I See, I See

Finally it is starting to come to me... INDIRECT VISION!!!! Today was the first day I felt really comfortable with it. I still have a lot of room for improvement but it's coming and hopefully it doesn't go away- keep your fingers crossed! Today I saw my Grandma who is a Class V and my Grandpa who is a Class II. I got them both finished in a timely manner and felt pretty good about it. I missed one spot on each of them and both of them were in the anteriors. I need to be more thorough when I am exploring through there making sure I go interproximally. I still need to work on my OHI and giving more specific instructions for each and every patient. I gave my Grandpa some Chlorohexadine so I think that is a step in the right direction. I also need to work on passing off PEs- I'm kind of slacking with that. Well that is all for today.. Until next time!

Back at WSU

Well I did it! That is finish my first day back at WSU's clinic. Like I said I was a little nervous about today because I was CA last week and clinic here is a lot different than it is at the VA but I managed and got done with both of my patients early.
My first patient was a lady I saw at the Women's Health Connection this last summer. She was as nice as could be and was a great patient to start on. She was a Class V with minimal amounts of calculus but lots of plaque/biofilm. I used the ultrasonic on her for the initial debridement and she was a great help with the saliva evacuator. That is something I need to work on is controlling the ultrasonic better when it is in the patient's mouth. However, it didn't help that I couldn't adjust the water control on my ultrasonic unit so I'll use that as my excuse today.
My second patient was my uncle, my favorite uncle so that made it fun. He is a bit of a chatter so to make him stop I just had to stick my hands in his mouth and get to work. I feel that will be something I will have to utilize with more of my patients in the future. I was able to take 4 BWX on him. I took verticals on him and my patient this morning- they are kind of hard and I struggled getting my contacts open. My instructor told me I need to move the PID more mesial so that is something I will need to focus on more in the future. My uncle was also a Class V with minimal amounts of calculus. He has very good oral hygiene just a bit of recession. I do need to be more diligent in going into the interproximals to check for calculus there as well not be scared to go subgingivally. My uncle was a great patient and it was nice to get 8 quads and 8 BWX done today.
One goal I do have is to work on my OHI. I am good with telling them the basics: brushing and flossing but I want to give more personalized instruction that will benefit the patient. Prevention should be my main goal and more personalized OHI will help get me there. Well that's it for today! Don't forget to smile :)

CA. . . . .OK!

Well here we go again.. My second year has officially begun. I think I have experienced every emotion in anticipation for this day- excited, scared, nervous, anxious, and anything else you can possibly think of. It was a relief however when I found out I was assigned to be CA my first day of clinic. I was glad mostly for two reasons: I didn't have to worry about seeing any patients and I got it over with. I was surprised at how everything came back to me so easily. I was a little nervous I had forgotten it all. Kayla was also assigned CA for the day with me so it was nice to have each other to help each other get things done and I felt we were able to accomplish a lot. It was also really neat being able to observe and assist my peers- they all did an excellent job and made me excited to start regularly seeing patients again. One downer of being CA the first week is that everyone else has gotten their first week over with and I haven't. But that's ok, I'll keep my fingers crossed in hopes of a smooth day and I'll smile as always :)