anahorvath.com

Tag: dental school

  • A Refresh of anahorvath.com

    A Refresh of anahorvath.com

    WOW. The last time you heard from me was March 26, 2023. It is now February 17, 2025. So it’s been a minute. Looking at where things are, I realized I wanted to refresh anahorvath.com and see what new directions and places I can take my blog and this website.

    Let’s catch up, shall we? Since March 2023, I survived the nightmare that is the second year of dental school, started seeing my own patients in clinic, and can’t believe that I recently set my dates for taking the INBDE (Integrated National Board Dental Examination). We are over the hill in dental school which just blows my mind. I’m currently working on my first set of dentures and slowly but surely, I’m getting through all the requirements that come with graduating with my DDS. I’m also currently in the process of preparing to apply to orthodontics residencies coming up very very soon and look forward to the adventures that come with that.

    In my personal life, things have been pretty decent. Boo, my sweet little mini dachshund is now 14. My Taylor Swift-loving, screeching, fun, little green-cheeked conure Bobo is now 7. Pets make life so much better. I spent last spring break in Las Vegas which was a very fun and exciting trip! My aunt, uncle, sister, and I saw Blue Man Group, Ka (a Cirque de Soleil show), and walked pretty much the entire strip. We enjoyed the views from the High Roller, even if it was a rainy day, and experienced the Sphere from the inside and out. Personally, the Sphere is overrated. Much cooler from the outside if you ask me.

    What were some of the highlights from the Vegas trip?

    -Primrose at Park MGM. Great breakfast spot and it was away from the casino smells. Super cute atmosphere.
    -The gardens at the Bellagio. The theme changes each season and I just loved all the floral arrangements. The wisteria and hydrangeas were my personal favorites.
    -The Princess Diana exhibit at the Shops at Crystals. I’ve always had a fascination with the British royal family. This was a great exhibit. Also- if you’re into the fashion of the British royal family, this is definitely the thing to do. They even had a few of Kate’s dresses.
    -Blue Man Group. One of the performers came up and took a selfie with my sister and I! Super cool show.
    -Ka. I hadn’t seen a Cirque de Soleil show until Vegas and now I don’t know that anything will live up to this. It was incredible.

    I turned 25 this last October and took a girls’ trip to Miami to see the ERAS TOUR. Oh my goodness, probably one of the best nights of my life if not the best to-date. Taylor Swift is an incredible performer and Gracie Abrams was an incredible opener. If there’s any interest in a post about the concert, I am more than happy to share. I have SO many pictures and videos hahaha.

    So you might be asking yourself, what’s next for anahorvath.com. To be honest, I hope that I can continue to share my life happenings and travel adventures. But in addition, now that I’m almost through with dental school, I don’t see why I don’t include more dental content. If I can provide some evidence-based dentistry to you all every once in a while, I think that would be really cool. If there’s anything in particular anyone is wanting to know, please reach out- whether that’s dentistry-related or something else.

    Looking forward to more adventures!

  • It’s Been a Bit

    It's Been a Bit. This picture is from my white coat ceremony!

    Helloooooo! It’s good to be back! I apologize for the long hiatus, but my first semester of dental school had me pretty preoccupied. So yes, it has been a bit! So let’s catch up then shall we?!

    Let’s talk about my first semester of dental school! 19.5 credits flew by and things went well! Could there be improvement? Absolutely. And I plan to do even better this upcoming semester. But, I enjoyed it! I did very well in my wax lab and enjoyed getting to further develop my fine-motor skills. I took quite a few very basic level science classes again which were fine, but I am very excited to move away from talking about the mitochondria (which is the powerhouse of the cell by the way). My anatomy class was by far my favorite class this semester though. I’ve always enjoyed anatomy and it was good to review and dig deeper!

    Outside of school, life has been pretty good. A while ago, I may have discussed that I was dealing with SIBO, and that is now cleared up for good (we hope!!). I am continuing to navigate this gluten-free, dairy-free life, and I’m enjoying that quite a bit actually! I’m feeling good and eating good food for sure. We actually started making gluten-free, dairy-free pizzas at home because I was really missing pizza more recently and I think it was a huge success. If anyone is wanting recipes, let me know!

    While I’m on break from school, I PROMISE to be more active here again. Yes, it has been a bit, but I plan to be gone less in the months to come. I have some pretty fun things planned for the blog this upcoming year and I hope to continue providing you with good things to read if you’re all up for it. Next on my agenda is to relax and rest up, enjoy Christmas, and ring in 2023!

    I’ll see you all next weekend. Much love! ❤️

  • My Personal Statement: How I Got into Dental School

    Sorry for the not so exciting post this week. I have two big exams Monday and Tuesday. With these two monsters coming up, I haven’t had time to put together anything super special for this week so here’s the personal statement I wrote for my dental school applications! Enjoy!

    My art journey began when I was very young. On my first day of kindergarten I was so proud of myself as I colored precisely within the lines of each illustration on my paper. In second grade, I rushed into my first art show, holding my mom’s hand so that I could keep up with her quick pace as we tried not to be late. I had drawn the faces of two children, one a fiery, angry, little boy and the other a sad, blue, little girl. Before I knew it, I was a sixth grader at my school district’s art show. My drawing of a vibrant playground with children of all backgrounds happily playing together had won second place. I knew that art was a personal passion and I was driven to be as skilled as possible. Throughout middle school and high school I continued to explore my artistic abilities and most recently finished the piece I am most proud of. This piece shows my own two hands set against my piano. When I look at this piece, it makes me proud. It brings me joy because I know it did the same for many others who viewed it at the local art show. 

    In retrospect, I realized that art parallels dentistry and these parallels have enticed me to pursue art as a hobby and dentistry as a career. Both art and dentistry have been a part of my entire life. My mom received her doctorate of dental surgery from Tver State Medical Academy and currently works in the profession in Colorado. I have always been inspired by her work and the dental field as a whole. I learned so much regarding the inner workings of a dental office and the language of the dental field from spending time with my mom at the office growing up. On a more general note, both dentistry and art require precision and attention to detail. There is steadiness and a requirement of well-developed fine motor skills too. Art and dentistry also have ways of evoking a variety of emotions but based on my experiences, both bring out positive emotions the most. 

    This is why I want to pursue a dental career. I am passionate about bringing out the positivity in others. If they are in pain, I want to share my knowledge and expertise to make their lives more comfortable. Similarly, if a person is lacking confidence in the way their teeth look, I want to help them regain confidence and certainty in themselves and their oral health. I have seen how art can impact people in a positive way and bring about feelings of joy and comfort and I have seen the same positive impacts in dentistry. One situation that left an impression was a nervous patient who was stressed and scared about having two fillings done. When appropriate, I talked with him to comfort him and make him feel confident throughout the entire procedure. He talked about his love for cooking and we talked a lot about food, soccer, and his heritage. He became more comfortable the longer we interacted. It felt wonderful to be able to help someone in what they considered a scary or stressful situation. In that moment, it was so special to see how a dentist can connect with a patient too. I was shadowing at the same office on a different day and that same patient came in and brought the dentist, dental assistant, and me each a jar of homemade pico de gallo. Dentistry is a branch of healthcare that provides such special, personal opportunities like this to interact with others. I would be honored to have the ability to serve as a resource and support system in any way that is needed. From my time as an artist, I have developed the patience, fine motor skills, and eye for detail that will help me be successful in the dental field. Like my art, dentistry will be something I can be proud of and will be a life-long learner in. I desire to feel pride in the work that I do, not only by the aesthetic appearance of my future patients’ teeth and gums, but also in the way that I see immediate and long-term health changes in my patients. The most important thing I have learned as an artist is that art connects people. Dentistry does the same. I am eager to share my skills with my colleagues and patients and also develop meaningful relationships that last for years to come.

    And that’s what I wrote to help get me into dental school! With a personal statement you want to tell your story. You don’t just want to answer a question. You want to share your experiences and your personality! Really put the PERSONAL in personal statement. If you have any questions about dental school applications or the personal statement, feel free to reach out! I’d be happy to help and share more with ya! Have a great week and I’ll see you all next weekend! ❤️

  • First Week of Dental School!!

    First week of dental school classes? ✅ What a week it has been, wow!! Lots of good things, for the most part!

    My very first day of dental school started with class from 1-4 pm, and that was it! It was a nice slow way to start things off. My first classes were a part of what my school calls the body system series and that includes three classes: physiology, microanatomy, and clinical correlations (which ties clinical work into all the basic sciences, from my understanding at least!). It was just an hour of each class on Monday. Honestly, it was a great way to start off my dental school career. Nice and easy!

    Tuesday was a tech lab orientation day where I got to wear my special navy-blue scrubs for the very first time. Very fun, very fun. I saw where I’ll be waxing up teeth this semester and got my bench all set up which I enjoyed doing. My second class on Tuesday was Intro to Community Public Health. I’m pretty excited for that class because I think it will provide some outreach opportunities and a lot of good information regarding working with the community.

    On Wednesday, I had my seminar class called Intro to Dentistry. The professor for that class was one of the two that interviewed me prior to my acceptance, which I think is pretty cool. One thing I’m looking forward to is getting to work with professors throughout my time in school. I’ll have the same professors for many different courses and I look forward to the relationships I’ll build.

    Thursday brought my first dental anatomy lecture and more microanatomy and then before I knew it, it was Friday and I was done! Friday, I had another microanatomy lecture and a loupes vendor fair. For those of you that aren’t familiar with what loupes are, they are the eyewear that dentists and hygienists will wear to better see what they’re working on. In a way, they’re like little magnifying glasses you get to wear. I haven’t ordered a pair yet, but I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going for. I feel very fortunate that my mom is in the dental field, so I have the chance to use a pair of her old loupes. I do also plan to get my own pair though, so I look forward to that little journey and shopping experience!

    First week down and many more to go! I’m all organized and ready to go! I hope you all have a great week and I’ll see you next weekend. Stay happy and stay healthy!! ❤️

  • I Survived Dental School Orientation

    dental school orientation
    GIPHY

    Well I hope you all had a wonderful week! We are officially done with my first week of dental school! Well, dental school orientation, I guess. Does this actually count as my first week of dental school or is that next week? Anyway, looking back on this week, it brought up many emotions, thoughts, and feelings.

    Some words to describe my emotional state this past week: happy, excited, nervous, scared, overwhelmed, tired, interested, motivated. I felt a lot of things this past week. Regardless of whether the things I felt were positive or negative, what I choose to do with those feelings is what matters most. Going into my first official week of dental school TOMORROW, I’m just going to take things day by day and make the best out of every situation. Things will be tough, but I’m tough too, so I know I can do it! I hope you all feel the same way about doing hard or challenging things in your lives. ❤️

    This week started with a business professional day and a lot of lectures regarding all sorts of policies and general business on campus. We had an adventure day in Idaho Springs. We listened to more presentations regarding what to expect with our first semester in lecture and lab. We got all of our technology set up, iPads and MacBooks. We walked around campus a bit to find our classes and just see what was around. It was a really busy week!

    Getting up at 5 am every day was not easy that’s for sure, but if that’s the new schedule for me, I’ll adjust real quick. This is all just a big adjustment period and I really appreciate that my university gave us this week to begin adjusting into our new normal.

    Regarding my classmates, I think I have a very energetic and bright group to be working with for the next four years! I’m excited to get to know them all and go on this wild ride with them.

    Well, with tomorrow being my first day of school, I’m going to head to bed soon now! I still can’t believe that I’m now already past dental school orientation and it’s on to the real deal now! See you next week with a week of dental school under my belt! Have a wonderful one. ❤️

  • Heading into Orientation for Dental School

    orientation for dental school

    To say that I’m excited is an understatement. The same could be said for how nervous I am. My new life starts tomorrow! I will be starting my dental journey at CU School of Dental Medicine tomorrow morning bright and early. Orientation starts!! Also, I finally have fixed the issue with images on my posts so that’s exciting!!

    Going into this week, I am very excited to get to know anything and everything I can about my new school. I’m excited to meet my classmates as well as the faculty and staff. It’ll be fun to explore the campus and see all there is! What I’m not looking forward to is waking up at 5 am! That’s something I can definitely adjust to though.

    Talking about the nervousness I’m feeling- I think that most of my anxiety/nerves come from the fact that I fear the unknown. I don’t know what to expect in a lot of ways and that’s scary! But I also know that it’s ok to feel the way I do. I know that I’ll ease my way into things. I know that change can be difficult but it will be just fine in the end.

    This orientation will be a great way for me to start making adjustments in my life. I’ll figure out when I can work out, when I need to focus on my studies, and when to do anything else that needs to be done! I know there will be a bunch of presentations this upcoming week and that there’s going to be SO much information to take in. I’ll get all my technology set up and figure out where everything is. It’ll be important to remember to just take everything one step at a time.

    Sorry for a shorter (and probably pretty dry) post today, but I’ve got a busy day tomorrow! Take care of yourselves and I’ll see you all next weekend! I’ll share everything! Have a good week!! ❤️

  • I’M GOING TO DENTAL SCHOOL!!

    Well, based on the title of this week’s post I think you all have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. I’m going to dental school!! I am so excited to announce that this past Wednesday, I received an offer from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine to start in the fall.

    The past week, and particularly the days leading up to this past Wednesday, were interesting for me. I became increasingly stressed as decision day crept closer and closer. I really didn’t expect to hear back on the first day to possibly hear back but I’m glad I did. On Tuesday night, I called my mom on my way back from tutoring anatomy and she could tell just how stressed and worried I was. She told me to stop worrying otherwise I would probably make myself sick. She was so right on that too. My heart was racing and I was definitely on my way to a stress headache or something. So, Wednesday morning I woke up and thought nothing of dental schools or acceptance letters.

    But there was something inclining me to check my application page. Something deep down was teasing me, telling me to just take a peek and see if anything new showed up on my status page. I tried to ignore these feelings and did some yoga that morning, but all I could think about was whether or not I would hear back that day which was horrible. Right after I finished my flow for the day, I made a bee-line for my laptop and went right to the status page on my laptop. And that’s when the world stopped. Under the University of Colorado, it said “Offer made” and I started to cry.

    If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I had the best chance of getting into dental school. I’m a good student and I make good grades, but so do a lot of other people applying to dental school. I’m hard working and responsible and organized and detail-oriented, but so is the majority of the applicant pool for dental school! As decision day approached, I remember even starting to see what other options I had beside dentistry with my degree because I really wasn’t very sure of myself. Getting that offer has changed my perspective on myself. I am capable of doing hard things. I am good enough. I am smart enough. I am worthy and deserving of everything I have worked toward.

    Wednesday morning ended up being really special to me and it turned into a really good day in general too. My friends, sister, and I went to Dutch Bros like we always do at the beginning of the month for free stickers and that’s when I told everyone I had been accepted. I received a call from one of the professors at the dental school, congratulating me and letting me know how much he appreciated our conversation during my interview. I was with my friends and sister in the car when I got that call and I will never forget how we all screamed when I got off of the phone. I received so much support and love that day and it really touched me in ways that I don’t even think I can comprehend or thank everyone for enough. Later that evening, I also happened to receive an acceptance notification and offer from Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of University of Southern California which I am so honored to have received. Receiving two offers to two incredible dental schools is something that I am so grateful for. Despite the fact that I received an offer from USC, I will be attending University of Colorado, sticking closer to home. 😊

    So with the end of my application journey comes another one! Dr. Ana Horvath DDS coming to a dental world near you (give me about 7 more years though because I want to go to into orthodontics so it’s gonna take a bit)! Before I end this post, I just want you all to know that you are also more than capable of anything you set your mind to. You are smart. You are deserving. You are also capable of doing hard things and absolutely crushing them. Have a wonderful week. ❤️

    I'm going to dental school!!

  • My First Interview with a Dental School!!

    Hi everyone! I hope you had a beautiful week. This week was a good one for me. I had my first exam for a class on Friday last week and I’m currently getting ready to go into my first interview with a dental school. I’m so excited to announce this and feel incredibly honored to say that I have received an invitation to interview with Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC!

    I applied to five schools overall: Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, Texas A&M College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC College of Dentistry), Creighton University School of Dentistry, and University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. I would be an amazing opportunity to attend any of these schools and I feel so excited and encouraged to have received even one interview. In addition to this interview, I actually also heard back from University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine, and I will be attending their interview this upcoming week as well.

    Regarding my interview with USC, that begins today at 2 pm. I will be doing a written assessment and MMI interview which I believe will involve a variety of questions regarding difficult situations and scenarios. I will be limited in the time I have to prepare my answers and then deliver them so that my answer is the most candid answer I produce. I will be very curious to see what I am asked! As far as I know, I will not be interviewed directly by their admissions committee, but they will review all of my answers. I then have an admissions presentation to watch today as well. Tomorrow I will complete my interview with USC in a group setting. I look forward to the opportunity I have with USC and regardless of the outcome, it is so encouraging for me to have had the chance to interview with a school like Herman Ostrow.

    Before I received both of my interview invites, I was really starting to doubt myself. I’ve always known that I’m smart. While I don’t always admit it, I would really consider myself an incredibly hard-working, persistent, and intelligent person. But when you apply to dental school, you’re not the only hard-working, persistent, and smart person in the room. I started to worry that maybe I’m not good enough and I started to think that maybe I would never hear back. God works in funny ways though. The night before I received my interview invitation from USC, I sat in my apartment crying as I looked back over my application status, seeing that nothing had changed. Yes, I understood that it would take awhile for me to hear back from schools or that I may never hear back. But with that being said, I had read over a forum for prospective dental students that mentioned that all the schools I applied to with the exception of University of Colorado had supposedly already been sending out interview invitations since late July. I thought that maybe I was behind. Maybe I really wasn’t good enough. And then a little glimmer of hope appeared the next day after I got back from my morning classes. I received the good news from USC.

    interview with a dental school

    If I have learned anything during this dental school application process, it is that this process is my own journey. While other people may find it helpful to others to let them know when they’ve received interview invites or even helpful to their own confidence to brag to the world about what all they’ve got going for them, then more power to them. I’m going to take this journey as my own thing. I’m going to be thankful and grateful for every opportunity I get. Of course I will support people I know that are along for the same ride; they deserve all the best!! But maybe I also deserve the best. I have worked so hard to get to the point I have and I hope I get the chance to see that hard work pay off.

    I’m gonna go give this interview with a dental school my all now and keep you all updated on how it goes now. Have a great week everyone! And to those of you also applying to dental school or even medical school or some other graduate program, keep your heads up and keep chasing your dreams. We can do this. 🙂

  • My Dental School Applications are In!

    dental school applications are in!

    This is something I definitely could have posted about last week, but my blogaversary was a bit more important, especially considering that I forgot it the year before haha! This is pretty exciting too though and based on the title of this post I bet you can guess it. My dental school applications are all in!

    This has been another big milestone in my journey of wanting to go into orthodontics and I’m really excited to have finished my applications! The whole application process was a bit confusing to me at first but I think I got it now. You basically just apply a full year before your want to go to dental school and preferably you submit your applications on the day they first open to be submitted, June 1st. Then the schools send you any supplemental applications they have and you do those and then you’re all set! And then if all goes according to plan, I’ll go to dental school for four years and do well and then apply to orthodontics programs which tend to be another 2-3 years of school and then I can practice orthodontics. I’ve potentially got a really long road ahead of me but I’m ready for it!

    Something that I’ve found stressful but also somewhat fun about the entire process is seeing the status of my applications. Just recently, two of the schools I’m applying to notified me that they began reviewing my applications! I’m looking at five schools and I’m really really really just hoping I at least get into one of them. I have applied to Texas A&M College of Dentistry, Creighton University School of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Dentistry, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry (University of Southern California), as well as the dental school in my home state of Colorado which is the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine.

    I get a lot of questions about my top choice for dental school and that’s been floating between Creighton, Nebraska, and Colorado for a bit now. Like I said before, I’ll be thankful to get into one and if that’s the only school I get into, I’d be glad to go anywhere. If anyone wants to hear more about the application process for dental school or wants some advice and more info on the application itself, please reach out! I’m more than happy to help. Have a great week and let’s see how all this application stuff goes!!

  • I’m Rescheduling My DAT…

    Some of you may recall, but earlier this summer, I announced that was taking the Dental Admissions Test or DAT in early/late August. I have been studying this summer and working up to the exam, but lately, things just didn’t seem quite right.

    I was waking up in the middle of the night panicking about this exam. My brain would go through things like, “What if you fail?”, “What if you need to retake it?!”, “You’re not ready, you’re not ready, you’re not ready!!” I would literally work myself to tears. Lately, I’ve also noticed that I put off studying. I had such a good momentum going earlier this summer, but lately, I’ve honestly been avoiding it. Studying for the exam reminded me that I have to take it and that would bring all those horrible thoughts flooding back which I wasn’t fond of at all.

    Pushing away my studying meant that I could not think about failure for a good portion of my day. Pushing away the organic chemistry and general chemistry and biology and math meant that I didn’t have to think about the time crunch that is the DAT and the intenseness of it all. In some ways, I’m happy that I pushed it away but I’m also frustrated with myself for allowing fear to partly be the reason I lost my motivation and momentum. I literally sobbed after canceling my original DAT appointment. SOBBED! Were they tears of joy? Sadness? Relief? I feel like it was a bit of everything. I was happy in the sense that I had just allowed myself some room to breathe and I would now have more time to prepare. I was upset because I had already spent two-ish months preparing for this exam and I was feeling like I had just wasted the money that went into that preparation. I truly felt like a failure for not just taking it when I decided to take it originally. But then with that I also felt relief in knowing that my exam was no longer weeks away, but now months away again. I also knew that I wouldn’t burn myself out coming into this semester which was REALLY important to me considering my course load for this fall.

    After some thinking, and hopefully good thinking, I decided to reschedule my exam to better prepare myself mentally and truly crush this DAT. School has always been intense, especially this past year and I know that dental school is only going to be more intense, and there is going to come a time when I can’t just reschedule something until I feel more confident in my knowledge and abilities and ready to deal with that something. I’m thankful though, that I have the opportunity to learn from my DAT journey leading up to now. As of right now, the current plan is to take the DAT over Thanksgiving break. That will give me plenty of time to be very settled into my upcoming coursework and it will also give me plenty of time (hopefully!) to find my confidence in the knowledge and skills that I’ve already built for the DAT and then also to polish up everything so that I absolutely destroy this exam.

    Hopefully I’ve made the right choice and we’ll see how round two of my study extravaganza goes for this monster test. Have a good week everyone and don’t be too hard on yourselves! 🙂 See you next weekend.