Class IV

This morning I saw my previous mockboard patient to do his OD and scale another quad. I was getting worried because next week is our last mockboard and I still had not found a patient. This patient had one quad left, and I asked him if he would not mind being my mockboard patient one more time. He said that was no problem at all, I was so relieved! My afternoon patient is my class IV. Jamie found him at the last screening and did not need anymore class IV quads, so she did his OD this morning and he stayed all day so I could start his cleaning this afternoon. I have come to the conclusion that I really do not like working on Class IV's. I 'm so glad he got an appointment because he really needs it, but I think mobility is just the saddest thing! All of his teeth are mobile and as I ultrasonic the bars of calculus off of his teeth, they just get looser and looser. I was getting really worried that he would be confused of what is going on becasue he doesn't speak English. I had Mr. Salomon explain to him that his teeth may feel more loose than they did before becasue of the calculus is holding his tooth more snug in the pocket. Once that is removed, the teeth are going to be more mobile than before. This patient is so kind and he brought Jamie and I a little gift when he came for his afternoon appointment. His calculus is some of the most tenacious I have ever seen. I had to go over it several times with the ultrasonic to even make a dent in it. I do not dare scale the teeth too much becasue I am worried that any lateral pressure will pull it right out! I finished one quad today and did not have quite enough time to finish another quad. So Instructor Wold recommended that I do one quad + 3 teeth and call it a day since he had been there all day. I am sure glad he came in. I am worried to start his mandibular anteriors becasue I know they are going to be so mobile when the calculus is removed. But the patient says he understands, so hopefully it will be good in the end and he will be glad he came. He seems so grateful to be here. My goal is to practice the angles for the left PSA. My left PSA today was less than beautiful. Final mockboard next week!!

LA Mockboard...A Success!

This morning we had our local anesthesia mockboard and I passed! My wonderful husband was my patient. I promised him beforehand that the the injections do not hurt, and he agreed... they didn't hurt at all. I am so glad that we do mockboards so that we can learn from our mistakes and know the process of real boards so it is not so terrifying when the real day comes. I did learn that I am being a little too aggressive with my aspirations, and that I just need to pull back a few millimeters when aspirating. My examiners reported that angles on my PSA were correct and that my IA was right on. It was a much needed little confidence booster. Until..my afternoon needed a LEFT PSA...FAIL! I forgot how hard it is to get the correct angle on that left side. Marilyn gave me some really good pointers to pull the cheek out and up, and to feel the site of penetration with my finger before had so I know how far back I need to be. I did have a few scaling errors today. I feel like I could have done so much better if I could have used my ultrasonic on him, but it's a great experience to just scale and know that I can remove all of the calculus just with my hand instruments. Marilyn gave me some good pointers today. She reminded me to always examine my x-rays for little flecks of radiographic calculus so that I know the areas to really explore when I'm done scaling. She also reminded me to get the tip under the deposit after exploring with my scaler, and then pop the calculus off. Don't just blindly scale the missed area again, really feel the deposit, and get directly under it. Overall, it was a pretty good day! My goal is to find a mockboard and hopefully a real board patient at the screening on Friday! Fingers crossed!

Class III's!

I am so happy to finally be getting done with some class III patients. This morning I saw my class III patient who had a cold sore a few weeks ago. She has lots of calculus and could be mockboard material, exceot for she is pregnant so I could not take any radiographs. I was able to finish her last 3 quads with only 3 errors which made me happy. I also passed off my Calculus Removal and Ultrasonic 2 PE's. I feel like my scaling techniques are improving a little bit each week. My lateral pressure especially has improved. I saw my class III/IV back this afternoon. This patient is so nice. He has COPD, so I cannot use the ultrasonic. I forget how much I love my ultrasonic until i can;t use it! But I got 2 quads done with just one missed spot. I was also able to get 4 injections. Prof. Perry have me some super helpful tips for my injections today! For the IA, he said usually if you aim for the natural little tissue fold near the raphe, it's dead on. My PSA was no bueno today. I kept hitting osseous and had to withdraw. He later told me that I was just not quite far enough out in the mucobuccal fold. I had a good day because I had a little moment while I was scaling that made me feel like I was finally getting the hang of this! I love productive days! My goal for next week is to pass my LA mockboard!

Oh baby!

I learned something this week. When a patient walks in for a 3-hour dental appointment with her 3-year old son by her side...this is not the best of scenarios for a student dental hygienist. My morning patient was a very nice class II and her little boy was adorable. How long can a 3-year old sit and wait? About 15 minutes. The paper and pencils I gave him were not quite entertaining enough. After that, he was trying to get into drawers, pulling on the blinds, smearing lotion from his mom's purse all over his hands and face, and finally, emptying mom's wallet and making it rain with quarters and $20 bills. I cruised as fast as I could with the appointment so the poor little guy would not have to wait too long. For a 3 year old, he really was being pretty patient. I missed, probably due to my hurrying, some sheet calculus on the lingual mandibular anteriors. Well, don't I feel stupid! It was a good lesson. I think I sometimes get so focused on scaling interproximally and feeling for calculus, I forget to use my eyes and look for supra calculus. Besides that, I did not have any errors. Dr. Hanson showed me a good tip, to use my scaler and clean the pits in the premolars. My afternoon patient turned out to be a class III/IV which was exciting! I also found a patient who was willing to pay for a FMX, double exciting! Unfortunately, taking a full-mouth series of X-rays seemed to take me longer than it should. I hope it becomes a little quicker with practice. My goal for next week is to always use my air to check for calculus!

Mockboard #2

Tuesday I had my second dental hygiene mockboard. I am pleased to announce that this time went SO much better than lat time! I had 3 calculus errors, but I passed! It was the little confidence boost I needed. Now that I know I can do it, I can focus on just becoming better so I have no calculus errors on my next mockboard. I was also able to get a couple injections on my patient as well. I am so grateful for my patient, he is so reliable and happy to help. Karen's mockboard patient canceled yesterday so my patient said he would come in again today for her. What a guy! I hope my real board patient will be as reliable as he is! Yesterday was a pretty good day at the VA except..HOLY MOLEY my patients were talkers. Both my morning and afternoon patient talked through the entire appointment. Even when I would put my instruments in their mouth, they would keep on talking. I have never had this happen before! But they were so friendly and just happy to be getting their teeth cleaned. Minus the instrument selection, I really do enjoy the VA. It is a great place to meet requirements and learn new things about many different types of patients. It is also giving me some good practice doing exams with the dentist. Well, LA Written exam next week...wish me luck!

Dang cold sore!

My Tuesday morning patient was my class III from last week, but when she came and sat in my chair, I noticed that she had a cold sore. Dang it! I had Mr. Soloman explain the clinic cold sore policy to he and I scheduled her back in a few weeks. I could not get any other patients to come in the morning, so I spent the rest of the AM clinic session trying to find screening patients. My afternoon patient was a recall class V from last semester. His appointment went very smoothly. Overall, not the most productive day in clinic, oh well! On Friday we had our screening and a sealant clinic. Big thanks to Tanya who found me a name to screen, and he ended up being my mockboard patient! I am excited for this mockboard, I am anxious to know that I really can do this! I am grateful we do so many mockboards in the program. It would be so terrifying to go into the real clinical board with no practice runs at all. I have been pretty dang stressed lately, but whenever I start feeling down, I try to remind myself...I wanted this! It took me three years to get in the program and so many others would kill to be in my position right now! I am exactly where I want to be, stress and all! I'm finding out that attitude really is everything. The Friday sealant clinic went great. It feels so good to provide this free service to the kids who really need it and may not be getting this care otherwise. I am really enjoying the children's screenings and sealant clinics this semester. My goal for next week is to do well on my mockboard and to pass off two PE's at the VA. (And hopefully schedule my LA Written Exam!) The semester is already flying!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back! I can not believe this is my last semester of college! I know that this semseter is going to fly by..which makes me excited and freaked out all at the same time! I hope I can gain more confidence this last semester and refine the skills I have learned. I purchased some loupes over Christmas Break and I was excited to try them out in clinic today. I really like them a lot! They are going to take a little getting used to but I can tell I am really going to love them! My morning patient today was a class III. She would be a great mockboard patient except she is pregnant, so I can not take any x-rays on her. Dr. Naylor gave me a good tip, to use my air on the buccal of the maxillary molars to check for any supra calculus. I missed some light flaky caculus on the distobuccal of #2 and #3. She said that this is a spot that the boards examiners always check and it is easy to remove using the SH6-7. That was a good little wake-up call becasue I should not be missing supra calculus at this point in the game! This patient has pretty tender gums and she is pregnant, so we have been trying to scale without any LA, and so far she is doing well without it. My afternoon patient was my sister who is an easy 1B and I did not miss any spots on her. I could have gone a little quicker though. I feel so rusty after not being in clinic for just one month. My goals this semster are to pass of my PE's early on in the semester and to get used to my loupes. My goal for today is to review my operator positioning again. I was kinda rolling all over the place today, which is quite annoying becasue my chair is a squeaky beast!