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...

Class Two's Out the Wazoo

The title says it all.. Seriously all of my patients have been either a Class II or V and they are under the same category so they aren't doing me much good. Don't get me wrong I am grateful for the opportunity to see these patients and see perio and actual calculus but I'm a little stressed about the requirements I'm expected to EXCEED. I just can't think about it too much or it stresses me out. I know I will get them all done though I just have to keep reminding myself of all the people that have been through this program and have completed the requirements so as impossible as it may seem I know it's not.

Today I saw a boy off of my recall list. He goes to my high school and he plays soccer there for the same coach I played for so that was kind of a neat thing we had in common. He couldn't remember the last time he had been to the dentist and that was made apparent when I looked in his mouth. He had heavy calculus on his anteriors and some edematous tissue. It was interesting though because his tissue in the molar region appeared quite healthy. He ended up having to quads of Class II and two IB so at least I have those. And lucky for me Kayla told me she would do his two quads of Class II and she will give me a IB. When I looked in my patient's mouth today I had the strongest urge to get in there with my scaler and just go to town before I did anything else but I refrained and only got through OD today. I did end up taking 4 PAs along with his 4 BWX though so that was nice to at least make some progress on my requirements. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with my xray taking skills- knock on wood. I typically have to take 1 or 2 retakes but they are looking a lot better than they used to so at least I'm improving in one area. I'm really excited for when I have a patient that I've already seen come back so I can finish scaling them and hopefully boost my confidence in that area as well.

Today was a long day of clinic- Clinic in the morning and CA in the afternoon. I learned a lot though and wouldn't trade where I am for anything. I'll be smiling until next time :)

Smiling From Beginning to End

As weird as this may sound my goal for clinic this last Wednesday was to be in as good of a mood at the end of clinic as I was at the first. I don't know what it was but I was super happy that morning and just feeling great. As I was driving to clinic I had a thought that clinic could easily change this good mood to a pretty sour one. So right then and there I decided I wouldn't let it. I have to remember I'm a student therefore I'm not perfect nor expected to be perfect and making mistakes is what helps me learn. So I tried to stick with that attitude- I found it was a lot easier said than done but I think I managed alright.

My Grandpa was my patient- I love him but I'm not super close to him so I was afraid it was going to be a little awkward but it really wasn't bad. We started out with a pano because he had four bitewings six months ago. I was nervous to take a pano because it had been a while since I took one and I was right to be nervous. After my third attempt I finally got a diagnostic x-ray. Lucky for me my Grandpa was very patient and understanding. Then I took him into the clinic and proceeded with the rest of the appointment. I'm still not the best at recognizing restorations but hopefully that will come with practice. I did find two amalgam tattoos however so that was neat to be able to see on a actual patient. My Grandpa is a Class II so after I finish him and my good pal Al I will have completed all of my Class II requirements! YAY! My Grandpa had some pretty deep pockets (the deepest was 7 mm) but I only measured a 4. I was a little discouraged after that but then I remembered my goal, put a smile on my face, and kept working. I got to scaling- I started on the lower right quad. This is where I feel like I need the most improvement. I still don't know what calculus feels like so I get scared to ask for a scale check because I don't want to miss any spots. I know this is another thing that will come with practice and my mistakes will be to my benefit in the long run but it still makes me nervous. I told my Grandma that by his next appointment I will be better so I better stick to my word!

It wasn't my best clinic day but I tried to keep a good attitude. I was smiling as I walked out of clinic so we'll call it a success!

An Unexpected Pal

My very first patient- Not counting my mom because I knew her. This guy came off the reference list and I was a bit nervous to see him. He refused xrays, was late, and told me he was going to leave early but he ended up being a great patient and I really grew to like him! I'm going to try and follow the new way we are supposed to do our blog entries according to the clinic syllabus- I don't think I really like it but I'll give it a shot.

Goal: To make the appointment go as smoothly as possible. I didn't get too specific with my goals that was really all I wanted for my sake and the patient's.

Strategies: Plan ahead. Get out everything I may need beforehand.

I will admit I felt I accomplished my goal pretty well. The appointment went well and flowed!!!! I definitely have lots of room for improvement but it was a good way to start off to boost my confidence a little. I got to scaling but didn't finish a quad. But guess what?! I got to use the ultrasonic, kind of scary but so exciting! I love it, it works wonders! My patient had lots of extrinsic staining from coffee and tea so to try to hand scale that off it would have been a nightmare but the ultrasonic made it so much easier! I used the slimline which I hadn't practiced with so I need to work on it and my adaptation but overall it went pretty well. And I was very fortunate that my pal Al was so patient and understanding of me. I'm excited for him to come back so I can show him some better instrumenting because of the practice I will have had and send him home with a brighter smile!

Until next time I'll be smiling :)

I'm Back!

Well I am back, it's been a while and as you can tell I am already a little behind considering I am doing my first blog entry now.We have a new outline we are supposed to follow so I'll do that for my next blog entries but for this one I'm going to do what I want :)

Christmas break was great- I worked a lot, spent time with the fam, celebrated Christmas, turned 21, brought in the New Year but doing a doughnut in my car in a snowy canyon, and had tons of fun but like always it went by way to fast. I can't believe we are already back and into the swing of things. Our first day back in clinic was nice because all we did was learn how to use the ultrasonic. And I love it! We only practiced on our typodonts but still I loved it! It got me really excited to start working on patients although I'm still nervous, even to this day and I saw two patients this week! I'll tell you more about them in my next posts though! :)

Well, well, well-- I have a lot to do and I should really quit reading the Hunger Games because it is taking priority over my studying which isn't a good thing! I'm almost done though :) I'll be back with a smile so don't miss me too much!