteers willing to help
the community. I try to volunteer every year and it just warms up my
heart to see so many people getting their problems worked on. However,
it also saddens me how many of them want to just get extractions to
avoid pain in the future.  It would be great if we could also include
an oral education section. Perhaps while they wait for their
procedures we could play a video or have a presentation about how to
keep a good oral hygiene and the importance of keeping all their
teeth.
 

Here are a few pics from that day.

Driving there is a little tricky. Even though I have been going for the past 3 years I always get lost. :( and the sign is tiny and kinda hidden so it doesn't help much lol.

 Once you get in to the school you check in, where you get a sticker with your name and any other language you speak.  Also you get a color coded T-shirt according to where you will be helping.

 I was there by 7:30 and there was already a lot of people waiting to sign in.

 This year I was helping out at triage. where we did the primary screening for patients in order to determine what services they needed. They had about 7 chairs to screen the patients.

Thank you for reading.

LC

My DAT experience ( SCORES, GPA and EC)

I tried to study at least 8 hours every day for  1 month and a half. The day of the exam came around and although I did not feel 100% ready (I don't think anyone ever feels completely ready)  I felt somehow prepared. Once I got to the testing center, I was calmed and ready to knock this baby out of the park. The first section (Biology) was not too bad and I was feeling confident. BIO was definitely one of my strongest areas and the questions were not as hard as the practice exams. Then general chemistry came around (my weakest area). There were not as many calculations as the practice exam but I had psyched my self out so much in the past that I started freaking out. My confidence started going down a little and decided to move up to Organic Chemistry and then return to Gen Chem. I was able to finish everything in time and then moved to PAT. I used crack DAT to study for this section ,as well as, SDN they had a lot of tricks and tips on how to conquer this section. I felt prepare but my anxiety from the last section was definitely giving me some problems and I ran out of time with 3 problems left. I went on and took the break, I needed to relax a bit for the next two sections. I didn't really practice much on the reading section because I did well on the practice exams at home. I was doing OK at the beginning but noticed myself rushing towards the end because of time. This was usually one of my strongest subjects so feeling rushed made me really anxious towards the end and the beginning of my worst subject math. From the beginning of the math section I felt rushed, anxious, I found myself taking a very long time in each problems and as a result guessing a lot of questions. This was definitely the worst section for me. I had been struggling with the math problems since I was studying, so I knew I was not going to do very well in this section (but I didn't think I was going to do as bad). Once I finished and saw my scores on the screen I was very disappointed. Even though I struggled during the science section I thought it wasn't as hard as the practice exams and I was hoping to get at least 20's in each section. My math score made everything even worst. 

Materials I used:
BIO: KBB, DAT destroyer and AP Biology cliff notes
GEN CHEM/ORGO : KBB, DAT destroyer, Chad's videos
PAT: CrackDAT, SDN
Math: DAT destroyer
Practice exams: Topscore, ADA practice exams.

My scores :/

GPA

                                                  Hours           Inc +/-    W/O +/-

BCP	56.00	3.58	3.54
Science	74.00	3.39	3.34
Non-Science	51.00	3.88	3.88
Total	125.00	3.59	3.56

 Community service/ work/ Volunteer

I have been working as a dental assistant for 6 years. Some of my duties at the office are polishing teeth, taking x-rays, making temporary crowns, taking and pouring dental impressions. I recently had training on how to take digital impressions, design and mill restorations using CEREC CAD-CAM.   I also had the great opportunity to work for one of the best periodontists in my area, where I assisted in numerous procedures like bone grafts, tissue graft and implants. I volunteer at the dental clinic for the indigent population in my area. I was also the secretary of the Pre-dental society at my undergrad university from 2009- 2010.  Every year I participate in fundraisers for breast cancer, oral cancer, cystic fibrosis and mesothelioma.

Fighting for my dream to become a dentist

On my last post, I mentioned I was going to put up my study plan for the DAT. However, once I started studying I decided to post my study guide after the exam.
The reason why I'm posting this 10 months later, it's because I was very disappointed with my scores. They weren't horrible but I didn't do as good as I was hoping to,and in a way, I felt my hopes of getting in to dental school this year had gone down the drain.
 I couldn't take more time off from work, so I knew I couldn't retake my exam in time for this cycle. Feeling hopeless, I still went on and completed my application, which was sent out on July 13th. I thought I didn't really have a chance so I only applied to my dream school. Month after month I felt my dream was vanishing. I spent hours on Student Doctor Network, reading about all the people getting interviews from multiple schools. Even though, I was very happy for them, I couldn't help but feel depressed about my situation. December came around and I knew that was it. I had no chance or hope at all. Late December, I started working on my application for a committee letter from my pre-health advisor in order to get ready for the upcoming cycle.

As I was submitting my application I though to myself, "Is this really it? am I gonna just give up without trying everything in my power to make it work?". So that same day, (January 24th) I decided to write a letter of intent to my dream school.  At the end of the letter, I thanked them for taking the time to read the email and hopefully have the opportunity to show them in person how much I loved the profession and how I would be a great fit for the school. I wasn't sure if writing that email was going to make a difference but I felt better knowing that at least a tried. The very next day (Friday) to my surprise, I received an email from the university asking me to fill out a supplementary application. I felt my world stopped for a minute. I couldn't believe I finally got the email I waited months for. I submitted my application Sunday night, and Monday morning received an invitation for an interview on February 5th. All I could think was, " Is this all happening because I decided not to give up? and try everything in my power to make my dream come true?." I'm not sure that was the reason why I got the interview, but it really did seem like it. I felt my interview went pretty well but I was definitely intimidated by the amount of people being interviewed. It was at least 25 of us and there were less than 30 spots left. Plus they interview every Tuesday and Wednesday. After a couple of torturous weeks, I finally heard back from the school ( Friday March 1st) asking me if I wanted to be part of their wait list  I was very happy because I knew they were very selective with the people they put on the list but I was also stressed because from what I read in the forums only a couple of people from the wait list make it. I wrote them back saying that I definitely wanted to be placed on the wait list and once again expressed my desire to be part of their dental school and the reasons why I though I was a great fit for the university.  I wrote them again a week ago to update them on some activities I had been a part of and to tell them about the kind of dentist I hope to become. The second deposit deadline is April 1st and I'm praying that I finally receive the acceptance email  I have been dreaming of for the past 6 years.

I know this post was long, but I really wanted to share my story and hopefully inspire someone out there to fight for their dreams.  Remember that success is never given, it's earned and it doesn't Come easy. Fight for what you believe in and you will eventually reach your goals.

Laura

DAT study time

I'm scheduled to take my DAT (dental Admission Test) on April 16th!! ahh talk about freaking out. I'm taking a month and a half off work to study for it. Usually people study for 3 months but I've been studying on an off for about that, so hopefully I'll be OK. The exam is very intense. It has five sections and they are all timed (Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Reading comprehension, Perceptual ability and Quantitative Reasoning). So its crucial to really know the material but most importantly to be able to think fast and know what formula to use right away, or time will run out. I will be publishing my study plan and the materials I will be using.

Valentines Day

Something happened to my post about valentine's day. It's gone :(.Therefore, I will write a short summary of what happened.
It was our first valentine's day as Mr. And Mrs. And it was absolutely amazing. He surprised me with huge paintings of our wedding g and engagement pictures Hanged up on our staircase. I saw them when I woke up and immidiatly started crying. It was soo thoughtful and sweet of him. Later that day when I came home from work there was a beautiful arrangement of roses and sunflowers done by the same florist that did our wedding flowers. He then cooked crab legs and we had a romantic candle light dinner at our home.
it was such a special day. He is so romantic and sweet. I'm so lucky to be married to such an amazing man.

volunteer and baby shower cake

Today was such a productive day! I volunteered at a non-profit dental clinic in my area. I absolutely love going there! even though I've been a dental assistant for so long, I learn something new every time I go. Today, the volunteered dentist was great! He gave me an awesome lecture on some of the reasons why teeth get sensitive after a doing a filling. He talked about the structure of teeth and how the dentin is made up of millions of dentinal tubules that come from the pulp. anyways It was super interesting. Once I left the clinic I stopped by my parents house to work on a cake I'm making for my best friends baby shower! OMG it is the cutest thing ever. I made a baby rump cake and cupcakes of babies sleeping! it turned out so cute :). Here are a few pics. 

And the final product!!! thanks to my mom and sister :). They are so creative and helped finishing up the cake.

Welcome to my blog!!

This is my first time writing a blog, so it might take me a while to get use to everything. I'm gonna post about my love for dentistry and my journey trying to get into dental school. I'm also going to post about my new life as a married lady :)