What a day! It was a very productive day today! I was really concerned about not having any kids yet this semester, so I checked the resource list and...sure enough there were twin girls that were on the list. Perfect! I called their mom up on Monday morning for my Tuesday morning appt., and it ended up working out! I was able to do BWX and sealants on both of them. I let a couple other students do sealants on them for their requirements since I was done with them. They were really good kids with really good home care.
My afternoon pt. was the mom of the two kids Olivia saw. She was a super easy 1B. I was able to do BWX and get a few PAs too. Awesome! Her cleaning went super quick, and I was able to get her done pretty early. I love that! She was a really nice lady who takes really good care of her teeth. She hadn't been in for 5 years for a cleaning, but you really couldn't even tell.
Overall, very productive day!
What I learned today: Make sure the interproximal of the mand. ant. are spotless! I always seem to miss a tiny piece right under the contact of at least one of those teeth!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
{Mockboards}
Well....Mockboard #1 is over! What a relief! It really wasn't as bad as I had envisioned, but I still did worse than I wanted to. I'm not too upset about it though, because it has just taught me what it is I need to pay better attention to. I am honestly so grateful for the Mockboard experience. I couldn't imagine going in on the day of boards not having any clue how it will go. I don't really have much more to say about it....just that I learned that I need to get ALL the supra. off (hehe). I don't know what I was thinking by not paying better attention to that. DUH!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
{What a day...}
My morning started off great. I had a NP in who turned out to be a super simple 1B. Sometimes it's refreshing to have somebody in your chair who doesn't have extensive scaling to be done. She was super sweet, and I got her finished up early...even with Eaglesoft down and having to do conventional films. (BTW....why does Eaglesoft ALWAYS have a problem???) I decided that on this pt. I didn't want to use my Ultrasonic, because I need to better my hand instrumenting skills. I was also able to do the Infection Control (pointless PE, in my opinion), and do a sealant (PE) on Olivia's pt. Overall....successful morning.
In the afternoon, I had a Class II pt. I saw a couple weeks ago in to finish her last two quads. Last time I saw her I was completely rushed and under a lot of pressure (from the person who was translating for her) so I unfortunately missed more spots than I would like to admit. So, my goal for today was to try and increase my speed, but still be thorough and efficient. I went through both quads, and back over missed areas from last time. I was feeling pretty confident in myself, and thought that I did pretty well. Nope! I missed about the same amount of spots as last time. I was super discouraged and feeling pretty bad about myself. I almost started crying, which is not like me. So, Lis told me to use my Triple Bend US tip and go back over those areas, because I hadn't gone subgingival or interproximal enough. I then went back over with my graceys, and felt like I did a pretty good job, which I did. There were still a couple areas that I had to go back over again. I was also feeling pressure because the girl who brought my pt. was pressuring me again to get her done. I had to keep explaining to her why it was taking so long. After she left I was feeling very defeated. I was feeling inadequate, and like maybe I really don't know what I'm doing. Lis came over and told me that I did a good job, she was just a super hard Class II with a lot of heavy, tenacious subgingival calc. (I'm sure she was just trying to make me feel better). She was THE hardest Class II pt. I've seen yet. I better not pick somebody like that for boards, or else I will probably fail. I really feel like I learned a lot today, and I have been trying to stay positive about it. So, a goal of mine is to make sure I am going interproximal, and subgingival enough. That is a no-brainer, but it's obviously something I need to work on.
In the afternoon, I had a Class II pt. I saw a couple weeks ago in to finish her last two quads. Last time I saw her I was completely rushed and under a lot of pressure (from the person who was translating for her) so I unfortunately missed more spots than I would like to admit. So, my goal for today was to try and increase my speed, but still be thorough and efficient. I went through both quads, and back over missed areas from last time. I was feeling pretty confident in myself, and thought that I did pretty well. Nope! I missed about the same amount of spots as last time. I was super discouraged and feeling pretty bad about myself. I almost started crying, which is not like me. So, Lis told me to use my Triple Bend US tip and go back over those areas, because I hadn't gone subgingival or interproximal enough. I then went back over with my graceys, and felt like I did a pretty good job, which I did. There were still a couple areas that I had to go back over again. I was also feeling pressure because the girl who brought my pt. was pressuring me again to get her done. I had to keep explaining to her why it was taking so long. After she left I was feeling very defeated. I was feeling inadequate, and like maybe I really don't know what I'm doing. Lis came over and told me that I did a good job, she was just a super hard Class II with a lot of heavy, tenacious subgingival calc. (I'm sure she was just trying to make me feel better). She was THE hardest Class II pt. I've seen yet. I better not pick somebody like that for boards, or else I will probably fail. I really feel like I learned a lot today, and I have been trying to stay positive about it. So, a goal of mine is to make sure I am going interproximal, and subgingival enough. That is a no-brainer, but it's obviously something I need to work on.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
{Class 2 crazy!}
On Tuesday in the morning, I had my mockboard pt. come in so I could clean two quads. I ended up cleaning his maxilla, and taking 5 PAs. I missed a couple spots. One of the spots I missed was on the mesial of 5. It was in that concavity of the root surface that Prof. Alexander taught about in class. So, she showed me how much you have to angle the tip of your instrument in and go up and down. It was a good learning experience to go back and remove that small deposit. Overall, the appointment went well, and I was able to get him done early and not have to rush so much to chart and clean up.
In the afternoon, I had a NP that came in and she was 100% spanish speaking. Luckily, she brought her friend in who helped with translation. Her HHX was super easy, so that made it nice. I got 4 BWX, and determined she's a Class 2 as well. The bad part...all 4 wisdom teeth. Ugh! I HATE wisdom teeth when they have perio. It is SO hard for me to scale those teeth for some reason. I was able to clean 2 quads, but by the end they were in a hurry to leave. Because of the added stress, I wasn't as thorough as I'd wanted to be and ended up missing more spots than I'd like to admit. Prof. Perry just told me to write them down and I could go over them next time. Her calculus was a lot more tenacious than I was anticipating, and I hate having people look over my shoulder wanting me to hurry up. Next time I am feeling like that, I just need to take a deep breath, and just get in there and go to town. I have her coming back in a couple weeks to finish her up.
On Thursday at the VA, my morning pt. was such a nice man. He forgot to premed, so that pushed us back about 40 minutes. As I was cleaning his teeth, he was telling me how gentle I was being. He told me that this was the first cleaning he had that he actually enjoyed. It made me feel so good. My goal from the beginning has been to be the gentle, kind hygienist. I've never wanted to be the one with a heavy hand. There is no reason that a cleaning should hurt if they don't have swollen, inflamed, infected tissues. I was happy to know that I wasn't hurting him, but I was being effective. I taught him how to use some OHI aides, and he seemed very interested and engaged with my instructions. This appt. made me feel like I am doing something right. It was such a great experience.
Then in the afternoon, I had a fairly young guy come in. This appt. was pretty interesting. He is extremely sensitive to eugenol, and anything with mint flavoring. So, he doesn't brush with tp usually. He brushes with baking soda, or just water. You know what that means....plaque! I hate scaling plaque. Since I couldn't polish him because of our prophy paste being mint flavored, the ultrasonic came to the rescue. Luckily, he didn't have much calculus at all. He also had 4 aphthous ulcers all over his mouth. It was really hard to maneuver around those and be conscious of all four the whole time. I just felt really bad for the poor guy. He had used a Burt's Bees tp that morning, which apparently contains some eugenol or mint, because he gets those aphthous ulcers all over when he has an allergic reaction. It was good for me in the fact that I had to be very careful in where I retracted his lips out, etc.
On Friday we had our first LA lab! We did the PSA, MSA, ASA, and the greater palatine injections. My partner was Laken! I was super nervous for it, but it was so much fun! We had Prof. Perry as our instructor which made it so nice. He is so calming. He also explains everything SO well. I can always understand things when he explains them. It was a lot of fun actually. It was a good experience for me because I got a positive aspiration. It was good to know what you are supposed to do at the board exam if that happens.
Senior year has been SO busy, but I absolutely love it. It's been so great to see my skills improve every clinic session. I'm really starting to feel a lot more comfortable with everything, and what is expected of me.
In the afternoon, I had a NP that came in and she was 100% spanish speaking. Luckily, she brought her friend in who helped with translation. Her HHX was super easy, so that made it nice. I got 4 BWX, and determined she's a Class 2 as well. The bad part...all 4 wisdom teeth. Ugh! I HATE wisdom teeth when they have perio. It is SO hard for me to scale those teeth for some reason. I was able to clean 2 quads, but by the end they were in a hurry to leave. Because of the added stress, I wasn't as thorough as I'd wanted to be and ended up missing more spots than I'd like to admit. Prof. Perry just told me to write them down and I could go over them next time. Her calculus was a lot more tenacious than I was anticipating, and I hate having people look over my shoulder wanting me to hurry up. Next time I am feeling like that, I just need to take a deep breath, and just get in there and go to town. I have her coming back in a couple weeks to finish her up.
On Thursday at the VA, my morning pt. was such a nice man. He forgot to premed, so that pushed us back about 40 minutes. As I was cleaning his teeth, he was telling me how gentle I was being. He told me that this was the first cleaning he had that he actually enjoyed. It made me feel so good. My goal from the beginning has been to be the gentle, kind hygienist. I've never wanted to be the one with a heavy hand. There is no reason that a cleaning should hurt if they don't have swollen, inflamed, infected tissues. I was happy to know that I wasn't hurting him, but I was being effective. I taught him how to use some OHI aides, and he seemed very interested and engaged with my instructions. This appt. made me feel like I am doing something right. It was such a great experience.
Then in the afternoon, I had a fairly young guy come in. This appt. was pretty interesting. He is extremely sensitive to eugenol, and anything with mint flavoring. So, he doesn't brush with tp usually. He brushes with baking soda, or just water. You know what that means....plaque! I hate scaling plaque. Since I couldn't polish him because of our prophy paste being mint flavored, the ultrasonic came to the rescue. Luckily, he didn't have much calculus at all. He also had 4 aphthous ulcers all over his mouth. It was really hard to maneuver around those and be conscious of all four the whole time. I just felt really bad for the poor guy. He had used a Burt's Bees tp that morning, which apparently contains some eugenol or mint, because he gets those aphthous ulcers all over when he has an allergic reaction. It was good for me in the fact that I had to be very careful in where I retracted his lips out, etc.
On Friday we had our first LA lab! We did the PSA, MSA, ASA, and the greater palatine injections. My partner was Laken! I was super nervous for it, but it was so much fun! We had Prof. Perry as our instructor which made it so nice. He is so calming. He also explains everything SO well. I can always understand things when he explains them. It was a lot of fun actually. It was a good experience for me because I got a positive aspiration. It was good to know what you are supposed to do at the board exam if that happens.
Senior year has been SO busy, but I absolutely love it. It's been so great to see my skills improve every clinic session. I'm really starting to feel a lot more comfortable with everything, and what is expected of me.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
{Week 3}
Clinic was really good today. In the morning, I saw a very nice lady who was a Class V. She had very light calculus, and really good home care. It's really nice to see somebody like that. They really care about their health, and take very good care of themselves. I was able to get 4 BWX as well, and finished a little early. I was thinking back today about how I used to have to see a Class V or 1B twice. It's really great to see that I am learning and improving. My goal is to continue to get faster with these classifications, so that hopefully I can see 2 in one session soon.
In the afternoon, I brought back my afternoon pt. from last week. He only wanted me to clean 2 quads today, and finish the fourth in a couple weeks, because of money issues. I was really hoping to get him all done. I hate that he will be taking up another clinic session, but that's okay. Last time I cleaned his UR quad, and was able to see how much his tissues have improved. They were so much less red and edematous, and were starting to get pink and tighten up around the teeth. I love seeing that what I'm doing is making a difference. He was saying how much better they were feeling, and how when he brushes they don't bleed that much. It was a good experience to work in two qauds. today and get off all that calculus. It was crazy how much calc. he had! Today while I was using the Ultrasonic, Prof. Perry helped me to slow down my movements. He told me that you don't have to move it back and forth really fast to have constant movement. He showed me that by just moving it slowly, and trying to detect calculus, it is still constant movement. He is such a great instructor. I also really tried to utilize my explorer to detect calculus today, and am feeling more confident with it.
Overall, today was a great experience.
In the afternoon, I brought back my afternoon pt. from last week. He only wanted me to clean 2 quads today, and finish the fourth in a couple weeks, because of money issues. I was really hoping to get him all done. I hate that he will be taking up another clinic session, but that's okay. Last time I cleaned his UR quad, and was able to see how much his tissues have improved. They were so much less red and edematous, and were starting to get pink and tighten up around the teeth. I love seeing that what I'm doing is making a difference. He was saying how much better they were feeling, and how when he brushes they don't bleed that much. It was a good experience to work in two qauds. today and get off all that calculus. It was crazy how much calc. he had! Today while I was using the Ultrasonic, Prof. Perry helped me to slow down my movements. He told me that you don't have to move it back and forth really fast to have constant movement. He showed me that by just moving it slowly, and trying to detect calculus, it is still constant movement. He is such a great instructor. I also really tried to utilize my explorer to detect calculus today, and am feeling more confident with it.
Overall, today was a great experience.
Monday, September 10, 2012
{Here we go...}
Last Tuesday was our official first day back in clinic seeing patients. I'll be honest....I was super nervous about it. I kept thinking about it all weekend, and trying to remember how to do everything. I feel like I forgot just about everything over the summer.
I brought in a pt. off of the resource list. I only ended up getting an OD and BWX on him, but he is my mockboard! Yay! I couldn't believe it! Now, hopefully he follows through so I don't have to worry about trying to scrounge somebody up for that. I was feeling down on myself for only getting through an OD, but then I thought about how lucky I was to get a mockboard pt. on my first day. I probably could have scaled at least one quad, but he is already going to have to come back twice, so I just got him out of there a little early.
My afternoon pt. was somebody that I did an OD on last semester. Prof. Perry still wanted me to do probing and see if I could do some x-rays. He was a Class 2 at his last appt., but we didn't have any x-rays then because he couldn't pay for them. When Perry saw the x-rays and the amount of radiographic calculus, he told me he would be a perfect board patient. It made me kind of sad though, because we can't ethically keep a pt's tx on hold for that long. So, hopefully I will find somebody just as perfect when it comes to board time. My pt. was extremely sensitive while probing. I actually had to put topical on to try and help with the pain. So, he decided on LA for scaling. I ended up doing the UR quad. I could have done more, but he was pretty tired by then. I have him scheduled to come back on Tuesday to hopefully finish him up. Since he has to be numb in his last three quads, two of which are the lower ones, I don't know how that will go. We shall see. I really enjoyed doing his cleaning. I used the Ultrasonic, and got SO much calculus off with it. I loved that! It was so neat when I was done and went through with my explorer and felt how smooth it was. I really realized how much I love the Ultrasonic. I think it's because I know how to use it now. I hated using it last semester because I didn't know how to use it properly. It's a wonderful tool! I'm really excited to see what his tissues look like when he comes back in.
I also had the VA on Thursday, and had quite the experience with my morning pt. She was a 1B, but insisted on being numb in all four quads because she is so sensitive. So, needless to say, the appt. took WAY longer than it needed to. It was a good learning experience for me though. My afternoon pt. was a sweet older man who was a Class 2. That went great! So far I have been enjoying the VA. It's a good feeling to help out those veterans. I just hope I can start getting some Class 3s under my belt! I'm about there with my Class 2s, and I don't think I'll have a problem getting Class 5s either.
So far I'm really enjoying Senior year. I love how much clinic we have. It makes me excited to know that with each clinic session, I am getting faster and gaining more knowledge. I also love all the senior instructors. They are so great to work with, and so helpful.
I brought in a pt. off of the resource list. I only ended up getting an OD and BWX on him, but he is my mockboard! Yay! I couldn't believe it! Now, hopefully he follows through so I don't have to worry about trying to scrounge somebody up for that. I was feeling down on myself for only getting through an OD, but then I thought about how lucky I was to get a mockboard pt. on my first day. I probably could have scaled at least one quad, but he is already going to have to come back twice, so I just got him out of there a little early.
My afternoon pt. was somebody that I did an OD on last semester. Prof. Perry still wanted me to do probing and see if I could do some x-rays. He was a Class 2 at his last appt., but we didn't have any x-rays then because he couldn't pay for them. When Perry saw the x-rays and the amount of radiographic calculus, he told me he would be a perfect board patient. It made me kind of sad though, because we can't ethically keep a pt's tx on hold for that long. So, hopefully I will find somebody just as perfect when it comes to board time. My pt. was extremely sensitive while probing. I actually had to put topical on to try and help with the pain. So, he decided on LA for scaling. I ended up doing the UR quad. I could have done more, but he was pretty tired by then. I have him scheduled to come back on Tuesday to hopefully finish him up. Since he has to be numb in his last three quads, two of which are the lower ones, I don't know how that will go. We shall see. I really enjoyed doing his cleaning. I used the Ultrasonic, and got SO much calculus off with it. I loved that! It was so neat when I was done and went through with my explorer and felt how smooth it was. I really realized how much I love the Ultrasonic. I think it's because I know how to use it now. I hated using it last semester because I didn't know how to use it properly. It's a wonderful tool! I'm really excited to see what his tissues look like when he comes back in.
I also had the VA on Thursday, and had quite the experience with my morning pt. She was a 1B, but insisted on being numb in all four quads because she is so sensitive. So, needless to say, the appt. took WAY longer than it needed to. It was a good learning experience for me though. My afternoon pt. was a sweet older man who was a Class 2. That went great! So far I have been enjoying the VA. It's a good feeling to help out those veterans. I just hope I can start getting some Class 3s under my belt! I'm about there with my Class 2s, and I don't think I'll have a problem getting Class 5s either.
So far I'm really enjoying Senior year. I love how much clinic we have. It makes me excited to know that with each clinic session, I am getting faster and gaining more knowledge. I also love all the senior instructors. They are so great to work with, and so helpful.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
{First week of senior year}
It sounds so weird to say that I'm a senior. I'm in my second year. I made it through my first year. I NEVER thought that I'd be able to say that. I have a feeling this year will FLY by!
So, I have clinic here at WSU on Tuesdays. This week, we were able to get kind of reoriented with clinic, package up our new instruments and make some set ups, go over emergency procedures, pass off our sharpening PE while being able to sharpen up my VERY dull instruments from first year, and be able to practice exploring and probing on each other. Overall it was a pretty relaxed day, and was a good way to start off the year. I am excited to be in senior clinic, and think that the instructors are going to be really great.
Today, I went up to the VA in SLC. The first half of the day was an orientation with TONS of information, making me feel completely overwhelmed and confused. Then, we saw our first patients of the semester in the afternoon. I was able to see a very nice man who was 3 quads of a class V. It was good to be able to get back in there and work with the ultrasonic on a TON of calculus on the LA, as well as get off a TON of plaque and food debris. I love to be able to look back after I'm done cleaning them up and see what a difference I made. Such a great feeling! I still feel very lost and confused on how the charting/notes go on the computer, etc. I know that will come with time and will be second nature.
I really like the instructors up there, and feel like they are really there to help us. The clinic is very nice and a lot bigger than I had pictured. It feels good to be able to work with these great veterans, and provide them a service that they so deserve. So, overall, today was a good experience.
So, I have clinic here at WSU on Tuesdays. This week, we were able to get kind of reoriented with clinic, package up our new instruments and make some set ups, go over emergency procedures, pass off our sharpening PE while being able to sharpen up my VERY dull instruments from first year, and be able to practice exploring and probing on each other. Overall it was a pretty relaxed day, and was a good way to start off the year. I am excited to be in senior clinic, and think that the instructors are going to be really great.
Today, I went up to the VA in SLC. The first half of the day was an orientation with TONS of information, making me feel completely overwhelmed and confused. Then, we saw our first patients of the semester in the afternoon. I was able to see a very nice man who was 3 quads of a class V. It was good to be able to get back in there and work with the ultrasonic on a TON of calculus on the LA, as well as get off a TON of plaque and food debris. I love to be able to look back after I'm done cleaning them up and see what a difference I made. Such a great feeling! I still feel very lost and confused on how the charting/notes go on the computer, etc. I know that will come with time and will be second nature.
I really like the instructors up there, and feel like they are really there to help us. The clinic is very nice and a lot bigger than I had pictured. It feels good to be able to work with these great veterans, and provide them a service that they so deserve. So, overall, today was a good experience.
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