It's a Twista!!

Yesterday was last day of clinic for the semester. I know everyone says that Senior year flies by..but wow! It is going by so fast! Crazy wind storm today! 102 mph winds can't stop my sweet class III patient from coming to his appointment, bless his heart! I got 3 injections (PSA, MSA, ASA) and completed all of my semester requirements and required PE's. I did good on my PSA!! I was so excited when Alexander said that my angles looked great. I only missed one spot from his two quads and that made me so happy. What a great way to end the semester. Professor Alexander reminded me not to forget the finger twist at the end and to always keep that toe in contact with the tooth to reach all the way interproximal. Afternoon clinic was cancelled because of the wind, so that's all folks! My main goals for next semester are...get PE's done early, always remember my chair positions, have less errors, and improve my clinic posture. So far, I really love second year! Time to hit the Board Review books! Today taught me that wind can break cars. (and buildings. and trees. and people.)

Enjoy Christmas Break!

One semester left!!! :)

Wheelchairs are not for racing...

I called my patient to confirm her ( for the second time) and she said "Oh, I can't make it" (for the third time this semester) so I gave up on her. I really needed her to come in because she was bringing in her son who I needed to meet my 1A requirements for the semester. So I quickly called a patient that I saw last semester and she wanted to bring her daughter in again. I still think mixed dentition is quite confusing and I do need to study the tooth letters a little bit more. I was able to get some x-rays, despite her excessive gagging. I did use the ultrasonic just briefly because she has a lingual expansion bar which was very difficult to clean. I did not miss any spots and I was able to do one sealant and pass off my sealant and Diagnodent PE's. Then in the afternoon, it was Lab time. We learned how to transfer wheelchair bound patients in and out of our dental chair. We also pushed each other on wheelchairs around campus and had a race, which we quickly found out was not the best idea because I was almost launched out of my chair onto the cement. It was the funnest lab activity we have done so far! We also learned about desensitization, the Velscope, oral irrigation, and the placement of Arestin. I am excited to get to use all of these things in clinic. Lots of people have had opportunities to place Arestin at the VA, but I haven't yet. My goal for next clinic session is to complete my requirements because next clinic session is the last one this semester! HAPPY THANKSGIVING BREAK!

Let's call it...a good day for learning

Or we could just call it a bad day. Dr. Hanson says they are the same thing. It is true I guess, If we never had the bad days, we would never be learning or progressing. Still, I am a little discouraged. My morning patient no-showed, but a lady in the lobby waiting for Midtown wanted a cleaning. She was an easy 1B and everything went well with that appointment. My afternoon patient was a class III and I missed more spots that I would have liked to. But look at the bright side, I got a class III today! This patient has not been to the dentist in years and he was a smoker. He had a thick dark bar of supra and sub calculus on his mandibular anteriors, and plenty of calculus everywhere else. The calculus was very tenacious. He wanted all of his mandibular teeth cleaned because he wanted the visible stained calculus off. So, I did 2 IA's and a mental injection. As I was bringing the needle into his mouth, I stabbed his lip! AH! Dr. Hanson kept me very calm and told me to proceed with my injection. The unplanned "lip injection" threw me off a little because I totally forgot to aspirate on the IA and when I realized it, I said "Oops" ("Oops" is not the thing a patient wants to hear when I have a needle in his mouth). Thank goodness my patient is so nice and so patient. Dr. Hanson taught me to pop up under the contacts with my sickle. If I would have done this, she said I would not have missed the spots. She also told me to literally think "lateral pressure" in my head with my strokes until it becomes a habit. We also worked on the finger twist and she showed how to better explore the anteriors by using the end of the explorer that wraps around the tooth. Overall, I really learned a lot today. I wonder if I can count the lip injection as an injection toward my requirements??? :)

"Wow, he is strong."

My morning patient was a 1B and I was able to complete her with no errors. I was also able to get 4 bitewings and 6 CONVENTIONAL PA's. I am glad I finally got some PA's and I am also glad that I finally forced myself to use conventional film! For the afternoon, I saw my mockboard patient one last time to finish her last 2 quadrants. Professor Perry showed me some really good tips as he did my scale check. He reminded me to do a horizontal sweep with my scaler on the straight facial and lingual of the anteriors. When Prof. Perry left, my patient said to me "Wow, he is strong." So what does that say about me? It says my lateral pressure is garbage, that's what it says! Lateral pressure..do I need to print that in large letters on all of my scalers?? I look forward to the muscles in my hands getting stronger as I build this skill. My few missed areas were mesials, so at least there is a pattern I can try and work on. I have noticed that I sometimes skip around to different areas of the mouth when I scale. For instance, I may start on the mandibular anteriors, scale them for a while, then hop to a different tooth. Then back to the anteriors. This is little thing that will become a big time waster! My goals for next clinic day are to always scale the area to completion before moving on and to try exploring from different chair positions to make sure that I have removed all of the deposit.

More Injections!

This week at the VA I saw three patients. I am glad that I feel like I am picking up my speed. It worries me that I will graduate and get to an office and I will be too slow! I have been seeing lots of 1B's lately at the VA, I hope I can get more class III's before the semester is over! In clinic today I finished my class III and did 4 more injections on him. The PSA is still a little tricky, but I did a pretty good job. It is still a little crazy to me that I am doing injections on real patients now, it's pretty exciting. And now for the best news of all...No errors!! I finished his last 2 quads of my class III without any errors. I was pretty happy about that. I have gotten a lot of practice lately with my ultrasonic and my graceys and it is paying off. I also saw my mockboard patient back this afternoon. This patient is a challenge for me because she bleeds more than any patient I have ever seen. I missed 2 areas in the quadrant. Why couldn't that have been my mockboard quad!! I am glad that I am improving and I feel much more confident going into the next mockboard knowing that I can do well on a very difficult patient. I was also able to pass off my ultrasonic PE today. My goal for next week is to pass off more PE's and to stay parallel with my instrument and up up up on my fulcrum!

Getting the hang of this...

Today I was able to finish up my class III patient and pass off my blood glucose PE on her. My afternoon patient also turned out to be a class III! He is a smoker and had not had a dental cleaning in many years. And...he was my first patient I gave injections to. I was not very nervous, and I did a pretty good job until I got to the PSA. I was not out far enough at the 45 degree angle so I basically gave an infiltration. Professor Perry showed me the angles on a skull afterward which really helped. I think I will do better next time! This patient had tons of board calculus and I got excited when I saw the huge chunks of calculus flying off with the ultrasonic. I LOVE the orange triple bend ultrasonic insert! I had never used it until my mockboard last week, but now I love it. It works really well on patients with heavy calculus deposits. I finished two quads and had two errors. I wish I was at the point where I would get no errors, but I feel like I am always improving and doing my best. I have tried to stop comparing myself to everyone else and focus on the things that I am accomplishing and also the things I still need to work on. I am hitting my stride a little bit and I have increased my scaling speed. I hope things continue to go uphill. Goal: Get more x-rays using conventional film and get more PA's!

HAPPY FALL BREAK!

Mockboard Week

This week at the VA went really well. I am getting much better at taking bitewings using the VA equipment and I was also able to get a couple PA's. My patient had really short roots on her canines on the pano film, so we took some PA's to see what was going on. Turns out she has a split canal in both of the mandibular canines. The dentist got out his textbook and was saying that it was pretty rare. I am really liking going to the VA. All of my patients so far have been so sweet. Professor Bossenberger told me that I am good at interacting with patients and making them feel comfortable. That was a good thing to hear. The only thing I don't like about the VA is the instruments. They take a little getting used to and a lot of sharpening.

Mockboard: Well, that could have gone better. I have never seen a patient with that much calculus. I have already dwelled on the negatives, so let's look at the positives..shall we?

+ Mockboard #1 is over
+ It is a MOCKboard
+ Our instructors/professors don't make you feel like an idiot when you suck it up on mockboard day
+ I learned a couple things I was doing wrong
+ It was a good experience to see how difficult tenacious calculus is to remove
+ I feel more prepared now and I feel like I will for sure do better next time

Goals: Don't forget the interproximal twist, and move slower with the ultrasonic to make it more effective.

Busy Week

It was a very busy week! Here's how it went...
Ergonomics CE class: This course freaked me out a little bit. I really need to pay more attention to ergonomics, it is more important than I am making it. I really need loupes!

Hooper Health Fair: Why are people scared of free oral cancer screenings??

Clinic: I brought back my class III patient today and finished 2 more quads, with only one error. I think I am getting a little better! This patient was originally a split class II and class III, but Instructor Wold reclassified her today as a full class III. Score! I will bring her back in 2 weeks to finish her. She is very reliable and always keeps her appointments. A perfect class III!

Lab: Today in clinic we had an afternoon lab to go over mockboard, cares risk assessment (yuck), blood glucose, scaling, and curved ultrasonic inserts. Good review! I wish I could walk away like Prof. Alexander during the spit PE. Seeing spit somewhere other than the mouth makes me gag. Instructor Wold is going to have a Sharpening Party with us on Friday before mockboards, I think that will help a lot, I am still a little nervous when I sharpen my instruments.

Children's Health Connection: On Friday I was a roving assistant and although I felt like I did not have much to do, I was able to meet some way nice dentists. Saturday was way busier with much less help. I was signed up for sterilization but was moved to radiology. I loved it! It was really good practice taking x-rays on small kids and I got some really good films. I was also able to get some good films on the gaggers by counting loudly to 5 as I closed the door and pushed the button. This really helped them focus on how much longer they needed to be still and bite down, and they did not gag. Later, they needed someone else in hygiene. I did a couple of cleanings and by the end of the day I was exhausted! It was really cool to see how many kids were helped in those 2 days.

Goals: PE's! For real! I need to get going on them. I get so wrapped up in my appointment and trying to hurry and I completely neglect the PE's I planned to do. I want to try and do at least one PE per week for the rest of the semester.

A much better week!

First and foremost...Karlie found me a mockboard patient! Thank you Karlie!

My morning patient turned out to be a class III! I completed the OD and one quad with one error. Not too bad, but I am looking forward to the day when I am quicker and have less errors. I was worried because I thought I was going super slow, but instructor Wold said I was going at a pretty good pace. That made me feel better. This was my first patient this semester who needed anesthetic. I am excited to start giving injections to our patients in clinic. This patient had been to her regular dentist's office and they told her she needed a periodontal cleaning and it would cost $500.00. She was so grateful for the service we provide at the clinic. She said she had no idea how she was going to pay for a cleaning like that. It made me feel good to see how grateful she was to me. My afternoon patient is a sweet lady I saw last semester. She is mentally disabled and a class II. The cleaning went well, although she gets pretty restless near the end of the appointment. I started with polishing to clear out some plaque so that I could scale. That seemed to help a lot compared to when I saw her last semester because it was difficult to work around all of the soft plaque. I missed two spots. Those dang distal line angles on the maxillary molars are going to be the death of me! Today we had our nitrous lab. Until today, I had never had nitrous before. I was missing out! That is some good stuff! :) Goals for next week: Don't miss the line angles and set scale time goals for myself.

Finally a Class III!

This week in clinic I saw a class III patient who only spoke Spanish. I did have a translator for part of the appointment, but the rest of the appointment was very difficult. Somehow I managed! He was very nice and cooperative. Unfortunately, I was only able to get x-rays and the OD done because he was a little late and there just wasn't enough time to get him numb and to begin and finish a quad with how much calculus he has. I am glad I have finally found a more difficult patient! He is almost a mockboard patient, but has too many restorations. He is going to be coming back in a few weeks so I can get his cleaning started. In the afternoon, my patient was a returning patient who was previously a class III, but she is now a class V. She had a 10mm pocket in her UL quadrant which was quite difficult to access but the graceys are wonderful! I was able to get her all finished, but I did have a couple calculus errors. More lateral pressure Jodie!! In pod wrap we talked about chair positions, and going "back to basics" and remembering where we need to be sitting to access different areas so that ergonomics are in our favor and we are more likely to efficiently remove deposit. My goal for the next clinic session is to use more lateral pressure as I am scaling areas with calculus and to use more of an exploratory stroke everywhere else. Also, I would like to utilize oblique and horizontal overlapping strokes as well.

Not the best of weeks...

VA this week went pretty good, I was able to get some x-rays! The VA x-rays took a minute for me to get used to, it seems like I need to come way more mesial than I normally would with the x-ray tubeheads at WSU. It was a good lesson to learn a new x-ray system. Also, Prof. Bossenberger showed me some good tips about scaling the distals of the second molars using horizontal strokes. I do want to work on being a little quicker at probing when I update the perio charts at the VA. Clinic was a little rough for me this week. I found out after my morning patient filled out her health history that she needed to premedicate for a knee replacement. I spent the ENTIRE appointment on the phone with her orthopaedic office, trying to find her doctor, waiting and waiting for a fax back. It was quite ridiculous. I did everything I could on her without having her premed, which was basically just charting restorations and tissue descriptors. She will be coming back in two weeks so that I can start her treatment. The good news is that she is at least a class II or III, so that's good. For the afternoon, I had a patient who ended up being a 1B. If she would have had a little more bone loss she would have been the perfect mockboard patient. She is a nice lady but she literally would not stop talking the whole time. Towards the end, I was getting pressed for time so I would try to put my instruments in her mouth while she was talking but she was not having it! It is one of the most frustrating things I have experienced so far in clinic. She was also quite sensitive as the instructors and I explored/scaled, which made things a little difficult. I ended up missing quite a few spots on her and I was extremely discouraged that I missed that many spots on a 1B. Prof. Alexander could tell I was not okay and she really made me feel better. She said that sometimes 1B's can be very difficult patients and she explained that I was just missing that final twist once I am in the pocket. Adapt, adapt, and adapt some more! Next time on a patient like her, I would use some Oraquix so that I am really able to get down in there and clean. Although it was a hard day, I am glad I learned those lessons. Today we had our maxillary Injections LA Lab. Another successful lab! Me and Jamie partnered up again and we both did a good job! I am really enjoying local anesthesia. Until next week...here's to hoping it can only go uphill from here! My goal for next week is to reduce errors and scale times.

VA CA, Clinic, and First LA Lab!

This week was a busy one! On Tuesday I was the Clinic Assistant at the VA. I was actually really glad I got to be the CA so early on the semester because it gave me really good refresher for when I have VA clinic next week. I got a little more practice with the computers and the VA routine. On Thursday, both of my patients were class V's. My AM patient was a class III last semester, but we decided this appointment that she is now maintained (class V)....aw mannn. I look forward to the day when I actually want my patients to have healthy teeth. As for the next year, I selfishly want unhealthy mouths from all of my patients! I am getting nervous about finding a mockboard patient. But I have to keep telling myself...somehow, everything will just work out! I was able to go the whole day without missing any spots, but I definitely need to speed up. I can't figure out what the heck my slow down is? I want to be more observant of myself next clinic day and see where I am wasting time. I am getting more comfortable with the ultrasonic, but I am still looking forward to more instruction on it in class next week. And finally, the Maxillary LA lab! Surprisingly, I was not very nervous for this lab. Everything went very smoothly both giving and receiving injections. It actually was kind of fun and Dr. Hanson said our group did a great job! My main goal for next week is, again, to decrease scale times. I need to watch the clock and see how long I am taking on each quad. I also would like to pass off at least one PE next week. Mostly, I need to find some more periodonatally involved patients!

First Day of Patient Tx and VA

On Tuesday I had my first experience at the VA. I was nervous! Luckily, my patient was the sweetest guy you will ever meet. Being in a new environment with a different computer program and a whole new routine is good for me. I HATE getting out of my comfort zone, so whenever I am forced to do so, that's great! I did not miss any spots and overall I felt like it was a good day. This patent had a crown on every single tooth, so it was difficult to explore and tell if I am feeling calculus or crown margin. That was a good experience for me. I also got a Pano and 1 PA for that patient. My goal for next time at the VA is to remain a little more organized and remember my routine, and hopefully remember all of the new computer stuff. In WSU clinic this week I had a 1B in the AM (a recall from last semester) and a 1A for the PM. I did pretty good I think! Unfortunately I did miss two spots on my 1B, but it taught me a good lesson. Prof. Alexander showed me on the maxillary buccal molars that there is almost always something there because they are up near a salivary duct. She showed me a horizontal and oblique stroke to get the deposit on the crown and just below the gingival margin. I was worried about the anteriors because I am notorious for missing spots on the mandibular anteriors, but I only missed one spot there (which doesn't sound like a good thing, but it's a mini victory for me). But after Prof. Alexander showed me the deposit and I felt it, I got it off easily. Also, As Prof. Alexander was walking around, she commented that my angulation as I scaled the mandibular anteriors was right on. Yay! My goal for my next 1B patient to is finish them quicker and reduce my scale time. My PM patient was an 8 year old. Everything went pretty smoothly and I was not as confused with mixed dentition as I was when I saw an 8 year old last semester. There was not much to scale, mostly just deplaquing the teeth and sweeping plaque from just below the margin. Looking back, I should have been able to finish a little quicker. Again, my goal is to decrease my scale times as I increase my skills and efficiency. So far, I am really liking second year clinic. Let's hope some of my patients next week need x-rays, I don't want a repeat of last semester. Local Anesthesia lab next week, here we come!

Senior Year, Week 1

Welcome back! The summer break was much needed and it flew by so quick, but part of me was a little excited to get back to school and finish! This week we got to know the faculty a little better that will be working with us this year. I can tell that I am really going to like them! We wasted no time hopping right back into things. I am grateful that this semester does not have quite the homework load that first-year had. I have a goal to spend this extra time wisely and crack open the boards books and study a little as I go this year. I have also set a goal to get all of my PE's done early. I learned last semester that it is best to get all PE's and requirements done as early as possible so that I will be a little more relaxed when the end of the semester rolls around. My favorite thing this week was injecting the chicken with anesthetic. It was interesting to feel what it is going to feel like to do an injection in the mouth. Getting back into the swing of things in clinic made me realize that I need some practice after that long summer! Everything felt a little strange at first when we were doing partner OD's in clinic. I hope it all starts coming back to me quickly.

Class III

Today was my first experience with a patient who needs Local Anesthesia. It is kind of nice working on someone who is completely numb! I was able to get a lot of time with my ultrasonic today and I am feeling very comfortable with it now! I am so relived to have my requirements met for a class III patient!! I missed quite a few spots but I think that is to be expected this semester with class III's. I can not believe there is only one clinic day left! On Wednesday I will finish the patient I worked on today (she has one quad of a class II that still needs cleaned) and then finish my last 1B patient. I am really starting to get more comfortable scaling. There is still plenty of things I need to work on, but there have been some light bulbs click on these last few clinic sessions. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with patients and in my abilities. I would like to get better at feeling calculus with my explorer. I still sometimes have a difficult time feeling the calculus even after a scale check and the instructor is showing me where it's at. I would like to practice exploring and perfecting my fulcrums and grip over the summer. Overall it was a good day and I learned a lot about cleaning a periodontally involved patient! My goal for my last clinic session is to finish...and get one more sealant! That's all I have left! Big thanks to all the girls who have helped me so much this semester with getting x-rays and everything! Love you girls!

Another Longggg day.

Today was so productive! I needed an extra clinic session because of all of my bad luck with patients no-showing. For the morning clinic, I had my husband come in so I could take a full mouth set of PA's on him. It was my first FMX of the semester so I was a little worried, but I did pretty good! My first few PA's were missing the apicies, so I called in Instructor Caldwell and she gave me some great tips. I just love her! She also helped me identify the radiopaque blob at the apicies of one of my husband's premolars, a condensing osteitis! I also did a sealant on Skyler and was able to pass of my diagnodent, air powder polisher, and sealant PE on him! After that, my sister came in for some bitewings and a pano. She was pregnant when I cleaned her teeth at the beginning of the semester so I brought her back in so I could take them now. I also did a sealant on her too. Great morning! Then for afternoon clinic I had a 1B patient who was just a sweetheart. She was really nice and she was a god learning experience because she had a dreaded lingual bar! I got A LOT of practice with the ultrasonic and I feel so much better about it! I think I finally got it down! I learned a lot about instrumenting on anteriors. My goal for next time is to not miss any spots on the anteriors, that seems to be my trouble spot lately!

Longggg Day

Today I was able to complete my two quads of my special needs class III patient. It would have been easier for me I think if I would have polished first, and then scaled because there was so much plaque build up. It also would have been easier to use the ultrasonic a lot but my patient didn't handle that too well. I was able to give the patient and caregiver lots of good oral hygiene instruction and advised that it would be best if she is seen every 3 months. I am glad her mouth is all clean now. After clinic, I had CA for afternoon clinic session, and then it was the Welcome Event for the new junior class. It is so crazy to think that we are going to be seniors! Time really does fly!! So today was a long day and I am exhausted, but it was a good day. CA went really well and I did most things by myself today. My goal is to get more practice with my ultrasonic and my graceys on my next class III patient and to get quicker at scaling. I would like to read the clinic manual time goals and try and get as close to them as I can. ONLY 3 clinic sessions left!!?? I can't believe it!

1A's

Today was my first time seeing two patients in one clinic session. They were two little girls, ages 3 and 5. They both had never been to the dentist before so they were a little nervous, but they were both so good! I took them for a ride in the chair, then showed then how the chair lays back and turns into a "bed", let them shoot a little air and water out of the air/water syringe, and let them hold the saliva ejector (Mr. Thirsty). Everything went surprisingly well! I was able to get x-rays on the 5 year old and both of them let me and the instructor really get in there and look at their teeth. The mother also wanted some x-rays taken so I took a quick set of bitewings on her too! I learned today a lot about how long a child can sit in the chair before they are just totally done. After bitewings, OD, brushing/flossing, and exploring, the 5 year old was DONE. She was still really good, she just got very wiggly and tired. It was a good experience today. I was able to get some requirements taken care of and I really think the girls wont be scared next time they go to the dentist because they were both so good! My goal for next time is to get e little quicker at charting. Granted, I had two charts to do today. But it seems like I usually am still one of the last people out of clinic every time.

Good learning experience

Today was my second appointment with my special needs patient, and they brought her denture this time! I was able to pass off my PE, no sweat! Last time, I only got the health history done and the pano (see post on 3/7/11). I did the OD and took some PA's and she was a class III! I was so happy because I need a class III patient. She only has two quads to do, but it's a good start to my requirement! Well today, I got through the whole OD and OHI, took the PA's, and then we were out of time again. I really was hoping to get done today but everything takes a little longer with this patient that usual. But she is so sweet! I feel so lucky to be her dental hygiene provider. She is patient and funny. She even made me a hat out of yarn. It is a good experience working with a patient with a mental disability. Now I have a little better understanding of how to handle similar situations in the future and in my career. One more appointment to scale and then I will be done with this patient. Today I learned that if a patient has sever xerostomia (as my patient does), don't do the disclosing agent. There is not enough saliva to move it around and it just got all over her lips. I will skip that part next time. My goal for my next clinic session is to RELAX. I noticed that My whole body gets pretty tense in clinic. I need to relax my shoulders and be confident in my abilities.

I can't handle the stress...

Yep, another cancellation, 30 minutes before clinic starts! I know that everything usually works out in the end, but when I hear my patient say "I won't be able to make it today" my heart completely sinks and my mind starts racing! Today I was so lucky. There was an on-call name on the list and he was happy to come and was here right on time! I am so grateful. Today was my first set of bitewings using conventional film. I was a little scared because if you have to take retakes on conventional film it takes FOREVER to take the x-rays, develop, mount, get them checked by an instructor, retake, develop again, get them checked again. Well, I only needed 1 retake which I guess is not too bad. But it does take a lot of time on conventional films. I really hope the office I work for has digital x-ray devices! Overall, things went good today. I finished the OD and one quad, and he will be coming back the last day of clinic to get finished. I learned today from Instructor Hafen to really make sure I adapt, adapt, adapt! Also, she helped me a lot with using an exploratory stroke first, then using the lateral pressure if I feel something. My goal for my next clinc session is to continue using the ultrasonic and getting more comfortable with it.

Dang stack!

I learned a lot today. You would think by now that fulcruming and "keeping my stack together" would be second nature by now. Nope. My fulcrum is almost always too weak and my stack is anything but together. Prof. Costley really helped me today with anterior instrumentation and emphasised the importance of my stack when working on the anteriors. It helped me a ton! She also showed me an extra-oral fulcrum that I think will really help me once I get a little more practice with it. Something else that should be second nature by now is my posture. My back usually hurts after clinic so that is a big sign that I need to pay more attention to my posture if I do not want to drastically shorten my career. Overall, today went good. I did miss more spots of calculus that I had hoped for, but hey, it was my first true class II and I learned a lot today. My goal for the next clinic session is to revert back to the basics a little and really pay attention to some of the things I have somewhat thrown out the window (posture, correct grasp, fulcrum).

No Show

The same patient who no-showed on me last time did it again. I called him yesterday to confirm the appointment and he said he was coming. I was quite frustrated. Luckily, sweet Kayla said I could see her mom. (Thank you SO much Kayla!) Kayla's mom was so sweet. I was able to get through the OD and I got some really great experience with a physicians consult. So next time I need one, I will know exactly what to do. Also, I learned that I can do an OD pretty dang quick now. After I got the fax back from my patients doctor, I only had a half hour to get done. I finished the OD! (With Stephanie's help recording probe depths). Unfortunately there was no time for PE's today, which really stressed me out. Oh well. I am grateful everything worked out today. I am grateful for sweet girls in this program! Like Kayla, and the girls in my pod who are always so willing to help me however they can, and all the girls who make me laugh in clinic when I'm stressed. We have the best class! I am still worried about x-rays, still worried about PE's, but I couldn't be happier that it's Spring Break. After a week like this, it is much needed.

Let's call today..Eventful.

It was not necessarily a bad day, just not a great one. Today my patient was a mentally disabled woman being brought in by her caretaker. They were both so sweet and everything was going great. I was filling out the health history and about ten minutes into the appointment, the caretaker got a phone call and just started bawling. I felt so bad, I did not know what to do, so I just hugged her and asked what's wrong. She said her grandmother died. Jamie came over to help me and walked the caretaker outside while I stayed with my patient. Mr. Soloman was a big help and helped comfort her outside along with Jamie. The caretaker decided she still wanted my patient to get her teeth cleaned so she left to take care of some things and my patient stayed with me. She was very sweet and quite competent. She started crying a few times in the appointment, but I was able to comfort her. The health history took me over an hour because she had about 16 different medications I had to look up, some of which were not in our DDR. So after the phone call and the loooooong health history, all I had time for was a pano. My patient had a broken shoulder and the pano machine could not clear her shoulder as it went around. Prof. Costley came to help me with my retake, we ended up having to take off the lead shield all together because her shoulder was too high. It all worked out in the end. She will be coming back soon to get finished. She has a denture on the top so I need to remind them to bring it next time so I can pass off my PE. I am still very worried about PE's, my goal is to do at least two a day for the next few clinic sessions. Like I said, not a bad day, just eventful. I was actually really proud of myself today.

Time Goals

A good day in clinic! Today I finished up my patient from last week who had 2 quads finished. I met my goal to pass off more PE's by passing off universal Instrumentation and Instrument Sharpening today, YAY! I told Instructor Hafen that I still am worried about the ultrasonic, so she came over and helped me. She let me just use it without water or power so i could show her the angles. She said it was good, but to remember to adapt and angle into that interproximal. That was so helpful. I really understand the way she explains things. I finished the last 2 quads and only had 2 errors on my scale check. Hafen helped me feel the errors and i was able to get them off by myself! I would like to get better at exploring still so that i can feel my own errors better before scale checks. In pod wrap we talked about setting time goals for ourselves so ewe can see our improvement or see how much we need to pick up the pace. I am going to do this, it is a good idea. I really need to go more sub and really focus on my finger-roll adapting. My goals are to somehow get a class III, more 1A's, and to use the ultrasonic! Then end of the semester is creeping up so quickly I can hardly believe it! Praying I will reach my requirements!

Thankful

Good news, Some x-rays!! My father-in-law was my patient today and he needed some bitewings! YAY! I took 4 vertical BXW, but I missed the very distal on the 2 back films. Vertical BWX are a little harder to get everything in. But Professor Costley said the contacts looked good, which made me feel good! I also was able to pass off my Blood Glucose PE today, another thing that Costley said I did good at. Wow I needed today! It gave me a little boost that I have not felt in quite a while in clinic. The OD went well and my probe depths were accurate. I also accurately charted the recession and my perio statement was correct. He is a class II. I was hoping I could get to scaling a quad or 2 today, but it did not work out that way. Oh well, I learned a lot today and I feel pretty good about my speed. I have decided that I like charting. Most people are going to think that is nuts, but I do. I like the feeling of having my patient completed and walked out and just relaxing while I chart what I did today. It's a stress-free time for me. I wish I was not so tense in the clinic setting, I get nervous (still) and my shoulders get tight and achy. I hope this will stop as I get more confident in my abilities. My goal is to keep knocking out the PE's!

Bad News, Good News

I'm sure you can guess the bad news...My patient today had x-rays six months ago. Of course! Why should I expect anything different!? I was very stressed and when I went to have Instructor Hafen sign my HH, I told her my situation. More than half-way through the semester, I have taken ONE set of bitewings. ONE! She brought it up in pod wrap so people know how desperate my situation is in case they get their requirements done and want to help me out. I have decided that before I schedule patients I am going to have to ask if they need x-rays first. I hate to do that, but I have no choice at this point. The good news is today went pretty smoothly! I finished the entire HH, OD, and had time to scale two quads. no errors in my first scale check and I will have the last 3 quads checked when i finish her next week. I really like Instructor Hafen! I was nervous about scaling because almost all of this patients teeth were porcelain crowns and i was worried about scratching them and was not sure how to scale them. Instructor Hafen was happy to help and showed me how to feel under the margin and to follow it along with my instrument so i know if I am feeling deposit or margin. One thing I learned is I need to really make sure I'm going down all the way when probing. I did good on my probe depths except on one I got a 4 and she got a 7. Good reminder for me to practice probing angles and not stopping until I feel the attachment. My goal is to finish 1B's in one appointment from now on! I hope I can do it! I am getting quicker and more comfortable in clinic!

Lab Day 2

Today in lab we learned three new PE's. We learned about taking Blood Glucose, using the Diagnodent, and Oral Prosthesis Care. It was a nice, relaxing day. But I could not help but think how badly I need this day for clinic to meet requirements! I am going to pass off the blood glucose PE in a few weeks when my father-in-law comes in. He is diabetic so I have been saving him for after this lab day. I am somewhat familiar with the Diagnodent because it was used all of the time in the office I worked in, but today was my first time actually using one. I hope I can find a patient with dentures or a partial denture this semester to pass of my oral prosthesis PE. I miss lab days, they are much less stressful than real patient clinic days. My goal is to be less tense in clinic and to try and focus on the accomplishments I am making. Part of me is excited for this long weekend, having Presidents Day off, and the other part of me is freaking out because I need all the lab days I can get!

Happy Valentine's Day! NOT!

Not a great day. I called my patient over the weekend to confirm his appointment, to which he replied "Oh yeah, I'll be there"! Well, 8:15am strikes today and I'm getting worried. So I called him and he said he forgot! I asked him if he can still make it and he says he will have to ask his Dad first and then he will let me know. He did not call me back until about 20 minutes later to say that he said he would need to reschedule. So I have him scheduled for March 9th and you better believe I am going to call him the night before and the day of to make sure he doesn't forget again. But what now?? Its already almost 9:00! I call a patients listed "on call" on the resource list, but no luck. Luckily, there is a family sitting out in the waiting area. I asked if any of them would be interested in getting a cleaning right now. The mother said her 17 year old son was interested. It turns out, Karen is scheduled to see him for a cleaning in a few weeks. I talked to Karen and she said I could start on him. I was happy that I could maybe get some x-rays out of this! But sure enough, he did not need x-rays. He has recently had a lot of x-rays taken at his orthodontist. So I got all the way through his OD today and had some good learning experiences, so today was not a total failure. The end of the semester feels closer than ever when I look over the requirements. I really hope I can get more x-rays and find a class III!

Proud!

I was proud of myself today. Here is the story. My patient arrived and explained that she really needs to be done today, she can not come back for a second appointment because she is starting a new job. I panicked a little inside, I wished she would have told me that on the phone! I have never finished a patient in one appointment before. Then more bad news, Yes...Once again, my patient did not get x-rays. She refused x-rays today. What a bad start to an appointment! I talked to the TA, Stephanie, and told her I was going to try and finish in one appointment and asked if she could chart for me. I did it! I was so happy I was able to finish the entire appointment! And she was a class V. This was the first time I was really proud of myself in clinic. Then, I did not have any errors on my scale check. All of this good news was overshadowing the bad news of the x-rays. It was so good to see Instructor Allen today! She gave me some good advice, she said it's great I was able to finish my patient today. She wanted me to know that the patient does not dictate the appointment and it would have been okay if I would not have finished. That was good advice. I learned today how hard it is to chart occlusion when the patient is missing all their maxillary molars on one side. I need to learn a little better how to recognize occlusion on the premolars. My goal is to keep getting faster and to hopefully get some x-rays!

My First 1A

Finally, a 1A patient! My patient today was a 10 year old girl. My goal for her was to finish the entire appointment and have time to do sealants. Unfortunately, I did not finish in enough time to get sealants today. Something I learned today, mixed dentition can be confusing! I was getting confused about my letters and which ones were primary or permanent. It was a good reminder to study the primary tooth letters. She was very well behaved and cooperative. She did love to talk though! It made it a little bit difficult at times to work in her mouth because she was just chattering away! It was funny. Bad news, she did not need X-rays! She had them a few months ago at Midtown. Not the news I wanted to hear today! I learned that I really need to make sure I am sweeping gingival to get not just calculus, but the soft deposit as well. Overall, it was a good experience today working on my first child so I can know what to expect when working on children and about how much time it takes. She had a mandibular lingual expansion bar which made the cleaning a little more difficult, but it was a good learning experience. My new goal, go even MORE sub! I think my posture was a little better today because my back is not hurting.

Getting the hang of this...

I feel like I am getting the hang of the OD appointment, finally! It's all going a little bit quicker and smoother for me. I was able to reach my goal and get to some quadrant scaling on an OD appointment! Karen was so sweet to give me my patient for today, she was working on his Dad and gave his name to me, Thanks Karen! I love the girls in this program, it's nice how we all try to help eachother out. I did not miss very many things on my OD so I was glad about that. Today was a day where I realize how much i have learned. My patient was asking me questions and the answers were just coming out of my mouth without hardly thinking about it. It was a good thing to realize how far I have come. I tend to focus on how much I don't know, or the things I am not good at. It's nice when I realize some things that I am good at. I am feeling very overwhelmed about all of the PE's and requirements this semester. Another patient who doesn't need x-rays!! X-rays might be the death of me this semester! My goal is to focus more on my posture because my back hurts!

Whew!

What a stressful weekend! I had a patient scheduled for today and she called me on Saturday to cancel. Stressful! Jamie was supposed to be seeing her fiance at the same time so we were both in a bind and out of family! I called my 1B patient who I had scheduled for next week and asked if he would like to come a week earlier. He said he would be there! Oh I am SO grateful! That was such a relief. I realized how stressful it can be to have a patient cancel last minute. Well the cleaning went good today, he is such a great patient and was so kind and cooperative. It was my first time seeing black subgingival calculus! It was cool to see it come up with my scaler! Today Instructor Vining was my instructor. He is really helpful and showed me the instruments he likes best. This patient was my first patient with a language barrier, so I am glad that everything went so smoothly. Overall a good day! I really wanted more practice with x-rays but he did not need any. I feel I am still at the same speed as I was last appointment. I really hope I can start improving. So my goal is to still get practice with x-rays and to get a quad scaled in less time.

Finishing up Mom!

Today I finished up my Mom's cleaning. Things went pretty smoothly today and I feel that I am getting a little bit faster, but not near as fast as I would like to be. My mom is a Class V patient for me. My mom has the best oral hygiene home care I have ever seen. She always takes good care of her teeth and flosses faithfully every day. There was hardly any calculus to get off. She has sensitive teeth and a sensitive jaw so I was worried about bringing her back for another long appointment but everything went great! I only missed a few spots on my scale check and that made me happy. My mom said she thought I did a great job and did not hurt her once. My goal is to get faster and pass off some more PE's! Finding patients is the most stressful thing for me now that I am officially all out of immediate family! Wish me luck!

My First Non-Family Patient

Today I had my first patient who I did not know. I was really nervous because...(A) I forgot to call him the night before to remind him, I was afraid he would not show up. (B) He does not speak very much english, and (C) He has never had a dental cleaning in his life. I was so happy when I saw that little eaglesoft dot turn yellow! Lesson learned, I will call my patients to confirm before that day of the appointment! I will get the hang of this one of these days. He has NEVER had a dental cleaning in his life, an he is a 1B! That's pretty dang good if you ask me! He said he brushes 2-4 times a day and flosses every day. Sweetest guy ever. He had to leave to get to work after I finsihed his OD, so I will see him again soon to finish up. My main goal for these next few weeks is to pick up the pace! By now in my OD appointments I think I should at least be getting one quad done on a 1B, but for some reason it just isn't happening for me. I really hope I can get faster at everything! Overall, it gets a little better each day. I am really getting the hang of charting and eaglesoft and TalEval. I am just worried I will never be fast enough. Any tips that is saving you guys time?? I would love to hear!

I do NOT put the Rad in Radiology, Thats for sure.

Yay! I won my Mom and Jamie will get my Grandpa. I was a little worried about how today would go because my mom has very sensitive teeth and a very delicate jaw from a past jaw surgery, but everything went pretty good! Minus X-rays. My first X-rays of the semester, and have I forgotten everything I have ever learned!!?? I started out doing a full-mouth and then I could not get the films in my moms mouth without hurting her lips and cheeks and she could not bite down all the way and so I got frustrated and decided to just do vertical BWX. My bitewings turned out good but I was just frustrated about not doing the full mouth. Me and Jamie are going to practice getting the films with the ORA into the mouth and in the correct position. I do not know if it was me or if my mom just has a small mouth, but the X-rays were hurting her. And if you know me, then you know my number one fear is hurting my patients! Anyway, everything else for the OD appointment went good and I just love my cute mom more than words can say! My goal is to not let this X-ray incident intimidate me for next time. I can do this!

Scary Subgingival Scaling

I have come to the realization that I am scared of the subgingival arena. I do not like going where I can not see. I do not like entering the unknown. That is perhaps why I missed 4 spots that were subgingival today! My sister Kami was back today so I could finish her up. She was such a great patient! I felt bad that her poor jaw started to hurt after a while, what a trooper! Her suggestion is that the disclosing agent needs to be flavored. I agree. I need to do better at feeling around subgingivally before I move on to the next tooth. I need to remember to use my instrument using an exploratory stroke to make sure the surfaces are smooth. Instructor Caldwell was great to help me get the spots I missed, most of them I went back and was able to feel them and scale them, but there was one spot she helped me with. Everyday is a learning experience and I need to be grateful for little mistakes that become lessons and that in the end will make me a better hygienist. My goal is to FIND PATIENTS!! AH! Between the two of us (Jamie and I) we are almost out of immediate family. Time to duke it out to see who gets Mom!

"What do you mean you can't breathe??"

Today my patient was my cute sister Kami. I am glad I have family willing to come while I build my confidence for a few weeks! Did I mention she is 8 months pregnant?? I had barely started laying her back and she said "Whoa I can't breathe." Huh?? You are not even laying semi-flat. I am so grateful for lessons learned on family. Now I know what to do If I have a very pregnant patient. Instructor Demmings says in this case, it will be easiest for me to stand up during the appointment. It was a little adjustment for me, not what I am used to, but it worked! I think I am finally getting the hang of TalEval, and I really think I like it! I can tell my probing is getting a tiny bit faster, but still not fast enough. My goal for my next OD appointment is to get faster at probing and recording the measurements.

First Patient of 2nd Semster

Welcome back to my chair husband! Today I finished up my first real patient appointment. Last time I only got past the OD, so I started with OHI. I disclosed and showed him in his mouth the areas that he needs to focus his brushing. I also showed him the correct way to brush. On to scaling! It went better than I thought it would! Scaling is just going to take practice and I feel better about it everytime I do it. I only missed a few spots on my scale check so I was proud of myself. And he said I did not hurt him once! YAY! My biggest fear is hurting people, I can't get over it. I was having a rough time with the posteriors until Instructor Caldwell suggested I try using the 204S instead of the barnhart. Loved it! I need to remember to try my other instruments so I can get a feel for them all. Overall, I felt good about today. My goal for my next clinic session is to not forget dumb things (like to print a treatment plan)!

Welcome Back!!

Wow that was a wonderful break. It was a long break. But when I got here this morning it felt like I never left. Now it feels like it was a very short break. Either way, I am glad to be back because that means I am getting closer to graduating!! Also, I was excited to see everyone again! Today we learned about our Gracey's and the ultrasonic. I feel that I will need more help with both things. Practice will make perfect! I can't believe I'm ready to start seeing real patients. Wish me luck! My goal for this semester is to just take what comes at me, stay calm, and try not to stress. It may sound like a dumb goal, but it has been my biggest challenge so far since I began the program.