Last Day

Today was my last day in clinic and I had one quadrant left and one PE left! I was able to finish my class III patient today and pass off my area specific PE. I really like using my gracies when there is a deep pocket. It is hard to get down in 6-7mm pockets or deeper using just regular instruments. I'm really excited to get my mini's next fall, I think those will fit in those tighter areas easier! I did miss the most spots I've ever missed before on this last quadrant, so I felt like a failure. It was a bitter-sweet ending for first year clinic. It was a hard class III-IV patient, but I thought I was doing better than I was. I had questions on two teeth about if I was feeling calculus or root surface, and it turned out to be calculus. When am I going to be able to tell the difference? Oh well, I'll figure it out in the fall hopefully! YAY, clinic is over, summer is almost here! Sand dunes here we come!!!!

Class III

Today I had my class III patient in again. I did her upper left quadrant which is really a class IV and the dentist said that she needs to get two teeth pulled from that quadrant because they are mobile and pretty much don't have any bone structure around them. And I also did the lower left quadrant. As I was going around each tooth getting off what I thought was biofilm, I went back to check my work and it was all back? What the #&@^?? So she had so much infection that was oooozzzing out that it would kind-of solidify and look like biofilm but as soon as I would clean it off, more would come out. Instructor Vining was "milking" it from her palate. It was pretty gross. Dr. Hopkin came and took a look and told her to get some teeth pulled and put her on an antibiotic. He told her that a couple of other teeth are really close to having to be pulled, so a good cleaning and taking really good care of them is the only way she's going to keep them. It's really sad that her condition is this severe but I don't understand why people wait so long to seek any help? Anyway, it was reall cool to see and really gross at the same time. But it was a good experience for me.

Class III or IV!

Today I had my class III patient! I was able to do her OD. Well... she ended up being a mix up class III and IV. But this will be a good experience for me! She was given some lidocaine at the beginning of the appointment because touching her gums made her jump. I was able to probe but scaling she still didn't like so Pro. Costley gave her more. She had so much infection in her mouth that it was neutralizing the anesthetic. I was able to get one quadrant done though. It was really hard because she had 8mm pockets and they were super sensitive. It is interesting to see this condition and educational, but very sad. She is in so much pain. I hope that when I'm done she will feel so much better and continue with her continuing care. I hope to pass off my area specific PE on monday when she comes back!

Monday I finished up my dad! He's so great! I did three quadrants on him and was also able to pass off my ultrasonic PE, universal PE, and blood glucose PE! Ah.. it feels good to almost be done with everything! I have one more ultrasonic PE and my area specific PE. The area specific scares me because I haven't had any patients that qualified to practice on with them. Oh well, it will all work out! Love ya dad, thanks for comin' in!