Hey! I'm Muhammad Taha student of de'Montmorency College of Dentistry Batch'26. I bagged two distinctions in Oral Biology and Biochemistry in first year. I'm sharing the valuable insights and experiences, offering guidance and motivation to juniors navigating their own dental journeys.
Congratulations on embarking on your journey to become a dental professional! Your first year of BDS is a crucial foundation-building phase, setting the stage for a successful and rewarding career. To make the most of this year, focus on building a strong understanding of the fundamental subjects, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and oral biology. Additionally, participate in extracurricular activities and events to make this year memorable.
Oral Biology
Books:
1. Oral Histology from Ten Cates
2. Morpho from Fuller
Oral Biology is the fundamental subject in dentistry, it helps students comprehend the development, function and structure of different oral tissues. Knowledge of Tooth Morphology ensures accurate diagnosis and restoration of teeth in clinical practice.
I studied Oral Histology from Ten Cates. Relying on any short book or notes isn't recommended for OB as its exam is comparatively difficult and reference book (Ten Cates) based. Chp 5,7,8,9,11,12 are must to ace the exam. They must be done thoroughly.Theories of tooth eruption from chp 10 and Development of TMJ and Movements along with it's ligaments are important. Here are different YouTube channels I used for concept building.
Histo:
1-Hack Dentistry
2-Osmosis
3-Dr Bala
4-Easy Dentistry, Dr Pranali
Regarding it's mcqs, they are book lines based, so Ten Cates is crucial for scoring good in the exam. After doing the book, I used to revise it from chapter wise notes of “Concept Akademy” notes as they are made from Ten Cates.
Morpho, I studied from Fuller. First 2 Chps are basic terminologies and definitions and they must be done completely. Numbering System is important. Different Tooth Morpho can be better comprehended by studying them from Plaster Tooth Models. Occlusal aspects of premolars and molars with all their landmarks are very imp. You may read the book just once or twice for teeth surfaces. I used to practice drawing them again and again that helped me remembering their Morphology. Diff between permanent and deciduous teeth in a tabular form. Atypical Molars are often asked in the exam. Anomalies can be done from the book or any SlideShare. Video illustrations are available at:
1.Doctroscopy
2.DentalManiak
Oral Physiology I did from pdf notes of “Concept Akademy”. Odontogenic pain pathway is imp. Nerve Supply of teeth is imp.
Oral Embryology is written well in Langman Chp 17. Development of Maxilla, Mandible, TMJ to be done from Ten Cates.
Anatomy
Books:
1.BD Chaurasia Head & Neck, Volume 3
2.Snell's Clinical Neuroanatomy
3.Langman's Medical Embryology
4.Laiq Hussain Medical Histology
5.General Anatomy(GA) by Laiq Hussain
Anatomy is an important subject for understanding of structures in the head and neck region including the oral cavity and it's also the foundation for final year's subject Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
I thoroughly studied Gross Anatomy (Head and Neck) from BD Chaurasia. The subject is easy to understand with 3D models, diagrams etc to build the photographic memory and for that purpose I used to take lecs of Viren Karya for osteology of skull and Sumit Gupta's lecs for other topics, they are a bit more explanatory and time consuming but the positive point is after taking those lecs all the anatomical landmarks, course of different vessels, muscular attachments and relations are very easy to understand and remember. Clinicals are important too and they are written well in the book. Some chapters are not that important from exam point of view including eyeball, ear except middle ear, contents of vertebral canal, only prevertebral muscles table is imp, and selective topics from neck region.
I did Neuroanatomy from Snell's and again Viren Karya videos are best. Chp 4 to 9 every chp is important. Tracts with the diagrams are very important. For brain areas make notes in tabular form with cortical area, it's Brodmann no., and it's function. Functional components of cranial nerves table and pathways of different sensations only from chp 10. Thalamus Hypothalamus can be covered with the tables of Snell's only. Blood supply is important too. Clinicals you can get them marked from any senior or teacher.
For Histology I studied Laiq Hussain Medical Embryology. Cell Junctions only from Chp 2. Chp 3 to 7 study them completely. Histo Diagrams are more imp than theory of other chps as they are often asked to draw in exam. Spleen, Thymus, Lymph Node, Diff of Salivary Glands, and Skeletal, Cardiac and Smooth Muscle are some other high yield topics. You can also go through past papers to have an idea of SEQs asked in exam.
Embryology, I studied from Langman. Brainless Videos along with MBS lecs are best for Embryology. Study thoroughly Chp 2 to 6. Try to remember the weeks in a sequence of events. Derivatives of germ layers are imp. Placenta formation is imp for both exam and viva. In Special Embryology, Chp 17 is particularly important as it is also a part of Oral Embryology. Study it thoroughly. Pharyngeal arches, pouches and their derivatives are essential.
Regarding GA I would recommend study it only in the send ups or pre-proff. You can study it from any compiled short notes pdf. I did it from Laiq Hussain Chp 2 for mcqs and Chp 3 to 5 for seqs. They just require a book read to be done or you can also rely on past papers.
Physiology
Books/Notes:
1. Guyton
2. Sir Saqib Handouts
3. Firdaus
4. Femuriq for CNS
I did Physiology from Sir Saqib's Handout available at Zubair Book Shop. Physiology in BDS is to be covered in first year and the syllabus becomes very difficult to revise at the end so effective time management is required with giving more time to those topics having high weightage in TOS. For better concepts building, I used to take lecs of MBS Medilectures. Jaldi Jaldi Videos are specifically very helpful for tests and exams. Guyton is more like a story and if you want to study guyton make sure to make short notes from start and study smart using markings etc. I preferred notes over guyton as they are written in a very organized way, more detailed but you can skip the extra details for written exam and go through them in viva. Ensure to consider past papers as well. I used Step Up. Respiration, I studied from guyton(Chp 38 to 43). First 2 Chps of Heart from guyton with the last one of arrythmias are only chps to be covered. Topics like GIT, Renal, Special Senses can be covered from markings of firdaus only.
For Circulation, you can rely on imp past paper questions only as it is very lengthy topic. Shock with it's types most often asked. An approach exists to cover CNS from femuriq, a short booklet. Tracts with the diagrams are important for exam and viva.
Biochemistry
Books:
1.Lippincot
2.Satya
3.Faiq
Although a minor subject for BDS, but it's essential for comprehensive patient care. It is comparatively easy to cover because the majority of questions asked in the exam are usually from past papers. Students often find it difficult because the study material is scattered in different books. Water, pH, Acid Base balance can be covered from Faiq but I would recommend to read it from Satya for which I had the pdf of the book. Similarly, Vitamins and Minerals are written in the Lippincott, tables at the end of chp are imp. Extra uses of vitamins are written well in Satya. They are asked in the viva. Chemistries are well written in the Faiq and imp for viva. Chp 2,3,4 of Lippin about protein chemistry are also worth a read. Metabolisms I studied from Lippincott, diagrams and flow charts are easy to understand. Don't study the metabs with deep details, just go through the past papers questions and learn the imp pathways with their enzymes like glycolysis, Krebs cycle,ETC, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, HMP shunt etc. Similarly in proteins Urea Cycle, Deamination, Transamination etc. 2 chaps of protein metabs from Lippin. b-oxidation, cholesterol synthesis, lipolysis, ketolysis, ketogenesis etc and other imp pathways of lipid metabolism, I studied from Lippincott. Biochemical Techniques aren't very imp for us, they can be covered easily from past papers(Step up). MBS, brainless and selfless medicose lecs are there for easy understanding of the topics. The best approach is to take lecs actively and I used to study only when there was a class test and regularly studied the subject in sendups and pre-proff.
Islamic & Pak Studies/Ethics
They can be done in the exam days from any pdf material. Mostly questions are previous knowledge based and they can be attempted easily.