Emergency 911!!!!

I sure hope that I never have to deal with an emergency situation. I think I would probably have a hard time remaining professional and not freaking out about the situation. I attempted to pass of sealants again and also instrument sharpening. I hope that worked out well. Well, we have our first patient on Wednesday. Mom is coming but she just broke out with a coldsore last night so it better be healed and not have spread by Wednesday. Hum.... well good thing I have sisters who can stand in for her if she can't come.

Mock Patient Day

Becky was my patient today. It was nice to do a patient from start to finish for once to prepare for our first patient next wednesday. I feel that accomplished a lot today and Costley agreed. She said I made good use of my time. That was much appreciated, especially after clinic last wednesday. Hopefully I can get this stuff down well enough to be on my own in a year and a half.

Last Week's Clinic

Man oh man I was so ready to be done with clinic on Wednesday. It seems like when I finally feel like I have something down the TA's and instructors come around and tell me how I am doing everything wrong. I was so ready to throw my hands up and leave and say I'd be back Monday. I dont understand my issues with clinic because I have been working in a mouth with instruments for four years. Grr.

Seal That Tooth!

We learned sealants today. Thats pretty sweet. I don't think it is as difficult as the hygienists at work make it look.... perhaps that is because they work on small kids and I was working with an adult. We dental hygiene students probably have the cleanest teeth on campus, getting them polished and scaled twice a week and all.

Air Powder Polishing

Oh man! I do not like the grit all over everything, especially the floor! I am a neat freak and this grit is driving me nuts! Its all over EVERYTHING! I had to scrub the floor around my unit and the sink before I could work. I hope the floor gets a deep cleaning this weekend!!!!

I don't really care for the air-powder polisher. I think it is way too messy and not worth the hassle but that is just my novice opinion.

Ultrasonic!!!! Yeah yeah

So today we learned sharpening instruments and the ultrasonic scaler. Sharpening was a tid bit confusing but the ultrasonic was pretty way awesome! Life just got easier. Haha. Gotta love working on good 'ole dexter! We are best friends. Haha not. We just have some quality time together once in a while. So yeah, clinic is awesome! Costley said we know enough now to do a 1B patient. That is pretty much exciting!

spic and span

selective polishing! That was fun! I feel like we are getting somewhere in clinic. It's great. The fluoride varnish is kinda gross feeling after it dries. Don't really care for that but wow! I am in a great mood!

Boo!

Halloween is in the air.... people are dressed in costumes and spooky music is playing.

Eh, halloween is over-rated.

We practiced our scaling technique. I thought I was doing ok until Costley came over and showed me what to change. I am frustrated with it now. Will this EVER feel normal? She makes it look so easy.

At least we get a really good lunch! I made Taco Soup... My favorite!

More scaling

Posterior scaling today! A little more tricky than anterior but not too bad. I think I have picked up on scaling better than anything else. That could be because by now I am getting more used to instrumentation, positioning and fulcruming. Quien sabe??? Thus far I have made 6 contacts for patients in the spring!!!! Hopefully they follow through. That would be nice.

New Clinic Partner

Clinic was fun today. I like how we went from start to finish through what we have learned. It helps to keep things organized in my brain. We also learned the intra oral camera. That was pretty sweet! Looks like posterior scaling for wednesday.

Scaling today! It was easier on my pod partner than it was on dexter I thought. I have a lot of struggle with indirect vision and also anything in the 8:00 position. My wrist hurts. I hope that goes away!

Instrument Classification

Tiffany was my patient and we went through HHx, HHx/Rx, OD, OHI, Tx, and Status/Rx. We disclosed, PFI, BFI, and then went over our instruments and classified them. We sterilized our scalers... maybe that means we will actually learn scaling Wednesday!

Plaque Master

Clinic today was kinda eye opening as far as burushing and flossing goes. We used the plaque indicator. That was interesting. My tongue was pretty n purple! I think I will use that stuff on Haloween and not brush it off. I need to practice exploring and probing for the pe pass off next week.

charts...again

today we learned how to chart what is in our mouths like extractions, fillings, and then we made a perio statment. Clinic went by fast today. It seems like for being in school for a month and a half we really dont know that much about instrumentation and it's hard to believe that we will know enough to have patients next semester.

Open Wide!

Clinic went better today. I observed my peer pal yesterday and realized that she doesn't know everything either. She said this is a continual learning experience and not to expect to get everything on the first or second try. When I came to clinic today I kept that in mind. We did a full mouth probe on our pod partner. I felt better about it today than Monday and I really liked having instructor vining watching everything and helping me correct my mistakes. That was effective. He said I need to not be so hard on myself. That is probably true. I still can't see the markings on the probe to get a really acurate reading but sh!! Don't tell. I have a hard time seeing small details. I think the clinic observation was effective for me and will help me as I go along.

Probing

Bad day in clinic. I am really frustrated because anything intra-orally just doesn't click for me. I'm beginning to not like clinic much because I can't see and I don't understand what is going on. I can do the book work no problem but when it comes to clinic I suck.

More Exploring

We did more indepth use of the explorer. This was somewhat nerve racking because I was afraid to hurt my pod partner. I have a hard time with fulcruming and also adaptation. This one will take a lot of practice. I really like that we get one on one instruction. That helps a lot.

Exploring The Mouth

Clinic was fun! We actually got to work on each other practicing adaptation, angulation, and activation with the explorer. I got poked a few times and made my pod partner bleed. This will take some practice but its neat that we are learning something different. It's hard to decide which end of the explorer to use.

intra oral exam

We learned how to perform the intra-oral exam. There is alot more anatomy in the mouth than I ever realized. There is a lot to learn and remember but its not as hard as I thought it would be. We also passed off the vitals and extra-oral exam PE's. I like how clinic and hygiene class go together.

Extra oral cancer screening

In clinic we learned how to perform an extra-oral cancer screening. It feels like a nice massage. My jaw got tired after doing it twice though. We aslo learned about using the mirror and the fulcrum technique. Indirect vision is a little confusing. It's nice to be working on each other now.

vitals

Today we learned how to take vitals. It's kind of hard to hear the heart beat especially because every sound is exaggerated while wearing the stethoscope including the radio and other people around. It is cool to hear what it sounds like though. We also passed off the positioning PE which I finally figured out how to do. Joni is a good teacher as well.

Health History

Clinic today was a more in depth look at health histories, we got to look at a few case studies, learn how to fill out the HHx part of the Tx sheet based off the information on the health history. We had our pod partner sit in our chair and we got to go over the patient history as though they are our patient. I think it is kinda silly that we have to set up our op when our partner sits in the chair and we don't do anything but ask questions but I understand that we need to be in the habit and practice of setting up our operatories. Kim is a good instructor, very thorough and easy to understand.

Charts charts charts!!!

Clinic today was fun. We learned the Eaglesoft scheduling, treatment planning and walkout statements, how to make patient charts, brief overview of medical history and charting, learned sterilization area and overview of CA responsibilities. I really like instructor Vining and Gina, the TA. Gina and Instructor Costley helped me understand the clock positions better. What is up with the "surfaces toward the non-dominant hand and surfaces away from it?" If that is not confusing... it's easier to think of the surfaces toward or away from the patient's shoulder. Gina gave me some other pointers to remember which clock position is for which area of the mouth. We passed off the Eaglesoft PE as well as the exposure control set-up and equipment maintenance post-appointment PEs. Clinic is good. I like how it goes hand in hand with Dental Hygiene I. It helps to practice in the clinic what we learn from the book and in class. Yea for clinic!

Today in clinic we learned clock positions. I got a little confused as to which surfaces are toward and which ones are away which then confused me on which position to be at. I think that after getting the book and looking at it there it will make more sense. We passed off the PPE process eval, set up and tore down our operatories again and worked with suction positioning.

First day of clinic!

Well, the first day of clinic was fun! The lab coats are stylish and I hope to be able to wear one of those hot hair covers! The instructors will break us of our bad habits from assisting. I can't wait to work on patients. Good luck everyone with the first semester!

This is exciting but so confusing and so expensive!