How CD-Father Got Rid of the CD-Hater.

"I hate prostho." Can anybody tell me how many times I have verbalized these immortal words? Too many times, I feel. Well, I'm writing this to tell the world (more like, my three readers, hahaha) that I AM A CHANGED WOMAN. I don't hate Complete Denture Prosthodontics anymore.:)

I don't even know where my CD-hatred (and general Prosthodontics-hatred, to be frank) came from-- because when I was in second year, I performed relatively well in both RPD and CD. Let's not talk about FPD, because I failed that subject on the first try. Most people hate certain dental disciplines because of traumatic experiences, difficulty, or general disinterest, but me? I think the reason why I hated it was because I didn't understand it very well, and was probably too arrogant to admit it to myself.

Let's just say that life is really generous at giving chances.

I decided to discuss my CD3 yesterday. I had originally wanted to discuss with the Chief of Clinics, Dr. Esporlas, but because everybody wanted to discuss with him, and that all slots were pretty much full, I decided to ask the Dean, Dr. Alforja. He said yes, yay!

Confession Room

I'd rather not go into detail about all the things I've learned, because frankly, I learned so much, that I don't even know where to start anymore!:) Frankly, if I were to enumerate each and every little thing, this blog post would seriously look like a lecture.

I could go on and on about Complete Denture, but maybe, the biggest takeaway I have for you is that when you hate a certain discipline, whether it would be in Dentistry, or wherever, you just need to find yourself a good teacher, who genuinely loves the subject matter. Sometimes, just sometimes, their love is enough to cancel out your hatred, and then you end up liking something you've never expected to even be genuinely interested in. --and yes, that's exactly how Dr. Alforja got rid of the Complete Denture hater.:)

I have a tip for everyone, and it's actually a really point-blank in-your-face tip: DO NOT BE AN ARROGANT ARSEHOLE. There are several ways for a dental clinician to display arrogance, but I think the most unproductive and self-destructive type of arrogance is when you declare hatred for a certain subject simply because it cannot accommodate your impatience to actually understand it. Yes, take it from me. Take it from the human who dodged Prosthodontics for so many semesters, therefore ending up retained (and retained.. and retained..) in the clinics. If I had caught my Prostho-arrogance earlier on, I would have performed a very thorough self-examination starting with the question, Do I really hate Complete Denture, or do I just not understand it well enough? 

I also know that it's a little bit too late to say this, but in retrospect, I think I should have done better when I was taking Complete Denture as a pre-clinical class at my old school. Mind you, I did pretty well on that class, but apart from all the things I had passively memorized that somehow disappeared the moment I passed it, I really have nothing to show for it. See? It really doesn't matter if you've passed a class if you can't really apply the things you've learned in a more practical sense. If I could back time, I would have milked the class as much as I could, because the truth is, lapses in learning and missed opportunities catch up with you. I'm lucky that I have Dr. Alforja and Dr. Esporlas to help fill in my lapses, but not everyone is as lucky as I am.

I still have a long way to go before actually being 100% confident with Complete Denture, but I'm a little bit more confident now, than I was before the discussion. I still have so much to learn, but you know what-- I'm actually happy, knowing that I still have so much to learn. I feel that when you recognize your need to learn more things, you're on the right to actually learning more things. It's an indication of actual interest. A few days ago, I wasn't interested at all, but now, all I want is to be pals with Complete Denture. :)

Oh wait, I have a really interesting story to share with you!

Remember how I told you that everyone wanted to discuss with Dr. Esporlas? Well, unknown to my Clinic 1 sisters, Dr. Esporlas was cooking up a secret plan. I only learned about this from my sizzums, but apparently, Dr. Esporlas led them to the Confession Room, and told them that he'd be there shortly, and then all of a sudden, it was actually Dr. Alforja who came in. They thought that the Dean was just passing by, or that he was just pranking them.

Me, Dr. Esporlas, and the Clinic 1 sizzums <3

It wasn't what my sissies bargained for-- they got a whole lot more :)