Orientation=overload of information

In the last three days I have dipped my toes into the school of dentistry here at MCG. We have had orientation and we have had so much information thrown at us about student health, wellness center, class scheduling, HIPAA, Radiation safety, oral healthcare products, parking, public safety, drug abuse (and how it should be avoided from this point on in our lives, did we really need an hour spent on this topic? i think not.), conduct code, school policies, etc. This was not stressful in anyway it just was a lot of info that is helping us know how to be prepared once classes start on Monday. I am beginning to believe that there is no way to truly be prepared, no matter what they try and do. I just want to get started and find out what the heck I am getting myself into. I have had an entire year to stew about the difficulty of school. I am ready to take on the challenge.

So as a future dentists there are many companies that are hoping you will buy their toothpaste, toothbrushes, instruments, etc. for your practice once you graduate. So while you are in school they feed you and hand out a million free products to convince you that they are the best out there. I do not mind this at all. Today for instance, the Proctor and Gamble (Crest and Oral B) rep gave us several manual tooth brushes, tubes of toothpaste that are "the best" antimicrobial out there, AND a $150 top of the line electric toothbrush for FREE!!
What I found quite funny is this woman was trying to convince us that this was the best toothpaste because they use stannous fluoride which as I mentioned before is a really good antimicrobial. Which it might be but I guess in order to be able to make the toothpaste and maintain shelf life they have dehydrate it. Therefore before a consumer is supposed to brush with it they must wet their toothbrush with the toothpaste on it in order to activate it or else the stannous looks for moisture to activate it and attaches it self to you saliva which consequently then causes your mouth to "sluff" as she put it. So BE WARNED!!! WET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH IF YOU USE PRO HEALTH TOOTHPASTE! Its not serious if your mouth does peel it just is gross to have that in your mouth.

Another thing I learned today is that Crest labels toothpastes for "function" but what most consumers don't realize is that the only difference between the toothpastes within a given line is their flavor. So for instance the Crest Pro Health line of tooth paste. There may be a whitening pro health or a pro health for sensitive teeth. They are all the same exact ingridients they just have a different flavor!! I had no idea! Now you know!

Yesterday we were given our tackle box, yes literally a fishing tackle box that still had the Bass Pro Sticker on it, FULL of instruments and tools we will be using for the next four years. As I was checking off the list to make sure I had everything my heart started to speed up just a little bit because it all of a sudden hit me that this whole thing is real. I am going to be learning a technical skill and it is something I will be doing for the rest of my life. It made me very excited/nervous!! Things run through my head like what if I am horrible? What if I learn way slower then the rest of my class? What if I fail a class and have to fall back to the next class? Yes these circle through my head this early in the program but I am doing a lot of praying and I realize that God brought me this far in my career path and I can lean on him and trust that he will carry me through!

So may I just leave you with this thought....PLEASE never come to me if your teeth look like this
I can't help you! I am just glad this picture is small and I hope none of you have nightmares from it.

Love,
The Kossicks