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.