Good day...mostly!

So today I had a 1B patient with braces, and her five month old baby was very upset the whold appointment. Karlie had her four year old son, and when she was done she held the crying baby for a long time. The best part of the day is that Sharli did a screening for me today and found my class III!!!!!! YAY! THANK YOU SHARLI! Now my goal is to help everyone else find theirs. It is so stressful to find all of our requirements. Sigh... I'm so relieved. Now I hope I can finish her!

Two in one!

Today I finished up my mom's last two quadrants and passed off a few PE's. I did the explorer and anterior PE on her! Then my grandma came in. She has had dentures since she was in her 20's. She so little and cute. So Jen Reese did the bottom denture and I cleaned the top one. Her OD was the fastest one I've ever done! Then I was able to pass off the removable appliance PE on her! After our clinic, I stayed for the afternoon so I could pass off my peer calculus removal PE. Kristin was so nice and let me squeeze into her appointment. THANK YOU KRISTIN! Today was a good day, not too stressful, but I was able to pass off four PE's! YaY! Almost done!!!

So my patient was my husband!!! OH... cute! It was a very straight forward appointment and fun! He was an easy 1B and a great patient! It took him a while to come in and see me, but he finally did! Thanks for comin' in Babe! Love ya!

Pretty good day

Today I had an eight year old patient. I was able to fulfill my last sealant requirements and do the diagnodent PE. He was a very good patient and was cooperative with all of the running around I was doing. I had Miriam do his bitewings because she still needed to fill those requirments and I am done with all my bitewings. I am now done with all requirements except my class three. Everything else is just extra quads! Yay! I really hope I can find a class three to come in and be willing to come in for multiple appointments. That's my huge goal for this semester!

Thanks Ins. Kirsten

So I had a class two patient returning for three quadrants. I was able to finish him in a little over an hour and a half. I missed a couple spots and had to go back and then I got him up and out of there. I then had my 12 year old niece come and I started off with bitewings and then rushed to get her finished in one appointment. I made her my last 1B exam and was able to get her done in a total of about 25 minutes. It was awesome because Ins. Kirsten really helped me get these people in and out! I was able to get 7 quads done in one clinic! YAY!

Ah... mondays

I really don't like mondays very much. We have less time to work on patients and fewer instructors to pass things off. I had a returning patient that had sheet calculus and all of her lingual anteriors. I really do not like sheet calculus, it is very difficult for me to get off. I scrape and scrape and rinse and dry and what do ya know, there's still some there. Anyway, I was able to finish this patient and pass off two PE's but that was a chore and a half. Well, my goal is to keep passing off PE's every clinic day that I can so I'm not freakin' out at the very end. I really don't like monday's, they're very discouraging. Well, wednesday should go much better I hope!

Good Day!

Today I had my class II exam patient!!!! It went really well! She was such a good patient, she was so nice and so easy going! I was also able to pass of three way over due PE's. Now I have like 5 done, I have like 15 more to go AH!!! I really need to get a move on that:) But today was very productive for me! I can actually go home feeling good today! Yay! Thanks Instructor Kirsten for all your help, and all the TA's. You're all so helpful!

Yay, a productive day!

So I had a 1B patient and was able to get through the appointment with ease! I was really happy because she still had calculus and I was able to get it off and I didn't miss any spots which made me feel really good. I've been trying to be really thorough and I think that I just usually take too much time trying to be thorough, but with this patient I felt thorough and a little faster than usual. It was a pretty good day. The only down side is that I had to wait over 20 minutes for my OD check, so I couldn't really get started until I had that done, but at least I finished and had some time to spare. Ah... I just need about 11 more of those days for clinic this semester. HA HA! Yeah right.

Ah, bit off more than I could chew!

So I tried to do my my 1A exam and then do a 1B start to finish. I finished the 1A pretty easy. The 1B has 10 sealants that needed to be done and also has sheet calculus on all of her anteriors. She has radiographic calculus and 4mm pocket depths on all first molars. And SHE'S 15. I did my sealant PE and then had Linda do her sealant PE on her as well. So next appointment I have seven more sealants to do and finish up all four quads on her. It wasn't a productive day like I had planned. But I did have a lot of help from the second years!!! Thank you TA's for cleaning for me and for all your help! I really need to get going on my PE's too, that's my goal for now!!!

Ah.. another easy goin' day!

Today I had a 1B come back to get finished up! It was pretty easy because I had done the whole mandible last time so I only had the maxillary teeth which were super easy, and she's a hygienist so her teeth were really clean! I did have to wait about 25 minutes for my scale check. Good thing we like to chat!! Also, sweet Jenny Story let me do a pano on her patient because her requirements are all filled for that! How NICE! THANKS JENNY STORY, YOU'RE THE GREATEST!!!!!!

Ah... relaxation!

On wednesday, we didn't have patients and we learned how to do blood glucose levels, use the diagnodent, and how to clean dentures or appliances. This was such a relaxing day, and I could use a few more of those!!! I was also able to pass of my sharpening PE!!! Yay, that is pretty much my first PE pass off if I don't count the CA one. I really need to get going on my PE's. That is my goal from now on, to pass off two or three PE's at least on wednesday's when we have more instructors and TA's.

Finished in one appt!!!!

Today I had a patient that sweet Karlile gave to me! He was a border line 1B-2 but he classified in to the 1B category. We didn't take any x-rays so we went right in to treatment! The whole appointment actually went pretty smooth. I did have some spots that I missed or overlooked, but overall, the appointment went pretty well! Karlile also let me do a sealant on her patient, so that's one more thing out of the way! Thanks Karl!!!!

Why am I so slow?

Today I had my mom come back in. She is a class 5 and has a lot of restorations. I had a hard time getting around her old fillings with bad margins, and around the crowns with recession. I had a hard time detecting if there was calculus under the overhangs of her fillings, or if I was just hitting the overhangs?! Ah, I get so frusterated sometimes. I'm glad she's my mom and will come back with no problems. She said she likes to get off of work and come see me! I'm glad my patient is still happy, cause me... ahh! One day, I will be so good and so fast... hopefully!

STRRRESSFUL day

So today, my patient showed up... but someone else's didn't so the other person got to see my patient. So the beginning of my stressful clinic. I called five family members and my dad was in salt lake more than willing to hurry and come up, but i wasn't about to let him do that and not accomplish much once he got there. So thanks to Mr. Solomon, Minerva was able to come in! We got started about an hour and a half late. I didn't get to scaling but I did get my OD done! The best part is, is that she's a class II and qualifies to be an exam. Yay, class II exam. That's pretty much it!

Easy goin' day!

Today I had my sister come in to get her finished up. I was also able to do 16 PA's on her for a full mouth. I finished her two quadrants and had some time to spare. It was such a nice day because I wasn't rushed the whole time! The instructors were very busy and it was hard to get one because everyone was calling them from each operatory. I was glad I wasn't in a hurry for one to come check because it wasn't happening. They go as fast as they can, but there's so many of us to check I'm sure it's hard and frustrating for them. I'm sure I'll have the days of trying to hurry and having to wait, but today was really nice. I hope I get fast enough that doing a 1B start to finish will be a nice easy goin' day!

Another day...

My dad was my patient! That was fun to have him come in and see me. He's so excited for me to be in this program! I feel like I leave my patient sitting by themselves a lot. I had to wait for a second year (that wasn't scheduled on the computer) to take x-rays on her board patient, and then clean her room and set up mine and then go get my dad to take four bitewings and a pano. I felt bad cause he sat in the chair for like twenty minutes just wasting his time. But he is so sweet, he said it didn't bother him a bit. I used the ultra sonic scaler on him too and I didn't like it so I think that no one else is going to tolerate it either, but he said that didn't bother him at all either! He was a great patient. I only got one quadrant done but he will be back to get finished up! I hope next time I can spend more time with him and not leave him sitting alone forever.

STRESSFUL day

So an hour and a half before clinic, I called my patient to make sure she had directions to the clinic. I had recived her name and number from the list in the front office. When I called she said, oh yea I'm not coming, I'm glad you called. WHAT? So I had a frantic search for another patient and luckily I found a nice man named Roberto. He didn't speak english but the appointment went well for having him come about 25 minutes late and being a class 5 the appointment went ok. He still needs to come back to finish up 3 quads. I'm really hoping I get faster really soon. I want to finish patients in one appointment NOW. I'll keep workin' on it though!

Wow... Hygiene is stressful!!!

Today I had a hygienist I work with come in and see me! She's awesome! I did 4 scan-x BWX on her and finished two quads. My goal was to get finished today but that didn't happen. I'm still having a hard time detecting calculus. After Pro. Costely showed me where it was and how to get it off, things clicked for me. I hope I can remember how to do it on my next patient! It's really fun and rewarding when I actually see stuff coming off! My goal is to be more careful in detecting where the calculus is and then working hard to get it off!
I also need to speed up the probing and whole OD. I think this is where I get behind. I'm not the world's fastest "probe-r" but I'm really working on making sure I'm getting the right angles and feel for it. I guess practice makes perfect, I just wish I had a little more patience.

First child patient!

I had my first 1A patient and his oral hygiene is not very good. I learned a lot in that one appointment. I learned a certain instrument that is probably not good to use on a child. I also learned that when a child has heavy plaque, it might be easier to polish first, after you show them their disclosed mouth and teach them OHI. I scaled all of his plaque off which was good instrumentation practice, but I wasted a lot of time being very picky when I could have removed a lot of it with selective polishing. I know next time that to make it easier on myself, get the loose stuff off first and then get the harder stuff off; it should go a lot faster that way. It was a really good experience for me! I'm glad my patient was cooperative because it took a long time! But I've learned new tricks!!

I'M BACK!

Well... I'm back. Today we learned more about ultrasonic scaling and using area specific curets also known as gracies. I like the gracies, they help me with angles and therefore getting more calculus off! I needed more practice with the ultrasonic too. I think both the gracies and ultrasonic are going to help me a lot!

First REAL Patient!

If my sister really counts;) Today was very beneficial to me. I really like to know how one full appointment would go. I got a lot further than I expected to. My sister was only a 1B and had zero calculus pretty much. So I can't count on getting as far if I have a class I or II perio patient, but I'm glad I had this oportunity! I scaled two quads, so her next appointment she'll need two more quads scaled and selective polish, flossing, and fluoride. So next time, her appointment should be pretty short! The things that frustrate me are the transferring of charts at the end and writing down everything. I think next time I will give myself more time to do that, rather than cram in one more quadrant. Well, live and learn!

Patient Day Two!

Today I was the patient for Karina. The appointment went by pretty fast and she did a good job. She put two sealants on me teeth, and passed off her sealant PE on me. After I was done I helped clean her and others operatories and we had a pod wrap and went home early! I love early days! Well, I don't think I'll be having any more of those. I hope my sister is ready for one long appointment monday!

Back To Wrenching My Tools

So I was the operator again on monday. This time my patient was Karina. I just hand scaled one quadrant and used the ultrasonic scaler on another one. Then I passed off my sealant PE and placed another one for her. Her teeth are perfect and pretty much all of them need sealants, but I only got two of them done for her. I've had her before for a patient and placed one on her the first time so I guess I've done three for her. It was a good day and a good experience, I'm really excited and nervous to start real patients. My biggest fear is the health history. This always throws me off and I'm afraid I'm going to do something wrong, hopefully nothing that will make me fail an experience. Well... here we go!

Ah, being the patient!

Today in clinic I was the patient! It was great and relaxing! I had Megan Gillespie for my hygienist and she did a great job! She was so good with my frustrating mouth. She didn't hurt me even though she thinks she did. She did GREAT! At the end we all wanted to get out of there so we all helped do the operators instruments for them and clean their operatories. We got out of there on time, it was nice! I was also able to pass off my sharpening PE. Yay! Only a couple more PE's to go!

First Mock Patient!

I had my first mock patient! It went way better than I had expected. I struggled with what I needed to do after I was done with one task, but now I think I understand the order better. I know with a new patient I'm going to struggle with charting because I haven't done that in a really long time, and I never really did understand it completely. Megan G. was my patient and was a great one! She didn't complain one bit even though I know I hurt her. She was very nice to me! It was a good day, except being rushed in charting and not knowing there was a certain time to have it turned in and being late turning it in because I didn't know; other than that it was a good day!