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 :)

El Fin

Yes I completed my first year of the dental hygiene program and boy did it go by fast! Looking back on this year I feel like I've learned so much yet I still have so much to learn. It has been great so far though, I am definitely ready for a break but hopefully after a couple months I'll be ready to come back in full swing. Well I finished my last patient on Wednesday. It was a senior and she needed everything done (including sealants) except xrays because she is pregged. I was a little nervous- It was morning clinic, she was 45 minutes late, and I really needed to clean all her quads for the credit, and I needed one more experience of sealants. But guess what? I finished! It was a great feeling. She was an easy patient and didn't really have any calculus but for the first time I think I didn't miss any spots on my scale check. It was a good way to end the semester! Now I'm ready for summer, smiling and amazed that I made it through this first year in one piece :)

The Return of the "Classy" Class IV

He came back!!!! And yes it is close to a miracle. He told me last week at his appointment his phone may be getting shut off because he hasn't paid the bill so I might not be able to get a hold of him to confirm his appointment. I tried to call him this last Friday and lo and behold.. The phone had been shut off. So all weekend I was worried he wasn't going to come in and trying to figure out another way to find a Class III by Wednesday. Luckily I had a little faith he would come in because he did and he was right on time. I could have cried I was so happy. And another wonderful thing about today was I talked to Demmings right before clinic because I wanted to see if there was any way my Class IV with 3 quads could be counted as a Class III with 4 quads- I was skeptical she would do it but she did and she was so nice about it! As lame as it sounds that was a tender mercy. So all that started the day off just great. I had 2 quads to scale and boy were they tough. Tenacious calculus combined with tobacco stains makes my job hard. It was a really good experience though and Demmings was great. She spent a lot of one on one time with me giving me tips and suggestions to improve my instrumentation techniques. I was reminded today that I definitely haven't mastered all this yet so it's a good thing I'm coming back next year. I have learned a lot though and made a ton of improvement. AND... I'm still smiling because I finished my Class IV, school is almost over, and I'm done with clinic for today. The combination makes for one happy girl :)

Seal Away

Well today Chelsey so kindly gave me her patient that I gave her so I could do sealants on her. I have been struggling with sealants this semester (as in getting patients that need them) so now that it comes to the end I've got to get them all done! This patient needed 11 sealants so I definitely got a lot of practice. I still feel a little awkward when I do them and I can see the benefits of having an assistant but nontheless I can do them. It's quite the task to keep the mandibular teeth dry but I managed. I'll keep sealing away until I'm done and I am still smiling :)

My "Classy" Class IV

Well well well, the day finally came I got my Class III and he actually came in! And lo and behold he was a Class IV! I knew that this patient probably wasn't going to be the classiest of my patients considering I was told he lives in a trailer park and hitch hikes to all of his appointments. But luckily he got a girlfriend to drive him around so there was no hitchhiking to this appointment. This patient had severe bone loss, furcations, mobility, calculus, and plenty of missing teeth- and that is what may cause a problem. He only has 6 teeth on the top so there is no way that is two quads but I'm hoping since he is a Class IV my instructor will be a little more giving with him. For his first appointment he was great- we took some PAs and got a quad scaled. He didn't want anesthetic so that made it hard as the operator because I knew he was uncomfortable. I used Oraquix for the first time though and that was neat and fun to use. It was really gratifying to see the quad I had done compared to the ones I haven't- it looked good! I still missed more spots than I would have liked though and I think I'm getting a little discouraged because I spent a lot of time on that one quad. But hopefully it comes with more time and practice. My "classy" patient is going to come back this coming Monday, well I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will. I'm paying for his cleaning so he better! He did tell me that his phone may be shut off by that time because he hasn't paid the bill so I'm just praying he remembers and shows up! It was a good experience for me to work on a harder patient and I look forward to the day I can do it with ease. Well until next time we'll keep it classy and we won't stop smiling :)