Last Clinic Day!

So today was the last clinic day of the semester. I was seeing my mockboard patient back again I was able to use local anesthetic and his anatomy was very different so it was a difficult shot to give and I was a little frustrated. But with the help of Prof. Alexander I was able to get it done. It makes me nervous to take LA boards I hope I get a lot better before then. I finished one quad and it was way difficult but I only missed three spots and they were all on the third molar. I learned a ton. Then I had time left so I numbed the upper right and finished that quad also. I was running a little late but I was able to finish. My patient was so grateful and they were so happy with me that they want their cousin to come and see me too. That made me feel good. Then I called in a patient I had seen before that has been wanting to get back in for awhile now. He was one of my first patients I saw last year he is a 1B and it took me one and a half appointments to get him finished last time. Today I had him finished and did a caries risk assesment on him by 2:00. It felt really good to see my progress over the past year. It was awesome to be able to do that on the last day of clinic.

Lab Day #2

Today in the morning session of clinic we had a lab. We went over emergency situations and desensitization products and we used the Velscope on each other. We also did wheelchair transfers which were interesting. You have to get real up close and personal with the person you are transfering. I practiced with Abby and she was so funny. She did a good job of acting like she had no use of her limb it made it for a good practice experience. Then I was sitting in one of the wheelchairs and I stood up to see something and the leg of the wheelchair sprung up and caught my foot and I went flying forward and my teacher caught me before I smacked into the dental unit. It was too funny I'm not even sure how it happened by my leg was completely caught in the wheel chair leg between the foot rest and the leg rest portion. I was laughing so hard I nearly cried. And it created quite a rucous in the clinic so everyone came over and started watching our group it was crazy. After the lab was over my arms felt tired from the transfers and Abby is a tiny girls so I can't imagine what it will be like to lift a large male. I better start some strength training! Then this afternoon I was suppose to see the spouse of Abby's patient but they didn't show up and when we called them Abby's patient is in the hospital so at least they had a good excuse but, I think Abby is cursed becuase she has had a ton of no shows and cancellations. I tried to call a few people but was unsuccessful in finding another patient. So I just helped other students with their patients. What a crazy day at least I'm not stressed about being able to complete requirements:)

I ROCK!

Today I got alot accomplished. In the morning clinic I saw my patient that I had seen for mockboards back again. I was able to give him local anesthetic and pass of my PE. I declared him as an exam because I still need a couple exam quads of a class III. His calculus was very tenacious and I was only able to get one quad cleaned but I did so good. My instructors said I rocked. That is nice to hear after you have had a diffiuclt experinence. I rescheduled him for the last day of clinic both morning and afternoon clinic so that I will be sure I can get him completed this semester. Then in the afternoon I saw two children they were a brother and a sister. I saw the older sister first. It went really well I was able to place a sealant and I did her charting in eaglesoft. When Dr. Naylor examed her for the sealants she diagnosed a cavity and the mom requested that I take a bitewing of the side that had the cavity. Then after that I saw her little brother he was only 3 and was a little apprehensive but we let him sit in dads lap and then he did just fine he let me look in his mouth and check his teeth and polish them and floss them and do fluoride. He even let Dr. Naylor look in and check all his teeth. It was a good day and I was able to finish up the last few requirments I have for the semester except finishing up my last exam quad which I will finish on the last clinic day when my patient comes back.

Takin it easy

So My morning patient cancelled but luckily their was another patient that wanted to be seen asap so he was able to come in today. He was a class V and it went rather well. I was able to take some PA's but I still need like a million ok so only 60 which feels like a million and the silliest thing is that PA's are basically point and shoot so I'm not sure why we have to have so many but oh well I hope I get enough by the end of the year. Then in the afternoon my mockboard patient was suppose to come in but he never showed which is odd since I just made the appointment last night and he was excited to come in and he was early on the day of mockboards. Oh well hopefully I can reschedule him. Then there was another student that had two patients schedule today so I was able to see one of them. It was a 1B but he needed a Pano and he was a good sport and let me do blood glucose on him. So all in all it was an easy day.

Easy day time to do some PE's

So today I saw the mom of one of my 1a patients last semester. She was way nice and she had like nothing to clean. She was nice enough to let me pass off some of my PE's so I did my accesory fulcrum and my diagnodent. Everything went really smoothly and I even finished a bit early. Then in the afternoon I was suppose to have my patient that showed up at the wrong time for her last appointment so I had to reschedule come in. She told me when I schedule her that she didn't have a phone anymore but to trust her that she would come. Well...you guessed it she never showed. So tori called one of her friends to come in and it turned out I know him from work. He was also super easy and I was able to place a sealant and pass off two PE's. He was a good sport because just about everything that could have gone wrong did. First the etch wouldn't come out so we tried like three tips and two different tubes til final with alot of effort I was able to get some etch out. Then it wouldn't wash off his tooth so I just kept rinsing and rinsing til finally it was clear. Then I place the sealant and the light didn't work. I got a new light and cured it. But, after all that it must have gotten wet cause it popped right off. So I placed it again and then it was high so I took it down til he could bite normal again. I've placed a ton of sealants without any trouble but of course cause I was passing off a PE everything went terribly wrong. Oh well at least it's over!

Lab/two patient day

so today we had a lab session in the morning we practiced ultrasonics, perio files, oraquix and medicaments and blood glucose and caries risk assessment. It was helpful to see how all that works in the clinical setting I feel more comfortable using them on an actual patient now. In the afternoon I finished two of my patients. One was two quads, class III/V and it went well I had some spots that I missed but I swear it was mostly the tooth anatomy. Then at 2:00 I finished up two quads of a class V he is such a nice patient and I will probably see him again in the spring. oh and prof. hanson tells me I shouldn't stress so much cause I am a good clinician but I can't help it I'm a stress case it's how I get things done. Haha

1st Mockboards woot woot!

so wouldn't you just know it my mockboard patient cancelled on me the night before. First I couldn't get a hold of him is number was invalid so my parents drove to his house to see if he would be coming and he said he would but he had to get work off. My mom was suspisious of the way he was acting so she left my number. Later he called to tell me he couldn't get work off so he wasn't coming. I was so mad that he knew for a week about the appointment I told him how important it was for me and he told me he would be able to come but didn't bother getting work off. I was lucky that Denver had another patient that qualified. However I knew that ment it was going to be a long hard day. . I had never seen the patient before and I had no idea what I was in for. He had been screened and had x-rays so at least I knew what quad qualified and I didn't have to deal with taking x-rays. But of course he didn't understand a word of english nor had he ever had his teeth cleaned in his 75 years of life. It was a difficult cleaning he had calculus everywhere and some of it was so tenacious that I could feel it but nothing I did even made a dent. So I sent him to the examiners fully knowing I had errors. Kami examined him and came over to help me remove what I had left. she said she was way impressed with what I had accomplished because this was a hard patient and she knew what I had started with. She helped me and even tried herself. but alas we are still not sure that we removed them. It was a really tough challenge and of course I failed my mockboards. It was too difficult and I would never have used him for the real board but when your patient cancels on you the night before you get what you can and deal with it. Hopefully this happened now so that I wont have to deal with it on real boards. I'm crossing my fingers!

What a day

So my patients today were suppose to be mother and daughter. They speak spanish so it was difficult to communicate with them so I was relieve when my first patient showed up she seemed to be an easy 1B however she had burnished calculus and I had a ton of errors however this was a really good learning experience I think I am starting to know the feel of burnished calculus better. My afternoon appointment was suppose to be her mom I had confirmed just the night before that they would both be coming but when she hadn't shown up at ten minutes the start of her appointment I called to see if she was still planing on coming and her number was disconnected. So I scrambled to find another patient and I found someone that said they would be able to come in about 20 minutes. It was about 1:00pm so I said that would be great he has to pre-med but I told him to take it and then come and by the time we got through the initial paperwork and everything it would have been and hour. He didn't actually show up til about 2:00 so I hurried to get x-rays and it was tough. He had a tiny mouth and he needed vertical bwx I had to take both molar shots over because it was difficult to get back far enough. While I was in the middle of that my originally schedule patient showed up her daughter had told her that her appointment was at 2:30 not 12:30. I finished the x-rays and rescheduled her for another day. Then I start into the appointment and my patient tells me he is schedule with another student sometime in novemeber. At this point I'm so frustrated with the day that I can't quite figure out how becuause no one was his prefered provider and he was on the resource list. But, I find who it is he is going to see and I tell him I will see him since he is already here and has already taken the pre-med. I was able to finish two quads with no errors eventhough I only had like 30 minutes to scale. I rescheduled him and after his appointment I called the other students she understood that it was not my fault and everything was fine. Man what a day!

So tired

We today wore me right out. I had my class III come back and I was able to finish her but it took for ever. She didn't want to get anesthesia so she was really sensitive and I had to be delicate and yet get off all the deposits and she had alot plus it was very tenacious in some places. Plus I get tense when I know it's hurting them so I was exhausted after the morning clinic. In the afternoon I had a spanish speaking patient and I took vertical bwx I had one retake but it went well. I remember now why I love digital it takes so long to wait for conventional films. It also took a long time because I had to keep having Mr. Solamon translate. I finished two quads the UL which was a class V and the LL which was a class 3. It went well but I'm so tired it makes me wonder if I'll ever build up to where I can handle a full day of cleanings.

Class V exam and finishing up a Class II

Today I had the husband of one of my other patients come in he was really nice. He was a class V and I still need a class V exam even though I have seen a whole bunch I never remeber to declare an exam. I passed with flying colors I also took x-rays on him and they were all excellent. He was super easy to take them on. In the afternoon I finished one of my patients that had been in before and I only completed 2 quads. She is a class II and so I thought it would take a while but it didn't I guess because I only had 2 quads left. I was finished by like 2:30 and then I helped Tori with CA stuff because there wasn't a CA today and she was way overwhelmed with stuff to get done. One thing I need to remember to do is pass off PE's! Overall it was a good day.

do you have any II's?

My morning patient was a class II and I declared it as my exam. I took bwx and finished all four quads. This afternoon my patient had 2 quads of a class II and 2 of a class V she also had tons of tobacco stain and I had never cleaned that before. I used the ultrasonic and was able to get most of it off some of it wouldn't come off but I did the best I could. I was able to finish all four quads and my patient was totally happy and kept complimenting me on what a good job I did. I feel really good about the progress I am making.

Today I saw a class V in the morning it went really well. I finished really early and only had a few mistakes. I managed my time well and becuase I completed treatment with time to spare I learned how to do an electronic chart. I think it is complicated and it will take alot more practice. In the afternoon I saw a cute little old lady that was a class III we got x-rays done and I completed one quad. Hopefully she will come back becuase her daughter kept worrying about her compliance. She did really well but next time I think we will numb her or use oraqix for her comfort.

Back again!

So today was my first day back to clinic. It was hard to find patients to come in and I hope this is not a pattern for the year. I saw a 1B in the morning and it went really well I finished early and that made me happy because it took so long for me to complete them last semester. Then in the afternoon I had a class II I was able to use my heavy ultrasonic tip. I haven't had alot of practice with it so it's good to get some more practice. I finished two quads and will get them back to finish the other two quads. It was a good day and I felt very productive.

Last 1st year clinic!

Today was my last clinic because I have to take off another clinic day this semester. I saw the mom of Char's patient. They were like 15 minutes late. At least she was a recall patient so that alot of the chart was already filled out. I also had alot of time spent waiting for my instructor. It always seems to happen when you are trying to hurry. She was classified as a class V. I haven't scaled a class V before so I didn't know how much time it would take. I didn't even start scaling til after 9:40 and the first scale check is at 10:15. She was way sensitive so it was going really slowly and I was starting to worry if I would even finish one quad in time. Then my instructor used the Oraquix and I just scaled like crazy and finished all four quads. This patient allowed me to meet and pass the minimum 65 quads for the semester. It feels really weird to be done with first year. I'm excited and scared to move on the second year. I hope it is as great as this year has been.

Are you sleeping?

Today it felt a little weird to be in clinic. I took last clinic off because I had used other clinic days earlier in the semester. It was weird to come back for only one day of clinic. It makes me wonder what it will feel like to come next semester from having the whole summer off. Anyway today I saw another friend of Abby's. He was so nice and he has really good Oral Hygiene so it was a really easy cleaning. He kept dozing off so I think it must have been a good appointment.

Under pressure

So today I saw my professors daughter. I was worried about passing off my air-powder polisher pe and I needed to do another sealant so my Professor volunteered her daughter. It made me nervous to work on my Professors daughter. She had braces so it was difficult to probe and scale but she really didn't have much calculus. I stress OHI and then used the air-powder polisher. It is amazing but I hate putting patients through that. It was nice to pass of my remaining requirements.

Last Class II this year!

So I was stressing that I wouldn't find another Class II patient and I needed two more quads to meet my requirements and just the other day my peer pal Katie found a Class II that she wasn't going to be able to see. So she gave him to me. I was so excited becuase she had already done the OD on him and that ment I was going to be able to just start scaling. It went well and I finished him in one appointment.

Easy patients

My patient that was suppose to come in today canceled on me so Abby was a gem and found me a patient. It was a pretty easy patient. They were a recall patient and they were a 1B. The patient never flosses so there was a lot of bleeding when I scaled but, it was a good appointment and it was nice to have an easy appointment.

Finally finished my class 2 exam

So day was the final appointment on my class 2 and it was my exam patient. I felt like it was going better then my last appointment but, then I got my scale check and I had like ten errors. my instructor helped me locate the deposits and I was able to scale them off. It was a little discouraging because I thought it was going well. The calculus was tenacious and some of it was burnished so it was difficult but it was a good learning experience. I was also able to due the diet analysis on her and so that was good to get done and it was a good learning experience for her.

Class V

Today was my first class V patient and I will get credit for her as a class 1B which is fine with me I still need 1B's. It was a really good appointment. I took 4 bwx, did the OD, scaled all 4 quads even though she had to go to the restroom twice and she was a talker. It was good to finish another appointment from start to finish. I hope I can continue to improve and continue to finish all my patients in one appointment.

Hooray for 1A's

Today I cleaned my last 1A patient and it went really well. I also had my loupes for the first time. It was so cool to be able to see the probe. They are going to take some getting use to but they are awesome. I feel like I can see so much better. My patient also needed sealants and I split them up with casey. He was a really good and I was able to get everything done including bwx. I'm glad to be getting patients finished in one appointment.

finishing my appointments!

Today I finished my sister. Her lower anteriors were pretty difficult because she hasn't been in for a cleaning in like 5 years. However I got her done she was my exam and I'm pretty sure I will get the full points.

class 2

today was a tough day for me. It was my first day back from spring break and I was really nervous. I was seeing a patient that I already had an OD on and so I started right into scaling. I was struggling quite a bit. The calculus was tenacious and I was only able to scale 2 quads. I will bring her back and scale the other two in two weeks. I hope I can do a good job and get everything finished.

1B start to finish...yahoo!

Today I had a recall 1B coming in and they are from Idaho so I was worried about not finishing in time because I wasn't going to be able to bring her back because she lives so far away. She was super nice and understood the drill. We took 4BWX and then I got all through the OD and then explored and scaled where I found calculus or even plaque. It was so smoothly and I only had errors on one tooth. It makes me think I can finish all my 1B's in one appointment from now on.

2 patients in 1 day

Today I had my 1B come back. I only had to scale two quads then polish, floss and do fluoride. It went really well I didn't have any errors and it went really quickly. I knew it would be fast so I scheduled another patient. I took 4 bwx and a Pano and got through the OD then it was time to walk him out so I asked him when he wanted to reschedule and he told me it had to be this week because he got a job and was moving next week. I have a patient for Wednesday already and I couldn't reschedule her because it's a family coming in. So I had to finish him today. I talked to instructor Costley and she said that would be okay. I brought him back this afternoon. It was more difficult because he had a lot of sheet calculus on his lower anteriors and alot of plaque on the molars I used the ultrasonic and passed of my PE. It was also difficult to tell between calculus and fillings he's the first patient I've scaled with that many interproximal fillings. Then I had a scale check and I had missed some of the sheet calculus so I worked on it some more. It was so difficult to detect it all. But I finished it and that's 4 more quads of a 1B.

Hooray for 1A's

Today I saw a nine year old little boy. He was super awesome. He had mixed dentition so that made things a little more interesting. The OD went really quickly and I decided to take 2 BWX conventionally. I didn't have any retakes. Then we disclosed and he really didn't have much plaque. but, he had really sensitive gums from gingivitis. I passed off two of my PE's the anterior and universal instrumentation. Then I polished and flossed and did fluoride. It was way nice to have an easy patient and an appointment that went well.

Rain days and Mondays always get me down

It's raining today and it's a monday so I should have know it was going to be a rough day. So today I had a new patient come in. Everything was going fine. Until I came to a medication on his health history that I couldn't find. My instructors couldn't find and he wasn't sure of the spelling or what it does exactly. Then we got that straightened out and I asked if he wanted to take x-rays today since it had been about a year and a half. He then told me that he wouldn't have time because he just remembered that he had class at nine. At this point I was freaking out. He decided to try and get x-rays done but, when I went to take them he started jerking all around and I couldn't take them on him. He got mad and pulled the xray out and threw off the lead apron and slammed his glasses down and said they were to hard to take on him. I calmed him down and walked him out. Then I was scrambling to get at patient to come in. Luckly Kara saved my life and took time out from studying to be my patient and I was able to pass off my intraoral camera, sealant and diagnodent PE I also passed off my peer calculus PE. I owe Kara so big. After everything that happened today I'm just glad clinic is over.

Finished Class III

Today my first class III came back. I rescaled the lower anteriors then I scaled the upper and lower left quads. They were not nearly as difficult as the right side. After hand scaling I used the ultrasonic on the left side. Then I rescaled the right side however I was not as careful and actully most my errors were from the right side. Then I polished and passed off my PE and then I used varnish flouride. Today was a good day and it feels nice to have my class III finished.

Class II

So my sister came in today. I was really nervous and a little upset about her coming in becasue I wanted to take a full mouth and she was being a brat about the cost so my mom paid for it. I took the FMX and it went really good. I didn't have any retakes and it took me under a half hour to take them. Then I was probing and found some deep pockets. Plus my whole family builds plaque like crazy so even though she had a cleaning in July she had calculus everywhere so they classified her as a Class II and I'm going to use her as an exam. She has to come back for scaling but I felt like the appointment when well.

Another Class III

So today Shalyce had a couple that wanted to come in. The husband was a recall 1B so we figured that the wife would be easy too. Shalyce saw the husband and I saw the wife. I took 4 BWX on her and while I was taking them she told me that she hadn't had her teeth cleaned in about 3 years. When I was developing them I could see the radiographic calculus. Then I started to probe and I just knew she was going to be a Class III and she was. I only got through the OD check and OHI but the appointment went well. Since I already have a class III I will probably switch a 1B with shalyce.

No Stress...Yes!

Today my goal was to try to complete an appointment from start to finish. I came really close. I had a 1B but he had all his wisdom teeth. I can't wait til I have a patient without them:) I took 4 digital x-rays and cleaned the UR an LR. He was my exam and the appointment went really smoothly I have to bring him back to complete the other side. I walked him out on time and completed my chart on time. It was a good day with low stress for once. That's nice.

Class 1B finally!

On Monday I completed my first 1B patient. It was this cute little 13 year old that had all her permanent teeth. She had braces so her cleaning was a little more challenging. However, she keep them really clean so that was good. It was difficult to probe around the brackets and wires. However she was a good sport. She had sensitive gums but she put up with all of the stuff I had to do to her. I was able to take bwx and clean all four quads. It took alot of time to floss all her teeth but I got her all finished. It was a good experience to see a patient with braces.

Two patient in one session...what was I thinking?

Today my sister was suppose to come in so I could complete her appointment. However, it turns out that she got a cold sore...of course! So instead my mom brought my 7 year old niece and my grandpa who is edentulous. I thought it would be no problem to get them both done. I started with my niece and the cleaning went really well. She was wiggly and she didn't like my mirror in her mouth at all. She has also had some pretty traumatizing appointments in the past so all in all she did really well. I declared her as an exam so I took my time wanting it to go well. I probably should have hurried more. Then I saw my grandpa. I wasn't sure what to do because I wanted to take a pano but then I would have to take his dentures out and if I did that I would need to start my PE and that required an instructor so I kept waiting and waiting because my instructor was busy with OD and scale checks. It took a very long time and finally I had to ask another instructor to help me. I was way stressed because by now I had wasted alot of time. I took the Pano film and it was fine. Then I walked my patient out and finished cleaning his dentures the rest of the way and then I still had to chart. If it weren't for my awesome pod partners I wouldn't have made it through the day.

Class III

So on Tuesday afternoon my patient cancelled on me so I was scrambling to find a patient. I called a patient I was given from the resource list and they wanted to be seen all day (so two clinic sessions) so they could get done and not have to take off additional days of work. I worked it out with Prof. Costley and told my patient I would work both clinic sessions and get as much done as I could. At the morning appointment I got through the OD and my patient was a class III which meant I was in for a long afternoon. When he came back in the afternoon I used the ultrasonic. It was a good experience because I was able to see the huge deposits shatter off of the teeth. After using the ultrasonic I hand scaled my little heart and hand out. I was so tired by the end both my hands were shaking and every muscle in my body hurt. I was only able to scale one half of the mouth. My patient wasn't happy that they had to come back but, I don't think he understood just how much work he needed on his teeth. The second years I talked to and my instructors said I did a really good job to get this much completed. Now I just hope he comes back to get the other half done and then I'll have my class III requirement done. Next time my instructors said they would numb him and I could just scale and not have to worry about hurting him and I should be able to get him finished.

Class 2 complete

Today my mom came back again and I scaled the other two quads I had left. It took a long time for me because the calculus was tenacious. However, I feel like I learned alot today. I learned how to feel for calculus and that I was not adapting good enough or going deep enough on the mesial surfaces. I made like five errors and they were mostly on the mesial surfaces. I also learned that I was not going deep enough into the col and I learned how to check from both the buccal and lingual surfaces. I just wasn't getting all the way into the col area. In one area I scaled of a big chunk of black calculus which I would guess had been missed before. If felt good to get it cleaned and think that now that area will be healthier. I was also good to finish a whole appointment. I feel like a class 2 patient was a lot to take on this early in the semester because I feel like my skill level was not good enough but, now I'm finished and it taught me a lot and hopefully it will make my other appointments easier.

First patient of the new year!

Today I brought back my mom to finish her appointment. She came in last semester and we started but I only got up to the OD check. When she came in today we reviewed her HH and did a quick visual intra and extraoral exam. Then we disclosed and I started scaling. I decided to work on the lower right because her anterior teeth had alot of build up. After scaling I had Instructor Hemsley check. I only had like three errors which surprised me. Then she said she wanted to check a few things and that she thought she was going to reclassify her. I asked why and all she said was because of a few things I'm seeing. Then she left and talked to Professor Costley and then she brought back the x-rays and said yeah were going to classify her as a 2 and walked away. I was way frustrated because I had nothing to go off. My mom kept asking me why the change? What does that mean? I didn't have a lot to tell her because I didn't know why specifically they had changed her. It made me really frustrated and It was difficult to focus and finish. I finished two quads. After clinic Instructor Hemsley came over and explained everything to me but, I wish It would have been during the appointment. It just made me feel like the experience was a failure. I didn't learn anything at the appointment and I wasn't able to better educated my patient. It was a good thing she still had two quads for me to clean because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to educate her on her specific needs. I hope this semester gets better:)