{Two in one!}

Wow!  Crazy day!  I finished up my Class V, and finished a 1A pt. as well.  I was pretty nervous, because I didn't know what to expect, or even know if I could finish both.  I did two quads on my Class V, and didn't miss any spots.  I got her out a little before 2:00, which is when my 1A was coming in.  So, I hurried and cleaned my unit and got all set up again, and brought my pt. back.  She was so cute and such a good patient.  I did her x-rays--2 BWX with one retake :(  Radiology was really busy when I went in there, and so it took me awhile to be able to finally run my retake through.  Oh well, no biggie.  Then, I went to town with scaling.  She had a lot of buildup on her lower anteriors, so that took me some time.  It came off super easy, but there was a lot of it.  I didn't miss anything on her either.  Yahoo!  So, I was able to get her all done, checked, polished, flossed, and fluoride by  3:40.  I was definitely cutting it close, but I'm glad I got those done!  It felt good to see that I have improved and that my skills are coming along.  Now, I just really need to get my butt in gear and pass off some PEs!  I am SO behind on those.

{Class V}

My patient today was my mother in law, who I love so much!  She is such a sweetheart, and such a great patient.  I was able to finish up four quads in under an hour, which is quite an improvement for me.  I had a lot of fun working on her!  I did make a few goals....first was to really watch for her recession (she has a lot), and be really gentle around those areas--check!, second was to not apply so much lateral pressure when it's just plaque I'm trying to get off (why do I do that?)-check!.  The last one came from my hubby who was in a couple weeks ago.  He told me that when I would blow the air on his lower linguals, it made his teeth a lot more sensitive than when the instructor did it.  I was so happy he told me that, because I had NO clue!  So, I really concentrated on not blasting her head off with my air!  It's just little things like that, that I wanted to focus on today.  I think it really made a difference in the experience for my patient, and also in the way I felt after clinic.  I don't need to use so much force on easy patients!  Duh!  :)  We did have a couple little hiccups this morning...#1-I didn't get to clinic until 8:00, and #2-my patient's chart is nowhere to be found.  Awesome.  I had to fill out a temp. chart for her.  Hopefully it turns up!

{Waste of a day}

Today I had my Class V pt. scheduled to come back, so I could finish her last two quads. and pass off a couple PEs.  Well, she decided not to show up, and I couldn't get a hold of her.  Well, Heidi's pt. also didn't show, so we decided we would do sealants and panos. on eachother, so that it wasn't completely a waste.  So, Heidi did two sealants on me, and as soon as she was done, her pt. showed. 45 minutes late.  So, we weren't able to do anything else, but it was okay.  I ended up helping Candice out with charting, etc. because she had a pretty complicated OD.  It ended up being okay, except that I'm starting to really feel the pressure.  I really really hope that I will be able to get all of my min. requirements done at least.  I find it really dumb that by getting everything done that is asked of us, we only get a B.  Really?  Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it.  So, hopefully I can find a pt. for Monday and get right back on track.

{Lab Day}

Clinic was so relaxed today.  I loved it!  We just had a lab day and went over the removable appliance PE, diagnodent, and blood glucose testing.  No biggie.  It made me think about last semester and how easy it was, but boy did we stress out over dumb little things.  Well, tomorrow is the UDA in SLC and it should be pretty fun, because I get to hang out with some pretty awesome girls all day!  Well...until NEXT Wednesday (yahoo for President's Day)!!

{FMX}

So, last night I called to confirm that my patient was coming for this morning since he is my Class II and I didn't want to be left hanging.  He tells me that he was going to call me in the morning because he had to work....hmmm....well that definitely would have been too late.  Ugh!  Some people! :)  So, my sweet hubby jumped in at the last minute and filled up my spot.  He was my patient last semester, and just had BWX and an OD.  Well, I definitely had high hopes for this appt.  I wanted to do a FMX, pass of anterior instrumentation, universal instrumentation, possibly do a sealant, AND scale all four quads.  Well, that definitely DID NOT happen.  I took him back right away to do the FMX with Schick since I absolutely hate that sensor.  I thought I would rather torture my husband instead of some random stranger....rude, I know.  I thought I would take like 30 minutes TOPS.  Well, I was very very wrong!  For some reason, I was just not with it today.  It took me FOREVER!  He had a hard time with the sensor because he doesn't have a big giant mouth and it was very uncomfortable.  Guess who had to retake FIVE PAs.?! That's right....that would be me.  I was super annoyed and getting very frazzled, but trying to stay put together in front of my hubby and Instructor Vining.  Well, Vining came in and helped me a ton.  So, after about an hour and 15 mins., the FMX was finally done.  So, I rushed as fast as a I could to clean up and start scaling.  I ended up only getting two quads done, and was really pushing the time at that.  He had some really fine sheet calculus that I missed on the LA, but did much better and didn't miss any spots on the left side.  Instructor Vining is so good about giving us tips and tricks and making it easier on us.  I feel like he is such a good teacher and doesn't make you feel like an idiot.  So, yes he will have to come back a third time, but at least then I will be able to get a few PE's passed off on him without the pressure of going over on time.  All in all....not my best day.  But at least I had a very understanding patient today that made me feel better!  I really need to work on my technique with Schick and speeding up my scaling.  This program is definitely a roller coaster ride!  One day you're up, then next you are way down.

{Class V}

Today I saw a Class V patient.  She has been coming to the clinic for about 10 years and loves it.  She was one of the sweetest ladies ever!  She was very concerned with her periodontal health and it showed.  She takes really good care of her teeth.  The last time she was in, which was about a year ago, she had some areas with 4 and 5 mm pockets.  This time, she had no 5s, and one 4.  Some of the 5s had gone down to a 3.  I was amazed to see that!  We are all taught that can happen, but to actually see it and know it is because of the pt's home care, was really cool to see!  I was able to get through her OD (no xrays) and scale 2 quads.  My goal was to be able to get at least one quad done, but I was very pleased to get 2 done.  She really didn't have much calculus, so it wasn't very hard to do.  Inst. Caldwell told me that I could have finished her.  I know I should have just pushed myself a little more to get her all the way done.  But, I still feel really good about doing an OD and finishing some quads.  I've never been able to do that yet.  YAY for improving!!!

{Finally....some calculus!!}

Haha!  I'm such a nerd!  But the only people that I've actually scaled have been 1Bs and have like zero calculus.  I brought back my patient from last Monday and was determined to finish all four quads.  He did have some moderate supra calculus, so I was excited to use my Ultrasonic.  Well, I feel really awkward using it.  It's definitely very different to use it in a patient's mouth and worry about the suction and all the water spraying all over their face!  He was so so nice and very understanding.  I used the ultrasonic on my first quad, then brought out the hand instruments.  I didn't miss any spots there, so I was feeling pretty confident.  Well, I used the ultrasonic one more time on the lower anteriors because he did have a little bit of staining, and it did a good job to get that off.  I decided that I would just use my hand instruments for the rest of it, and it went pretty good.  In the UL quad., he had a lot of calculus, especially on #14 and #15.  It was really fun to see the calculus fly off and know that my instrumenting was making that happen.  I got all giddy and smiley inside my mask.  I'm a weirdo, I know!  Up to this point, I just feel like I'm a deplaquer!  It was really good for me to work in that area and actually have to get deposit off, because that is the area that I am most weak.  When Instructor Vining came over, he found a few spots that I missed, but gave me some really great tips on a better instrument to use, etc.  I've been using my 204S for pretty much all of the posteriors, because I really hate the Barnhart.  Well, I did notice today that I had a really hard time accessing the most posterior teeth using that instrument.  He told me to use my Nevi in the areas that I missed, and it made a world of difference. I love having instructors that give you good advice and really help you out.  Overall, today was great and I felt my confidence start to regain a little.  My patient was so nice and so patient.  I hope my good attitude continues on Wednesday!  I have a Class V pt. coming in that has been seen multiple times in our clinic.  But, I can't find her chart anywhere!!  Well, hopefully it turns up and I don't have to start from scratch.  I don't think the patient will appreciate that very much!

{One more down...}

Hallelujah!  I was able to scale today!  I finished up my friend who came in for me on the first day of the semester.  It went pretty well, actually.  She is pregnant and therefore very uncomfortable, so it made it a little challenging.  She was most comfortable laying on her side, so there were times when my posture was bad, and I can definitely feel it.  She hasn't had a cleaning in a few years, but takes good care of her teeth.  The only challenge I found was that she had two lingual bars.  Gah!  I do not like those!  I did want to pass of PEs, but I decided it would be best to get her out as soon as I could because of how uncomfortable she was.  She was a great patient though and such a trooper! I scaled four quads this time, missed one spot and cut my scaling time by 15 minutes.  It felt good to actually feel like I'm improving.  I do still struggle with certain quads and feel very awkward when I try and instrument them, but I know those skills will come with time.  Today the instructors switched pods and we had Instructor Caldwell.  I just love her!  She is so helpful and sweet!