Mockboard

Today was the first mockboard of the semester. It went well! The worst part is the waiting to see if your patient qualifies and then waiting while they check them after you're finished. My patient was so sweet! She didn't want to be numb and I wished she did! I know I hurt her a couple times but I had to get that piece!!! I wish every patient was as reliable and nice as she was. I ended up missing 3 spots but when I went to explore them I couldn't feel them. Dr. Hanson came over to help me and she taught me something very important. She told me when I've doing the mesial buccal surfaces of the lower right quad I need to sit at 12. My fulcrum needs to be way up so I'm right over their nose. This helps to get the right angle. When I did that I was able to feel the spots I had missed. She said this patient wasn't way hard and that I would definately want somebody that had better calculus. I am glad that this one is over! I think it's good to do these mockboards because I learn so much and it helps me see my strengths and weaknesses.

Possible board?

This morning I had a husband of a patient that I saw early this semester. I was assuming he would just be a 1B. He said he never had any xrays taken so I recommended we do an FMX. Surprisingly, he agreed! Yay I was excited. I decided to do them conventional so I could get those out of the way. After doing the OD and exploring I thought that he might qualify for boards or mockboards. It took me all morning for the OD and xrays but.....he qualifies! I really hope that he will work for boards. I went around and explored after my instructor did and I didn't feel quite as much as she did but she said she was being pretty strict on what surfaces she counted. She said it will definately qualify if I submit a quad and extra teeth. This takes a huge load off of my shoulders. Now I just hope that he will show up for me. He was actually really nice and really wanted to help me out so I am grateful for that. And he speaks English! My afternoon patient was just a follow up. I only had to do one quad so it was a nice afternoon.

VA

This morning only 3 out of 7 patients showed up! How did that happen??!! I was one that was able to see a patient in the morning. He was a class 3 and I only finished 2 quads. He had soooo much stain!!! It wouldn't come off! I was proud of him because after smoking for 50 years he finally quit! That's amazing! Maybe it could have been the heart attack that he had that gave him the urge to quit but still....that's great!. He was a really nice guy. He was married...but kept hitting on the dentist ha ha. I thought it was pretty funny. My afternoon patient was just a 1B but I was ok with that because I was spent after my morning one. All I can say is I HATE STAIN! Only 6 more days here!

Well I can tell that I had a month off of clinic because I am hurting! I tense up really bad and my thumb and back are killing me! I had a class 2 and a 5 and I shouldn't be hurting. I was able to do 6 injections and I was actually pretty comfortable doing them. I did get osseous contact on the PSA but I just needed to go more posterior. It's really helpful when the instructors take time to help you and explain things to you. Our first mockboard for this semester is in 2 weeks and I'm hoping that my patient is still willing to come in. Hopefully it will go well. I don't think I need any more stress since I just signed up to take the National Board Feb 17!!! I'm nervous but I will be so happy when I get that one out of the way.

Last 1st day of school. EVER!!

Well today was my first clinic day back. My morning patient was late so I was already flustered and she had to be done by 10:15 to go to work. So I had to hurry. It ended up being pretty rough. First of all she didn't speak ANY English which always make it difficult. She ended up having a lot of problems in her life and it makes me really sad. She has no money and hasn't eaten for 2 days! I felt so bad for her but she sounds like she wants help and she is willing to come back so I am happy I can help her. My afternoon patient was diabetic and so I took her blood glucose and it was extremely high. After waiting for a while it came down so I was able to finish treatment. She ended up being a class 5 and I took bitewings on her. She even brought her grandson to translate which made it so much easier to communicate. Only 14 clinic days left!