Finally got a 1A

I was getting a little worried that I was not going to get all my requirements because I have not seen any kids. But my friend was nice enough to bring her little boy in and he was so good for me. He had a lot decay and I was a little worried. I recommended that she bring him in once a month to get a treatment of fluoride and get him on fluoride pills at home. I think it could be detrimental if he doesnt start asap.

Getting different looks on things

I love it that everyone has a different approach to good treatment. As a new student it was hard to think outside the box but I now feel like I can make my own assessment and plan for my patients. I love it!

Crazy calculus!

My patient had the most stubborn chunk of calculus ever on the mesial of number five. I tried and tried, and could not get it! When my instructor came and tried she almost took the tooth out with it so we had to just leave it. Sometimes you need to realize when its outside of what you can do and move on.

seven injections!

I got to do seven injections on my patient at the VA and it was amazing! I feel so much better about doing them now. She was such a great patient and allowed me to do so much on her. The doctor there gave me some advice on how to keep from shaking because I have such a problem when I am doing an anterior infiltration. It was a great learning experience!

MOCKBOARD

YIKES! What a day. I did give my first four injections on my patient and it went really well, so I was thinking it was going to be a great day. But when I got in and started feeling her calculus, I knew it was going to be tough. I did the very best that I could and I did get a lot off, however, I missed a lot of spots and failed my exam. When I got home and thought it through (after being upset for an hour) I decided that it was probably best that way. The reason I think that is because if I would have aced it, then I would feel like I don't need to improve any. That was a very humbling day and now I know I need to work harder to make sure I do great on real boards.

Update on my class three

So my class three patient returned for me to finish his other two quads. The first thing I did was go back and look at his tissues on the side I had already cleaned and there was such an improvement! I felt so good about what I had done. I could see he was doing a much better job on his homecare and his tissues looked so much better. YAY!

Such a slacker!

Wow I am terrible at this blogging thing. But today was a great clinic day, I wasnt feeling well but I made it through and maybe even got a mochboard patient! I will be so happy if he is. The bone loss and radiographic calculus was amazing. I am so much more confident than I was last semester. I actually feel like I know what I am doing, which is the greatest feeling ever. I am still feeling a little weak in radiographs but im sure it will come with time.

Class 3!

I had the best class three patient ever! He was just so cooperative and I got him just by chance. I had a patient cancel on me last minute and went to the call list and he was the first person I called. He got to the clinic in twenty minutes and he ended up being a class three! He was such a great patient and so nice about everything. His calculus wasn't really tenaceous and it was overall a great experience. Sometimes when things go wrong, its a blessing in disguise:)

Getting Faster

Today I seen a class five patient and breezed through it. I wish I would have scheduled another patient after her. She did such a great job with her hygiene at home that it was very simple. I feel really great about how far I have come. This patient would have stressed me out and taken me two appointments last semester. I just love it!

VA DAY

The VA is definately a different environment from weber state. Things just run so different! I actually really like the way that they do things. My patient was a class two and had calculus EVERYWHERE! It was a great experience and he was a very good patient, except he wouldn't quit talking lol. I need to find a way to stop them from telling so many stories so I can get to work. They just dont understand how valuable that time is.

Hard lesson

So my patient presented with light pink gingiva, little to no bleeding, and very little calculus. I thought to myself, I will breeze right through this and then catch up on other things with the rest of clinic time. So I get done and ask for a scale check, I had missed like seven spots! They were all very little deposits subgingival. I just couldn't believe how deceiving her gingiva was. Well lesson learned and its time to start being careful and always check subgingival and interproximal even when the tissue looks really healthy.

Last Clinic Day

Woo HOO!! Last day of clinic! I am so excited to be done and I ended it with a really hard 1B patient. I was working the lower anterior teeth for ever!! I am getting better everyday and I am very excited to start my second year in dental hygiene.

I need to learn Spanish Desperately!!

I really feel like I could be a much better clinician if I knew how to speak spanish. I have had atleast three patients that could not speak hardly any english so it was so hard to talk to them about OHI and diseases. I am going to make that my goal this summer, and atleast learn some dental terms. I really feel this will increase my confidence with my spanish speaking patients.

Presentations

We have our table clinic presentations this Thursday and I am so nervous! I hate speaking in front of people and it is going to be 10-15 minutes long. I put together the powerpoint last night and I feel really good about that, but when it comes to talking in presentations, I swear you would never know that I have taken a public speaking class. But I do feel I am improving there as well. I love that this program is constantly sharpening so many different skills like research, speaking, study habits, instrumentation, and even patient communication.

Feeling comfortable

I am really starting to feel like I know what I am doing, which is great. I am doing much better with my angulation of xrays and using my instruments. The only instruments that I feel I have not practiced with enough are my graceys. I don't think I have used them once. So I will make sure to always bring them out first thing next semester.

Getting Better

I am so horrible at blogging. Let me just say that this is not because I don't have anything to talk about, I just forget to do this. So yes, I am going to have to post like ten at the end of the semester. I am getting better though, I actually feel like I know what I am doing FINALLY! Its so exciting sharpening my technique and even though I still make mistakes, I now know how to fix them.

Almost Finished

I am so excited to be almost done with my first year! All I have left is 2 quads of a class 3. Today I finished my class 2 exam and did a sealant and it feels great. I am struggling with my class 3 getting here. He has cancelled on me twice now and I don't know if I can count on him to get here. Do I try to find another one?

Two patients in one day

I decided to see two patients today. I seen my neice and my friends little boy. They are both the same age as my little boy and so I assumed they would behave the same. Oh my goodness, to my surprise, they were so much better. When I worked on Tristun, he would not let me even touch him with anything and it was so difficult! The two I seen today were so good about opening wide and holding still that I breezed right through it. So lesson learned, I will take him to the dentist by himself and I will wait in the waiting room.

Finally a class 3!!

I had such a great experience last clinic. My patient had a complicated health history to start, and then when I started probing, everything was bleeding! And after looking at the xrays, I realized he was a class three. I know this will be a challenge, but I am excited to finish him up.

GREAT DAY

Today I finished a class 2 patient and passed off 2 PE's! It was such a productive day and it feels so good. I also got some great tips from Emily on using my Graceys (thanks Emily!). It's amazing how much we are learing everyday. I feel like I have come such a long way even since just the beginning of the semester. One thing that I really need to get on is xrays. I still have not take any PA's. That will be my goal for next week. I also did really good on my test in oral pathology yesterday, I was a little worried because I didn't have my study buddy Jess, but it went ok. I am feeling really great about school these days WOO HOO!!

A Good Day

Today was one of those good clinic days. I was a little upset because my class 5 patient is only going to count as 4 quads of a 1B, but that's okay. I was able to scale 4 quads today, it took me awhile(1 hour 35 minutes to be exact) but I got it done. I felt pretty good scaling today, I really felt like I knew what I was doing for the most part. My patient had a fair amount of calculus but he had ton of biofilm today. I felt like I spent a lot of time digging out and scraping off biofilm. Kara mentioned that she toothbrush polished her patient before scaling and that worked great so next time I am going to try that. I also was able to pass off two more PE's!! YEAH!! I am finally feeling like I am a little ahead on my PE's so I won't be stuck at the end of the semester passing off PE's. I am still worried about getting all of my radiograph requirements and my quadrants, but it is only midsemester so I still have a lot of time!

Not what I thought

So I woke up this morning thinking that today would be a way easy day for me. I was bringing in Tristun (my four year old son) and I feel like I take pretty good care of his teeth at home. So I was excited for a relaxing day. What was I thinking? To begin, he wasn't feeling so hot, but he was not compliant at all. First he didn't like me wearing my gear, I think it scared him. Then he wouldn't wear the glasses, or the bib. He was just playing games with me and so I tried playing "mean mom" and being serious to see if that would help. Oh no, it just made things worse, he started crying and it all went downhill from there. Lesson learned!

Unexpected

So I was planning on bring in my little boy last wednesday, but I got a phone call that a patient needed to be finished that afternoon. So I cancelled my little guys appt. and seen this new pt, when I wasn't all that excited because I am all finished with 1B pts and I assumed that is what he would be. I looked over his chart I seen the reason he was not finished this morning was a complex HH. Well as I got into scaling him I started to see that he was possibly a class 2. It was such a great experience for me, however, I was not able to finish him in one appointment. I am excited to see him next time. The reason I blogged about this...Life really is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're going to get!!

Wonderful DAY!

Today was the first time that I seen a patient I don't know. It went extremely well. I actually like it a little better, because then I am not constantly apologizing for taking so long. I got the chance to go from start to finish on with a new patient and I even got her completed. Instructor Caldwell showed me some great techniques to get lower anterior calculus and it helped so much!! Thanks Kim!

A not so good day:(

So last wednesday I brought one of my good friends in for a cleaning and nothing would go right for me! I tried so hard to finish her in one appointment, which was a mistake. Instead of taking my time and working on one quadrant at a time, I rushed to finish her and ended up missing a ton of subgingival areas! However, I did learn a few very important things. 1) always take your time and just do the best you can (don't stress the small stuff, would be a good way to put it) and 2) You can't be scared to get scalers subgingivally! I am always terrified of hurting my patients and so I barely get below the gingiva. I now realize I would be doing my patients harm by not getting down there and removing everything. WHOOOO just breath, and get through it!!!

And we are back in business

So I started off really great this morning. I was so scared I was going to be late and ended up being here at like 7:15, which is just a little bit early:) I am so excited to start seeing real patients, I can't believe we have finished a semester already! Today in clinic we learned how to use our ultrasonics and wow, they are fun little things!! I was happy to learn the differences in all the graceys we have.