Thursday I was able to finish my class II patient that came in a couple weeks before. She had really tenacious calculus so it was difficult. My afternoon patient hadn't been in since 2004 and is a class III. I was a little nervous but it ended up being ok. I passed off my selective polishing PE and ultrasonic. Jen taught me to retract with the suction and also use it to get the saliva off so it doesn't fling all over the place. I kinda like that idea but it will take some practice to master it. I was able to finish 2 quads on my class III but I worry that I don't really know how to hand scale very well. I use my ultrasonic first and then my instruments but I don't feel like I'm doing much with the instruments. Jen said that's fine if I'm effective with the ultrasonic. I need to use more lateral pressure so I don't burnish calculus. I'm also still having a hard time distinguishing between calculus and rough root surface. Hopefully with time this will get easier. I'm still looking for a mock board patient and I'm kinda freaking out!!