Stress management
Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice. I’m graduating next year, but I’m still not sure if I’m cut out to be a dentist. With every patient, I’m overcome by panic that I’ll start making mistakes. For example, I’ll position the patient incorrectly, which means I can't see properly, but I don't even realize it in the moment—only later when I replay the situation in my head. Or my hands start shaking during anaesthesia, in between drilling.
Even though I’ve practiced it on phantoms many times, I feel like I can't keep a cool head with a real patient; I just get this brain fog and my work becomes chaotic. I don’t know if it’s because I’m putting too much pressure on myself to be the best and the fastest, and if it will get better once I gain more confidence over time. I’m seriously considering whether it even makes sense to finish school. Even days after treating a patient, I’m still overthinking whether I did everything correctly.
Bonus: I don't want to complain about my school, but as a fourth-year student, I haven't extracted any teeth yet, I haven't prepared any crowns, and we aren't doing any RCTs. We simply don’t perform these procedures on patients. I have no idea when or where I’m supposed to learn these things, which does not help with my anxiety. Anyone having similar experience? Any ideas how to work with this?