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.