Last Day!!!

Yay it finally came!! Today is our official last day in clinic! This semester went by soooo fast. I have learned so much and I am excited to start seeing patients next semester. Now I need to work on scheduling them in. Today was a very relaxed day. We had 3 different groups that we rotated to. One group we talked about emergency procedures and what we would need to do in a "Stat Situation". I really hope I never have one of these. Another group we talked with Mr. Solomon about the CA duties. This will be a task! There will be a lot to do but it will be good to know. The third group we learned the PSR PE. It was pretty easy and we passed it off today. Now we are just waiting for the other groups to finish so we can take a quiz on the clinic manual. Yay for Christmas and a break!!!

rEaL PaTienT!!!

Today was my first 'real patient' day. My sister Kaitlyn came in since Darin was 'injured'. It went pretty well actually. I got through all of HHX, HHXRX, and took 4 BWX. I was happy that I didn't have to do any retakes. Then we went back to my unit and I charted all the existing and probed. I feel comfortable with probing, now I just need to work on getting faster. When I finished doing all of that I needed an instructor to come check. Angelique was our instructor today. I know that she had 6 of us to check but I waited 25 MINUTES!!! I was so frustrated!! I really think something needs to be done so that we can have more instructors in clinic so that we don't have to wait around so much. I didn't even get to scale anything! Some girls finished 2 quads. I was really hoping to be able to do at least one. I just can't believe that it takes so long for an instructor to come check. In the meantime I did OHI with her and waited, and waited, and waited. I hope this won't be something that happens with every patient. Everything else went very well though. I am starting to get the hang of things and I think it is flowing better. I am excited to see more patients in the Spring.

2nd year observation

Today I had to observe a second year in clinic. Katie Gibbons was the one I was observing. I was excited going into it because I would be able to see how everything came together and hopefully very smooth. When I got there she told me it wouldn't be very exciting because all she was doing was the ultra sonic scaler on 3 quads. I was kind of disappointed. I will admit that a while into the appointment I was getting bored. This particular patient was in just last week so the HHX review was very short. Katie got her signatures and started scaling. I did think it was interesting to watch her give anesthetic. I'm very nervous to do that next year. I think it is a great idea to have the first years observe a second year and I think it can be very beneficial. I just think that it would be better to watch somebody who has a new patient so we can observe them starting from the beginning. Just a thought!

Operator day #2

Today was my last day to be the operator on a classmate. Sarah was willing to let me torture her. I got here plenty early so I could set up and not be rushed. As I'm setting up my ultra sonic I couldn't get the tip to snap in. The TA came to help me and she got it in so I was ready to go. I was going to start the ultra sonic scaling but no water was coming out!! I was getting very frustrated! So I finally switched machines and I was all flustered because I didn't get started on time. I just needed to relax but it was frustrating. So I did the ultra sonic and then I went over and did the hand scale. She had areas where there was ortho cement so I couldn't get it off. I ended up finished with good time and only missed 2 areas around her lingual bar. Sarah was a good patient and I hope I didn't hurt her too bad.
Darin was supposed to be my patient on Monday but plans changed! He was playing basketball last night and got elbowed in the lip. He walked in the door and was dripping blood and said he needed to go to the ER. So long story short...he has 7 stitches in his lower lip and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't feel too good if I was stretching his lips. So I am going to have to bribe my sister to be my guinea pig. This semester is almost over! YAY!!!!

Patient Day again!

Today I was the lucky patient again. Sarah was the operator. I don't even know why she was nervous because she did such a good job! I will even say that she has been my best operator so far!! She scaled one quad with the ultra sonic and one quad with the hand scale. Then she passed off her sealant PE, polished, flossed, and applied the flourida varnish (which is nasty)!! It was a really good day though and we are one day closer to being finished for the semester. Woo hoo!! Wednesday I will be the operator so I hope everything goes well!

I'm the patient

Today I got to be the patient. It was so nice to not have to worry about coming to clinic today and learning something new. I enjoyed just laying in the chair. I will be honest though and say I can't wait until we're done working on each other. I'm not a fan a getting poked in my mouth for 3 hours. I can't wait to see actual patients. Miriam did a good job but I'm ready to start seeing real people. One complaint that I have is that Mondays we don't have as many instructors and TA's so we don't get all the information that the people on Wednesday do. Kirsten was helping me understand how to do the ultra sonic scaler and it was totally different than what I thought it was. I am glad that I will be the operator on Wednesday so we can have more help. I also passed off my instrument sharpening PE which was super easy. Monday I am the patient again for Sarah. Wednesday I will be the operator.

Mock patient day 1

Monday I was the operator. Miriam was my patient. I wasn't really nervous about it I was just worried I wouldn't get everything done I needed to. Our patient was in 6 months ago so we didn't have to take their BP. I did the extra/intra, probed the whole mouth, disclosed, OHI, and we were supposed to scale one quad with hand scale and one with ultra sonic. Miriam's teeth are sooooo sensitive that I wasn't able to use the ultra sonic. So I didn't get to practice with that. I just did the hand scale on one quad because she was having so much pain in her jaw by keeping it open. I was struggling a little bit scaling the posterior. I don't know what my problem was! Miriam was such a good sport about everything. I'm glad we get to have a couple days of practice. It makes me realize how much time everything takes and I need to not waste it. I didn't know we had to have our patient checked out and the chart turned in by a certain time. Luckily I wasn't too far behind. The paper work and transferring everything over is definately time consuming! It will take practice to get it all down. Overall I think it went pretty well. Today Miriam gets to work on me so I'm excited that I don't have to do anything except lay there!!

That is sharp!

Today we briefly went over how to sharpen your instruments. It's not a difficult task but it is very important to make sure they are sharp. I hope that I will get in the habit of sharpening my instruments. We also did the Eaglesoft walkout which is pretty simple. I passed off my air/powder polisher and flouride PE. Monday is Mock patient day! I think Miriam is my first victim. I'm just worried about remember everything and the order it needs to be. I'm pretty sure I won't get to scaling but that's ok. I actually had a hard time sleeping last night because I kept waking up seeing Miriam's face and it was like she was my patient. I was so worried about remembering everything. I remember that I didn't put a bib on her or get out my blood pressure cuff. It was all ok because she was making me laugh. Do you think I'm stressing about this a little? Ha I think I am because it's interrupting my sleep!! Wish me luck!

Sealed!

Today we learned how to place a sealant and to do the flouride. I was nervous to do the sealant because it is permanant. But I did it! It is actually pretty simple and you can even scrape it off if you have to. I only have 2 teeth that need sealants because all the others have fillings! Crappy! Then we did flouride in the trays. We tried the foam and the gel. I don't really like either one but it's good to know how to do it. We only have one more day of clinic before we start working on each other. Scary!

Air Powder Polisher

Today we learned how to use the air powder polisher. I was the patient first. It was working on my and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. So I didn't have the pleasure of having the nasty tasting salt and powder all over my face. I wasn't too disappointed about that. :) We also polished, flossed, and had fluoride put on. The fluoride is nasty! And it's yellow! We had time to practice any skill we wanted so I had my partner scale the fluoride off. Then we switched partners and we figured out that it was the tip that wasn't working. So my partner had the joy of powder in her mouth and experiencing how nasty it is. Then we all did our Dental Screening PE. They are grading it now so hopefully I pass!

Ultrasonic scaler

Today we learned how to use the ultrasonic scaler. We practiced on our typodonts first. Emily was my lucky patient today. We also experimented with the blue boa. I must not know how to use it correctly because as of right now, I'm not a huge fan. I soaked Emily! I was busy working away and I stopped and her face was all wet! And she didn't even say anything! She was a good sport. I tried both of the suctions to see if one was better than the other but they both seemed to drown her. The scaling part wasn't too bad though. Our OHI PE and intraoral camera was due today so I was able to pass those off. Wednesday I will pass off the dental screening PE. Now I'm off to take my Radiology Practical Exam!!

Practice Day #2

Today was another practice day. We pretty much did the same things that we did Monday. We did the HHx, HHxRx, OD-Extra/intra, Dent, Perio. It all starts to be making a little bit more sense after we run through the process. I'm sure I will be so stressed out when I have a real patient in the chair. I thought with a 'practice day' that we would be able to practice anything that we wanted. That wasn't the case. We had to pace ourselves so that we had time to practice what we wanted to. The universal PE was due today so I wanted to practice that. I did pass it off but I'm still not confident with it. I am hoping to look over a couple more PE's so that I can pass 2 off on Monday.

Practice

Today we were practicing on our partners. We went through HHX and HHXRX, extra/intra, and charting. We also disclosed again. It was good to go through everything and write it down and chart. I don't think I have it all down pat but hopefully with the next practice days we have I will get it down. I was hoping to be able to practice the universal instrument and pass it off but we ran out of time. Wednesday I will pass it off and hopefully something else. We also learned the intra-oral camera which is super easy!

Charting

Today we learned how to chart existing work on our form. As Prof. Costley was going over the things that could possibly be existing and how to chart it, I was a little worried. It was a lot of stuff and I was starting to get stressed about it. I was worried that I wouldn't remember how to do any of it. Once we started looking in our partner's mouth it was much simpler. It is a lot of information but when it comes down to it I think I can handle it. That's pretty much all we did today so we had about an hour to practice other skills or go over PE's. Our instrument classsification one was due today so I did that one. Then I wanted to review my Eaglesoft tx plan PE so I would be comfortable to pass it off next Monday. After practicing for a few minutes I said 'What the heck! Let's just pass it off!' Sometimes I just have to have the confidence to do it myself or I will think about it too much and worry myself. So I also passed that one off! The 2 PE's that are due Monday I already did so I can have a free day or try and do another one. Prof. Costley has also been assigning us our partners for the day and I like it! It gives me a chance to work in somebody else's mouth and also to get to know that person better too. I feel like I'm learning the skills pretty well. Monday and Wednesday are practice days so hopefully I can improve my skills.

PFI

Today we calculated each other's PFI (plaque free index). It was a little scary! I was the patient first. We used a disclosing agent and it was not pretty. It turned my whole mouth purple! I didn't think I would be that bad but my PFI said different. I think it was 64% which Prof. Costley said was on the margin. The thing that bugged me was that my maxillary laterals were totally purple! I guess I need to take a little more time on these. My gingiva was generally healthy though. Maybe we will get to do this again and see if I improved. I also passed off my anterior instrument and adaptation and angulation PE's! Woo hoo!

I'm bleeding!

Today we learned how to scale the posterior teeth with the Barnhardt. It is a lot like using the explorer but we go subgingivally, which is kinda scary. I'll admit my gums are a little sore after being the patient. I felt pretty comfortable doing it but I definately don't like using this instrument on the anteriors. We also learned how to do a treatment plan on Eaglesoft. This shouldn't be too bad but we'll see how I do when I don't have the PE in front of me. I passed off my explorer PE today which I was nervous about but it wasn't bad at all. Hopefully Monday I will be able to pass of some more PE's. It's a little boost of confidence when I get one or two out of the way!

Oh scaling!

Yesterday we learned how to use the Sickle scaler for anterior teeth. It wasn't too bad but it definately wasn't easy! Stephanie was my partner today and I made her bleed a little bit. I know I poked her a few times but she was a good partner. I need to work on holding the instrument with a lighter grasp. I had marks in my fingers from gripping it too tight. I was just really into it I guess! The anterior teeth weren't too difficult, it's the posterior teeth that I'm worried about. Hopefully we get lots of time to practice everything we've learned. I feel like we learn a skill, practice it one day, and then we move on to something else and don't come back to it until the day the PE is due. Luckily I've been able to pass my PE's off fine but I want more time with each skill. I was also able to pass off my probe PE. I like probing more than the explorer. Wednesday I need to pass off the explorer PE so hopefully I do well!

Instruments

Today we learned about the different instruments. I had no idea that each one was different. Now I know what to look for and how to tell the differences between them. Some things to look for are: tip or toe, simple or complex shank, whether it has a 90 degree angle or 60-70 degree angle and so on. Before I thought that they all had the same thing but just used for different areas of the mouth. It goes more in depth than that! I was also able to pass off my intra-oral exam and instrument grasp PE. I am starting to get a little cold so my throat has been hurting really bad and when I was Kirsten's patient she noticed that my throat was really bad. I hope it doesn't get worse than what it is now. I'm not sure if I will pass off any PE's Monday since I am a head of schedule now. Now I need to go home and study for dental hygiene!!

Exploring

Today my goal was to get caught up on my PE's. I needed to pass off the mirror and also extra oral exam. We learned about exploring too. This instrument is a lot sharper than the probe so we were a little nervous. It was hard to follow along when Prof. Costley was demonstrating it to us but once we learned on our pods it was a little easier. Kirsten did it on me first and made me bleed! She really didn't hurt me but I was bleeding. When I did it to her I made her bleed too. I noticed that in order to get the maxillary molars it is easier to have the patient close down a little. I was also able to pass off my 2 PE's with Kim. My goal for Wednesday is to get ahead on the PE's. I figure it would be a good idea to pass as many off as I can while we have 3 TA's and also 3 instructors. It would be better than waiting until they are due on a Monday when we are short TA's and not being able to pass them off and probably get docked points for it. Now I'm off to Radiology!

Ouch!

I had lots of fun in clinic Wednesday! We learned about how to probe! First we practiced a little on our typodont. It was a little difficult to do this. I felt like I could stick it all the down! I know this wasn't what we were trying to do. They just wanted us to get a feel for how to angle it and locate the col. Then we were able to practice on our partner! I was Kirsten's partner and she was my patient first. I was really nervous about it and was actually shaking a little bit. Once I started probing I found that it was a lot easier to do it on a real person compared to the typodont. It was a little tricky trying to get my fulcrum right and be able to see all the surfaces of the teeth, especially the posterior ones. I felt really good about it when our instructor Kirsten came and checked my measurements and said I was right on and then she said I had excellent technique when she was watching me. This boosted my confidence a little bit and I realized that I can do this and I will make it through. I know it will be tough but I can't get too frustrated. Then it was my turn to be the patient. Kirsten was nervous too. I was trying to give her as much feedback as I could without her thinking that I was trying to tell her how to do it. Our TA Maegan said it is really helpful when we can help each other when we are the patient. Kirsten was getting really frustrated but she did a really good job. She didn't hurt me at all. The instructors said we will get plenty more chances to poke at each other. I was also able to pass off my vitals PE. I was hoping to pass of the extra oral one too but we ran out of time. The extra oral and mirror PE's are due next Monday and I'm hoping that we will have lots of time to do those. They are both very simple so I'm not worried about them.
I had 3 tests this past week also. I have been so busy studying for them. It always makes me nervous to take the first test because you never know what to expect. I took my radiology test first and got 91%. Then it was time for the Dental Hygiene test. Everybody was so worried about this one because we covered ALOT of material. My score was a 91% but then Costley threw out a few questions and it bumped my score up to 98%!! I was so happy about this one. Then I took my anatomy test today and got 96%! I am so happy that all of my studying paid off. Now I just need to stick to it and make it 10 more weeks!

Instrument grasp and intra oral

Monday we learned how to hold an instrument and where to fulcrum and also the intra oral exam. It will take some practice before I feel really comfortable holding the instrument and knowing where to place my fulcrum finger. The intra oral exam wasn't too hard. I think the hard part will be remembering and identifying everything inside the mouth. I was really hoping to pass off my vitals PE today but the HHX was due today so everybody needed to do that and it took forever. So of course, I wasn't able to pass anything off. That is partly due to the fact that we don't have an instructor in our pod! I really hope in the future they will arrange for an instructor to be in every pod. I, along with the other girls in my pod, feel that we get left out. I talked to my peer pal about it and she said she was in the same pod and she totally understands what I'm going through. She said we are the 'forgotten pod'. Hopefully it will get better. Wednesday I will need to pass off my vitals and mirror PE's since they are both due.

Extra exam and mirror fulcrum

Today was a busy day. We first learned about how to do the extra oral exam. I felt pretty good about this because I was brave enough to do one at the Women's Health Connection when I volunteered. I especially like being the patient and having the exam done on me. It was a nice little massage. Then we went over how to hold the mirror in the different positions of the patient's mouth. It is a lot harder than it sounds! And of course, because of my left-handedness, I get confused easily because I have to think of everything backwards when they are teaching it. But no worries, we have a left-handed instructor!! So after we practiced that we had a lot of time to pass of PE's. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the Health History PE. After sitting around for a few minutes with nothing to do I finally got the courage to pass it off. It is a lot of information but the more I practice it the easier it becomes. I need to work on being more confident in myself and just do it like I know how to.

Vitals

I was a little nervous about today's clinic because I knew we were going to be taking each others vital signs. I have never done this before so it would be something new to me. We went over the normal ranges for blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. Then it was time to practice. It was hard to hear the pulse when doing the blood pressure but after comparing my results to the people in my pod mine were about the same. I was excited about that. I'm taking my blood pressure cuff and stethescope home so I can practice on everybody. We also went over another HHX treatment record. It is ALOT of information but I am starting to understand it a little better and am feeling more confident about the case study that we have to do. Next time I hope to feel comfortable enough to pass off my HHX PE. Everything is starting to come together now and everything goes hand in hand so I am feeling a little better about all the material we are covering.

HHX

My goal for clinic today was to just relax! I am feeling overwhelmed and very confused. I didn't want to come in today and try to remember everything that was taught. We learned how to go over HHX forms and went over our partners. There is a lot of information that needs to be recorded, especially if the patient is taking a lot of medications. I knew that I wouldn't get it all down today and I didn't! I know that it will take practice and it will soon come to me. Kirsten and I were partners and our HHX were very plain so it didn't take us long at all to fill ours out. I am hoping that today will help me be able to do my case study a little bit easier. We had a little extra time so I was able to pass off the maintenance and positioning PEs with our TA Maegan. She was very helpful and gave me some pointers of things that she does. I think it is nice when the second years help us and give us ideas of what they do because they just went through what we are going through. I am feeling pretty good about clinic so far and I hope that I can stay composed and not stress out too much!

Clock positions

I thought today was a fun day in clinic. We learned the different clock positions for cleaning teeth. The way that I sit (because I'm a lefty) is from 12:00 to 4:00. In the 4:00 position you can see all the anterior teeth with surfaces towards you. At 12:00 you can see all the anterior surfaces away from you. I think the 3:00 position is the hardest because you are supposed to have the patient's mouth level with your elbow so that makes it hard to get your legs under the chair. Our instructor Kirsten is also left handed so she showed me that I can even sit at 4:00 to do the posterior teeth instead of 3:00. It is nice to have an instructor that is left handed to help me. I also passed off the PPE, set up, and tear down PE's so that was nice. I'm am getting excited to be able to do more hands on stuff in the near future!

Moving along

Today in clinic we formally learned the set-up, tear-down, and also the maintenance PE's. They are all pretty simple so it's just a matter of remember all the little steps when it comes to passing them off. We were also able to put a patient in our chair and rinse. I'm sure it will be a lot different when we get a real patient in the chair. My goal was to pass off the PPE PE. Because there aren't enough instructors to go around, we have to wait to pass them off. I was the next one in line to pass mine off and Prof. Costley said we didn't have time and that she had something else she wanted us to do. I was hoping to get that one out of the way but I guess I'll have to change that to Wednesday!

2nd day

Today was the second day of clinic. My goal going into clinic was to be able to pass of the Eaglesoft PE. I want to try and pass them off as early as I can so I'm not stressed out with so many to do! We were able to use our A/W syringe and suctions. Since I work for a left-handed dentist I learned how to assist on the right side. Today I had to learn how to sit on the left side and use my left hand. I am the only left handed person in my session of clinic so I have to learn everything opposite. So needless to say, I was a little backwards today and it was kind of difficult but I'm sure I will get it down. We also learned the PPE, Set up, and Take down PE's today. They are really pretty simple but I'm sure when it comes to passing them off I will get nervous. Hopefully I won't forget anything. We had extra time at the end so our whole pod decided to do the Eaglesoft PE. I passed! It was pretty simple and I'm glad I have one completed. I am so excited to learn everything I need to know!

1st day!

I survived the 1st day of school! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was so worried that I was forgetting something that I needed to bring. In clinic we found our units that we would be working in, organized our instruments, and went on a scavenger hunt to find where everything was located. We also went over the Eaglesoft PE. I think I will be able to pass this one off without a lot of problems. As of right now I'm not feeling overwhelmed with everything but I'm sure that day will come. I'm really excited for these next 2 years and hope that I survive!!

Orientation!

Well today was orientation day. My brain was packed with a lot of information. How am I going to remember it all?!! I got my instruments which drained my bank account too! I am really excited to start the program but also nervous. I know that the next 2 years will be busy but it will be so worth it! Good luck to everyone and I hope to get to know all of you and become good friends!!