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!

Kids

Today I was able to finish my requirements!! I scheduled a family with 4 kids to come in. Of course they tried to cancel on me but I wouldn't have it! :) I hate having requirements because it is so stressful to make sure that we get someone with the right classification. I understand that we need the experiences but it's not fun finding what we need. I am so excited because we only have 1 more clinic day left!! I finished my last day at the VA yesterday. I won't miss the few weeks that we have off. I have my brother in law coming in for the last clinic day and I'm hoping to pass of a couple more PE's so I can get a little ahead for next semester.

Mockboard #2

I found my mockboard patient for January. (Well Dr. Hanson did). I'm relieved that I have one lined up. I cleaned 2 quads today and the calculus wasn't very tenacious so I hope that's how it will be for the exam. Hopefully she'll be reliable and want to come back in January.

Extra quads...check!

Well I finally got my extra quad requirements. Granted they are 1B's, but at least I don't have to worry about them! I had a patient this morning that hadn't had a cleaning in 5 years! Yep...1B! I was able to do my diagnodent PE but had to wait 30 minutes for tips!! At least my patient was ok with waiting. I wanted to do the corded one but I couldn't find the tips anywhere. It was really frustrating because nobody knew where they were. Oh well I did it and it's done!

Anesthesia

We are finally able to give our patients anesthesia. Of course I was nervous about being set free to do this but when it came time to actually do it I felt ok. My mockboard patient came back to finish 2 quads and he was the first one I gave LA to. I did an IA, long buccal, PSA, MSA, and and ASA. And....he got numb!! I was so happy I did it right. Granted we have our instructors standing over us but I was happy it worked. I also got my patient numb last week and it went well. I still shake a little bit but I think it's getting better. I have been really trying to pass off some PE's too and I think I only have 2 more left for this semester. I want to get those out of the way!

Mockboard! Ah!

I know this post is overdue but thought I'd write about it anyway. I found my mockboard patient and it ended up being my best friend's brother. He hadn't had a cleaning in 11 years since he lost dental insurance! And he smokes!! I was a little nervous about him qualifying since Prof. Perry wouldn't even check the quad I wanted to submit. I realize it is up to me to find my patient but come on...this was my first mockboard. The day of the exam I was going back and forth trying to decide if I should submit extra teeth. I ended up not submitting extra teeth and I'm glad I didn't. He qualified perfectly! I felt pretty confident while I was doing the cleaning. The paper work is what worried me. And after hearing some of the results from Tuesday's clinic I for sure thought I wouldn' pass. Luckily I ended up passing and it was a great experience. I'm so glad they give us 3 mockboards to practice! I just hope I can do well on the rest of them and of course the real one!!