Oh my

Darin was my patient today. It was just his recall appt so I knew I would get done early. He was probably my worst patient so far. I guess it's just that he's comfortable with me but he kept flinching and talking and moving his head and just being difficult! Instructor Kirsten said I could thump him on the head a couple times if I needed to. I was able to pass off 3 PE's on him so that was wonderful! I am glad I finished him today and I think I'm getting better with my scale time but I know I still need to be faster.

So easy

Monday I had a patient that I didn't know. Her brother works with Darin. She had that cleanest mouth I have ever seen! She said that she brushes her teeth 4 times a day and never misses a day of flossing. I was very impressed. I took 4 BWX on her and I was so mad at myself because I had to retake the whole left side. I kept getting overlapping between the contacts. My retakes were actually worse. I definately need to work on getting the left side better. I was able to finish her in one appointment and it was great! Hopefully I'll get better with the xrays.

Woo hoo

Today my brother-in-law was my patient. I took a FMX on him. He has never had a cleaning before!! I was really excited that he would be my class 2 or 3 patient. After taking x-rays I didn't think they looked bad enough to be anything other than maybe a 2. I guess I just don't know how to read x rays and identify things because it turned out that he is my class3 on the maxillary and class 2 on the mandibular! Yay I'm so excited!! I declared him as my class 2 exam patient so that will be fun. I only got through the OHI today but I wasn't planning on getting any scaling done. One thing I need to work on is learning how to identify lesions in the mouth. I only saw a couple things but when I had my OD check there were a few more that I missed. They weren't anything bad but I guess it's worth noting. Well....til next time!!

1B exam

Today one of my other sisters Nikki came in to see me. I decided the other day that I would be brave and have her be my 1B exam. I was a little nervous at first but then realized that you don't do anything different besides circle yes for exam. I also wanted to get completely finished with her in one appointment. When I had Instructor Hemsley come over for an OD check she noticed a red spot on the roof of Nikki's mouth that I overlooked. She told me to record it and everything. Later she came back and told me Prof. Costley wanted me to take a picture of it with the intra oral camera. So then Hayley the TA said I should just pass off my PE with it. So that pushed me back about 15 minutes because I had to set everything up for it but I ended up passing off the PE. Long story short.....I was able to complete her in one appointment. I scaled all 4 quads!! One thing that I learned today was that I don't have to use a working stroke all the time. I think one reason my hand was cramping up was because I was trying to scale every surface of the tooth. Instructor Hemsley told me to do an assessment stroke with my Nevi and if it didn't catch on something, don't scale it! I wish I would have known this a couple weeks ago. It made such a difference! I am so glad she told me that. She also challenged me to finish 3 quads in 30 minutes. That's 10 min per quad! I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to do that but I thought, 'If she thinks I can do it, then I can do it!' I really liked that she challenged me to something. It was kind of like setting a goal and accomplishing it. Today was a really good day in clinic. I hope I can keep improving and keep getting better!!

.....Waiting.....

One word to sum up clinic today.....waiting. That's for sure what I did a lot of today! And it's frustrating. I know there's only 3 instructors for 15 of us but there needs to be a better system to do things. I waited for signatures, xrays, OD check, scale check. You name it, I waited. I could have scaled more than one quad if I wasn't waiting so much. I feel bad for the patients that just have to sit and wait, and wait. I really wish there was something we could do to make it flow better. On the brighter side, Darin was my patient today. I was able to scale one quad and didn't miss any areas!! I feel bad because I did stab him a couple times. But hey what can he expect? I hope I get better at it sooner than later. My sister is coming on Wednesday and I plan on having her as my exam patient so I hope I don't freak out!

1st patient

Today went a lot better than I thought it would. I had Kaitlyn come back to be my patient since last semester I wasn't able to scale anything on her. I was pretty excited because I would be able to get all 4 quads done. The biggest problem I had was figuring out if I had the right end. I used the Nevi and I think I like it. I had my first scale check and I only missed one spot! I was so happy. Then I was able to finish the other quads. I missed 3 or 4 spots on those but I felt really good about it. I learned that I hate scaling the UR quad! It is so difficult for me as a lefty! Hopefully I will get better. I was able to finish scaling, polish, floss, and apply fluoride. I am worried about my new patients that I will be seeing. I definately won't be completing them in one appointment! I hope I can just stay calm. The TA's are a big help too. They understand exactly what we are going through! Til next time!!!

Back to school

Well I guess it's time to get back in the swing of things, whether I like it or not! I am actually anxious to get back into a routine. I had a very relaxing break and it was wonderful!~ For clinic today we split into 3 groups. One group we went over case studies and how to classify patients and what instruments to use on them. I was lost! I guess I need to read my clinic manual and freshen up on things. Another group learned about our Graceys. I think I'm going to like these instruments a lot. We learned that the 1/2 is for anterior, 13/14 is for distals, and 15/16 is for facial, mesial, and lingual surfaces. The last group learned about the ultra sonic scaler. We practiced on our typodonts too. I feel pretty comfortable using this but I'm sure that will all change once I get a real patient in my chair. Now I'm just stressing about getting people to come in and be my patient!