A GLORIous Clinic Day

Well today was a great clinic day, or should I say GLORIous! My grandma came in and boy am I lucky to have so many family members that support me and want to help me out. She was great. Very positive, easy to work with, and just as sweet as always. She is a Class V and really didn't have that much calculus but she did have a lot of soft deposit. That is something I need to work on is being sure to completely remove ALL of the soft deposit. Instructor Vining gave me a good piece of advice and told me to run over each tooth using an exploratory stroke after I floss to make sure I've gotten it all. I used my ultrasonic scaler today. I was pretty nervous because I needed to pass off my PE too. I have used it before but not with an instructor nearby nor did I feel very confident with it. But after a few pieces of suggestion from Instructor Vinging I feel extremely confident with the ultrasonic scaler and I LOVE it! One more thing about today (I know I'm kind of rambling), I realized I really need to start working on my posture not only because all of the instructors have told me I need to but my back kills me after each clinic session. So today I focused on sitting upright, I even got complimented by one of the instructors and it was great! They weren't lying when they said bad ergonomics could end your career. I also think my new glasses are helping a lot because I can see a ton better.. Imagine that! Well as I said today was a good clinic today and gave me a boost of confidence I needed. I'm definitely walking out of here with a smile on my face :)

Aha Moment

We only had one day in clinic this last week. We are getting jipped this semester- every holiday is on a Monday so we keep missing clinic days. On Wednesday though I finished my grandpa. He was in at the first of the semester but I only got through OD so I had four quads to scale. I was a little nervous because I still don't feel completely comfortable with scaling and plus my grandpa is a Class II. Instructor Hafen was my instructor and for some reason how she explained adaptation to me it finally clicked! I'm still not an expert but I get it now. I need to adapt more than I think so I can get the tip/toe directly on the tooth. It was great! I missed a few spots on my grandpa (five total) but I still felt like I did an alright job. I need to work on only using a working stroke when I find calculus. There is no need to dig in a patient's gums if nothing is there. I also need to work on making a plan to pass of my PEs. I don't think I am behind but I need to be more pro active with it. I always get a little nervous to pass them off for some reason. Overall it was a good day in clinic and I'm so glad I finally had an aha moment and I hope there are many more to come. Well that's about it.. I can't believe we are half way through this semester already. CRAZY! But it makes me happy so... I am smiling :)

My Pal Al.. Returns

Well my favorite patient came back! The only bad part is I finished him today so I won't see him again for at least another 6 months. Today was good however, I scaled 4 quads and only missed two areas which was good for me. Al was so patient and understanding too. I'm feeling more confident with scaling and I feel I'm getting better at adapting. The biggest thing I need to work on now is my posture. My back already gets sore and I can only imagine how it will be if I keep this up. I got a majority of the stains off of Al's teeth and he was extremely appreciative and was very keen on learning new things to help improve his oral health. He would be everyone's dream patient. When I walked him out he gave me a big hug. I couldn't have asked for a better patient.
I was also able to pass off my peer calculus removal PE. I did it on Danielle's patient and he was a 1B so there really wasn't much to get off, first of all because Danielle did such a good job scaling and I don't think he had much to begin with. It was a good experience going in an unfamiliar mouth looking for calculus. Overall today was a good day. We won't be seeing patients for a week and a half so I'll be back then smiling as big as ever!

One Patient-- One Day

Yes I finally did it! I completed a patient all in one day! Well I did it last week but she was a 1A so I didn't really count it but I finished a 1B today! Best feeling ever! Granted she was a very healthy patient with minimum amounts of calculus and I still missed some areas- which discouraged me a bit along with the two retakes I had to take on her xrays. I had to retake both of the pre molars and I didn't really see a need so I may have gotten a bit lippy and my instructor may have put me in my place. I felt like an idiot but it served me right. So ya today was by no means perfect and I still have so much to learn it's ridiculous but it feels good to get some requirements completed. That really is my biggest stress right now. One last thing.. I LOVE the Nevi!!! Holy greatest instrument ever! You can use it anywhere and everywhere! I'm in love :) Well today is done which I'm glad about. I finished my last CA day for the semester and got a patient done.. Time for a quick nap then back to studying! And I'm still smiling.. Mostly because of my nap that is going to happen as soon as I finish this :)

Until next time...