Pod Champs!

Yes, you read correctly! My pod, pod #1, truly is #1! We had a set up race today and we most definitely won! We got Baby Ruths for it but more importantly we got the satisfaction of knowing we won. Haha.. It was actually pretty fun because our pod was scheming of how we were going to win but everyone else didn't even seem to think about it. But I'm glad we won! Leisa won fastest over all (I came in a close second just so you know :) ). It was great! So here is a picture of the winning pod! Doesn't get better than this :)

 

So about clinic today. We learned all about our instruments and how to distinguish between them all. I definitely don't have them all down yet but I'll get them down pat! They are either names with a letter number combination or after states so it shouldn't be too hard, right? After we learned all that and bagged sets for sterilization I passed off my Intra-Oral PE with Misty then we practiced probing. I'm a horrible at it! I must have no imagination because for the life of me I can't get the proper adaptation for the mesials. It's killing me and to think I have to probe a whole quad in under 3 minutes next Wednesday is a bit daunting! I'm stressin' but I just need to relax! Sometimes (like today) I feel like there is no way I'm ever going to catch onto everything but then I look at everyone else who's done it and I know they had to struggle to get where they are at too so I just have to be patient- Which isn't easy. Well that's my spill for today.. Wish me luck! And yes, I'm still smiling :)

Exploring the Explorable

Yes, I know my titles are getting better and better. I try. So today was kind of a crazy Monday. Started out in radiology lab a little discouraged after attempting to take a FMX but not really know what we were doing. Mine didn't turn out horrible but I was still a little discouraged especially after I found out all the PEs I have to pass of next week. But come to find out we did more than we needed to in lab so we really aren't that behind. What a relief.

Clinic was pretty good today. I got caught falling asleep in our pod discussion (what's new) but I appreciate someone who will wake me up so it was good! Then we learned all about exploring. Talk about torture for someone who is angle challenged! Aka me!!!! Trying to figure out the working end for each tooth is kind of a joke. I slowly started to get the hang of it though. I'm just so glad I have such a great class to work with. Misty was a trooper today, she dealt with me poking her all over and was just as nice as can be. Our instructors were very encouraging today though so that made it nice. And I was a little bummed because we passed off our extra oral PEs today so that means I don't get any more massages. Oh well.. It is nice though to be able to lay in the chair and get worked on, it's nice and relaxing and a time I can fall asleep without feeling guilty or getting caught.

Well I'm glad today is over with. Not that it was that bad Mondays are just long so it's nice to get them out of the way. I better get off to studying for the dreaded Costley test.. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'm just going to keep smiling in hopes that I will do well! Buh bye now!

Probing to New Depths

When I say probing to new depths that really could mean anything considering I had never done it before until today. We are finally getting through the (boring) stuff and getting to the good stuff- I mean this is why we are in the program, right? Don't get me wrong, although I do believe some of the stuff may be on the more boring side but we really do need to learn it, it was just fun to work in the mouth today and learn something we will be doing on patients for the rest of our careers.

As I mentioned above today was my first time probing- I've seen it done before and have known what it is and honestly didn't think it would be that difficult but just as usual it was a little more difficult than expected. Focusing on ergonomics, chair position, patient position, the modified hand grasp, and making sure not to stab my patient to death is a lot to think about and I made that very obvious. Every now and again I would start hunching but my instructors kept me in line (literally). I think the hardest thing for me with probing is the angle of the probe. I don't know why that was such a difficult concept for me- It seems so simple, FOLLOW THE TOOTH but for some odd reason my brain hasn't been able to wrap itself around that one yet. But it will and if I have to force it I will. I brought home Mr. Typodont (I still haven't named him) and am going to practice a bit on him (the lucky guy). And even though I don't think she is going to read this I'm going to give a shout out to Danielle- Not only was she an excellent patient for me and put up with all my rookie mistakes like a champ but she probed my lower right quadrant and did an excellent job! I lucked out getting her! So thank you Danielle :) Oh and her and Karen found  a little calculus on the lingual of my lower anteriors, talk about embarrassing! Haha no, but I guess that just means I have got to pick up my game and do the dreaded task of flossing between my lower retainer a little more often. And who knows, when we learn how to scale maybe I can practice on myself!

Oh and guess what else? I successfully stayed awake the whole time in clinic today. I know that doesn't sound like an accomplishment to most but it really is for me. I have a dozing problem and Costley has noticed! So yes, I was proud of myself today I guess going to bed early helps with these kinds of things- Who would have thought!? Well I've blabbed for long enough and considering no one is reading this it might be a slight waste of time, but oh well I'll keep smiling :)

Up Close and Personal

Today I got to know Danielle inside and out.. Inside and out of her mouth of course. We did intra-oral exams on each other today and it was actually kind of fun to start working in someone's mouth. I still am a bit awkward but I liked it! It was a bit foreign, the whole mouth thing and all the anatomy of it but it was interesting to feel all the structures and hopefully it made me learn a little bit. Then I was able to pass of my Instrument Grasp and Fulcrum PE today and I did it on Danielle not my typodont. She was pretty brave to let me in her mouth with sharp instruments but I successfully didn't poke her and passed off both PE's. It always feels good to pass them off- They seem to stack up pretty fast but today was a good catch up day. I need to pass off the Health History PE on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to having that over with.

Then in radiology (I guess I should have talked about it first considering I do have it first) we practiced taking digital bitewings. We did it both on Scan X and Schik. I have come to the conclusion I don't love Schik nor do I love Dexter #2- He gave me a tough time today trying to open his contacts on the pre-molar bitewing. But according to Instructor Vining he said Dexter #2's dentition is a lot more messed up than any patient we will see so that's good to know!

Well, well I'm done writing for today and believe it or not I'm still smiling. Why? I don't know but I won't complain. Until next time.....

A Good Day

Today was a good day in clinic for me. I came in a little stressed and worried about how I was going get everything done I needed to but now I feel a little better. I have come to the conclusion it's easy to be stressed in this program but as long as I take it one day at a time I'm good. There is a lot to do but it's not impossible and I look at all the people that have done it before me and it gives me a little hope.
Anyways, I guess the reason clinic was so good for me today was that I was able to pass of my vitals PE and I feel like I'm starting to get into the groove of how things work. We learned the Extraoral Exam PE today and I actually feel pretty good about it. Instructor Hafen was with us today and it was great! She made me feel so comfortable and confident in myself. It was the boost I needed!
Well I better go read through my stuff for class tomorrow and get ready for our next radiology exam. Today was a good day and it made me smile :)

Sleep- Does the Body Good

I never know how to start these. It seems like everyday is a little crazy and we always learn a ton but I feel like a broken record saying that every post. But.. Today started out great! Mostly because I went to bed at 10:30 last night and woke up at 5:30 ready to work out! I need to get better at going to bed at a decent time- I've kind of struggled with that this semester but last night proved that I do a lot better with sleep. And it's a good thing I got some last night because my day started at seven o'clock this morning with an institute meeting, then I went straight to school until 4:30, and then right to work until 10:30. So I'm more grateful for those seven hours of sleep last night then I ever have been before!
Well I guess I better talk about clinic today because I guess that's kind of the point of this whole blogging thing. So here we go... We started out in radiology and we took ten x-rays. Eight PA's and two bitewings. The PA's were pretty difficult because we had to take them on Dexters #2 &#3- they have some pretty messed up mouths to say the least but I guess it's good practice for when we start seeing actual patients. My bitewings actually turned out really good! I was proud :) I have been struggling with cone-cutting lately but I had no problems with that this time. Most of my x-rays actually turned out pretty well so it boosted by x-ray confidence a bit. However, this all changed when we learned how to use Schick. I am not the biggest fan of Schick. We have used it in the office I work at and I didn't like it then either. The sensor is big and hard making it difficult to go with the curve of the arches of the mouth. We did bitewings on Dexter #2 and I did fine on the molars but I couldn't get the distal end of the canine on the pre-molars for the life of me. It was slightly frustrating but it did make me feel a little better when Instructor Vining struggled with it as well. Overall today was a good day in radiology.

Then we made our way to clinic. I was kind of nervous for clinic today because we were learning how to take vitals and I have no experience with them. I had heard from my friends who had gotten their CNA's that blood pressure is pretty tough but I actually didn't too much of a problem with it today, unless I'm doing it completely wrong. I did struggle finding the radial pulse though and being able to focus on counting that and not the seconds on the clock but hopefully I'll get that down. I took my blood pressure cuff and my stethoscope home so I can practice :) Clinic was really nice today because we had some free time where we were able to pass off some PE's. I passed off two and I'm so glad I did because I felt like they were starting to pile up. They are kind of never ending so I just need to stay on top of them. But clinic was good today I felt good about things and maybe saw a tiny bit of hope that I'm going to get all this someday :)

Well I better get off to start studying for our bazillion tests this week (we only have three but it's a lot more fun to be dramatic, of course). Wish me luck! And don't you worry, I'm still smiling :) Whether it's out of happiness or absolute bewilderment of how I'm going to figure out the time to get all I have to get done this week- I'll leave up to you!

Charting Charts

I have come to the conclusion that I will never really be on top of things with clinic or with the whole dental hygiene program for that matter. There is just a lot of information that needs to be taught, studied, and learned and I'm convinced that you can't study enough. But that's what makes it all fun, right? Well today clinic added a little more to my workload as well as my stress levels. We learned how to chart. There is a whole lot of stuff that needs to go in these. I need to be observant of the information the patient fills out and be ready to ask them questions and write everything down. You'd rather be safe than sorry. As Professor Costley said, "When it comes to charting, you do what you can do." No one is perfect, Miley Cyrus said it perfectly, "everyone makes mistakes, everyone has those days" however, we need to try to be as perfect as possible, paying attention to all the little details. The PE we learned today involves a lot of memorizing. We have to memorize all the scenarios in which a patient would need to pre- medicate- a bit of a daunting task at the moment but it will be fine. I'll just add to it the list of all the other things I need to do. But clinic was good today. It's always a good reminder that I'm not in this alone and everyone is here to help each other out. I need to go study for my radiology test- Wish me luck! And no matter how stressed I am I have no choice but to smile :)