Test Run

Today Jake came in to be my patient. Things went okay overall. The biggest mistake was that I forgot to turn the eposure time up from a 6 (for digitals) to a 14. My films obviously came out way too light! The good news is that I will probably not ever do that again! It took me forever to do things. I need to get more practice at identifying and locating restorations. I also need to get quicker at probing. Hopefully this will all come with time! Jake probably isn't too excited to come back, but I'm going to save him for next semester if I ever have a cancellation and hopefully he can come on a moments notice!!!!

Emergency Situations

Today was insane! It was good becuase we talked about what to do in emergency situations. I learned a lot. The insane part was that we only had an hour to pass off our sealant and air powder polishing pe's. .. and there was 2 of us trying to do it and we were all trying to share the instructor! We got to have Instructor Snow help us today, she was filling in for Angie. It is really crazy that we are going to see our first REAL patient on Wednesday! I am just crossing my fingers that everything will work out okay!

Reverse Roles

Today was a very relaxing day. I got to be the patient the entire day and Katie gave me a real treat. It was bad news that I have a cold but she was very nice about it and was good to help me be comfortable. She did a very good job bringing everything together and set a good example for me to follow on Wednesday. There are a few things that I want to review before then, but I am excited to see how it will all go!

Refresher!

Today was a good day. We learned how to do a PSR reading. It was a very good chance to get to practice probing, which it seems like I haven't done for forever! I was also able to pass off my fluoride PE and my instrument sharpening PE. I wish we would have had time to do the air polish powder PE because next week is going to be pretty crazy. I am excited, but nervous at the same time. It will be good to see everything come together.
Today I also had a huge brain fart when I was trying to clean up. I was cleaning the trap and for some odd reason could NOT figure out how to put it back together! Luckily Laurie was there to save the day!

RUSHED!

Wow...today was crazy!!!! I only had 40 mins to pass off my selective polishing PE, do some sealants and take care of the chart and everything. It seems very possible but I felt really rushed. I wanted to pass off my fluoride PE but we just didn't have time. Needless to say, I'm getting out of clinic quite late. I enjoyed it though.
I have never really interacted with the Dr's so it was good to get a chance to talk to them as they came over to check the teeth we wanted to seal. It was also good to get my teeth touched up on sealants. The funnest thing today was being able to adjust the sealants if they were high becuase this is something I have never been able to do before. That was always left up to the Dr.
I feel like I still have a lot to learn and it is crazy to me how quickly this semester is coming to an end!

Disgusting mess!

Today was a very interesting day. We learned how to use the air powder brush. We got started a little bit late becuase we didn't have any sterilized tips. During this time while we were waiting I was able to pass off my Eaglesoft Walk out statement PE and my universal instrumentation PE.
We first practiced on a penny with the air powder brush, then on Dexter. I was scared to do it on a real person! When I had it done to me I hated it... the taste is horrible and the powder burns, and a mess just goes everywhere! It's really tough to manipulate everything I feel like...probably just becuase I have no prior experience with this. One thing that really helped me feel more comfortable is putting a dry angle by the cheek. I feel like this protects the patient and also helps me feel more confident. I don't know how much I will use this if I don't have too! I guess I will find out eventually!

Ultrasonic & Sharpening...A Great New Adventure!!!

Today was a good day. We learend lots of new things. Today was the first time that I had ever seen instruments sharpeneed. I was so worried that I was going to ruin my instruments...and I'm still not sure that I didn't. I was just worried because we spent so much money on them! It was a good thing to learn to do and the paper visual angle really helped me alot. I think I will probably use that for a while until I get really comfortable with it.
We also learned how to use the ulrasonic! I was stoked about this! We learned it earlier than we were supposed to and I think that is going to be a great benefit. My typodont didn't have lips or cheeks on the left side so I had a hard time not making a mess by spraying water all over the place. It will be interesting to use on a real person! I can't wait!

Technology...a blessing and a curse!

Today was a good day. We finished early for the first time in a long time. I was able to pass off my anterior intrumentation and my intra oral camera P.E. I still get a little nervous going interproximally with a scaler, especially on healthy tight tissue, but I am getting the hang of it...you can go a lot further in than you would expect! The intra oral camera some how got messed up when I was passing it off and it said "no card" so I didn't get to finish demonstrating the funnest part, but I just did it verbally. Today we did selective polishing. I had no idea it isn't recommended to polish everyone! That came as a big surprise to me. I had also never brushed someone else's teeth so that was a new experience, but not as tough as I anticipated. The rheostat here is really touchy so it also took a little practice to get used to the amount of pressure needed! It was also the first time that I had ever had the varnish applied. It feels so stinkin weird!!! I don't blame patients for not liking it, but it is definitely a better method for the benefits of fluoride. I am just glad I don't have to have the varnish put on everyday!

The Pre-Party Event

Today went really well. We learned about the classifications of patients and treatment planning. It will be interesting because we won't really be able to practice this until we start seeing patients. We also practiced instrumentation. I am still nervous to use the activation stroke...especially using indirect vision. It is tricky to make sure that I am always adapted, etc. I love it when we get to practice. I feel like I learn alot by just doing it. We also had fun becuase a few of us were dressed up for the Halloween party today! That's where I am headed...to go PARTY!!!

Good Day!

I loved today. It was a little bit more layed back and I feel like I also accomplished quite a bit. I passed off my instrument design and classification P.E. and adaptation, angulation and activation. I feel more comfortable with what the instruments are and what they are used for. I hope that my fingers get calloused soon because they get kind of sore when I was scaling those posterior teeth! There are some difficult areas to reach and stay adapted but I like the sound I hear when I am doing it right!
We also got to play with the intra oral camera becuase last time it got a paper jam and I wasn't able to try it. It feels good to finally be ahead again on PE's because I don't like just doing them when they are due...especially when we start to run out of time.

Trial Run

Today I felt really rushed! But at the same time, I felt like it was a really good experience! We were assigned "patients" from another pod to do a trial run. I had gotten pretty used to working on the people in my pod, so there were quite a few new things that I hadn't seen before on one of my patients. I still need to get the flow of how things need to be run and the order that I need to do things. It is crazy for me to think how soon we will be seeing real patients! The thought of that makes me nervous! I also attempted to pass off my dental screening P.E. I don't know if I passed yet, but I do know that I felt really rushed becuase I was trying to do this and get my chart in to the instructors in like 10 mins! It was pretty crazy. I just really hope that I don't end up redoing it!

There is a First Time for EVERYTHING!!!

Today I had a lot of fun! I passed off my probing PE and then we learned how to scale the anterior teeth! It was so much fun becuase I have never done anything like this before. We put white out on the typodont and scaled this off first. This was good, but I knew it was going to be a lot different when I got to a real patient! It was cool to actually feel calculus and remove it! Then we switched and I was able to get my teeth scaled. This was actually the first time my teeth have ever been scaled before! It sure was interesting! I had some calculus right between #24 and #25. Professor Costely came over to remove it...my eyes started watering, not becuase it hurt but just the sound! It was an aweful sound! It was just something I had never experienced before! I didn't feel quite as overwhelmed today which is good!

Wow.....

Wow! Well....today I felt pretty rushed and kind of overwhelmed. I passed off my exploring PE but I still need a lot of practice to get used to how to adapt quickly to every tooth. I'm starting to see how the flow of things is going to be when we start seeing patients...which isn't too far away! We learned some details about the scalers which is pretty intimidating. I just hope everything is processing in my brain so I can make sure and retain all this information! I really just want to get this basic stuff down and sometimes I worry that I am not! I guess we will eventually find out!

Stains galore...WHAT?????

Wow! Today was good, a little bit longer than normal because I had a headache, but the time still flew by. We used the disclosing agent today. It is so amazing to me how hard it can be to get your teeth clean! It is quite humbling...just when I think I'm doing a decent job brushing I find out I've still been missing spots!!! It's kind of depressing, but it's really good to know where I need to focus on more.
I think this is a really good way to motivate our patients...it's great to individualize your OHI to them and for them to be able to apply it to their own mouth. I'm also really glad that I learned the trick about the vaseline on the lips....when I did the dental assisting program we never learned that and so we were always walking around with bright pink lips and it was a little much for me! My next project is to disclose my husband and get him brushing better! Disclosing agent is an amazing thing!!!

Healthy as a Horse

I was kind of rushed today in clinic. The good news is that I passed off my intraoral exam P.E.! I also saw my first palatine torus....that was pretty cool. I also learned how to chart existing conditions...some composites and sealants can be pretty difficult to find...I swear they hide from you! I guess that is one more advantage of amalgam...you can't miss them! I didn't get done probing, but I created a perio statement from what I had. It was really easy becuase her mouth was healthy as a horse, but it makes me nervous for when actual patients come in!

ZAP!

Today was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it! It was kind of crazy. I had an interesting experience with my "patient". Angie was helping me to try to get the angle down as I come around the tooth and we were just hovering the probe over the top of the tooth and my patient all of a sudden jumped really high and flinched. She felt something in her nerve and she felt like it had shocked her! I couldn't believe it when it happened a second time! I didn't want to put her through that any more so we just decided to skip over the 2 maxillary central incisors. We couln't figure out what was causing it because it didn't happen the whole rest of the time! Needless to say I was a little bit nervous about it after that, but everything went a lot smoother after that compared to last time! I actually fell asleep when I was getting my teeth probed! I was so relaxed! It was so nice to get a nap! Today was a lot of fun, I hope I can continue to figure things out!

Three-Two-Three!!!

Today was a lot of fun, just because it was all new stuff...Anything going subgingival is new to me of course! It was interesting becuase I had never had this done to me, so it was new to be doing the probing, and to be probed! The fulcruming is starting to come a little bit easier. I still struggle a little bit with having a really light grasp on the instrument...I just forget! It is really hard to see the distal reading on the most posterior teeth! It's going to take a lot of practice to get used to reading the probe. Right now becuase I am not too familiar with the probe I just count the lines as I go in and it seems to be working okay. I'm excited to be able to practice more!

Bloody Exploration...It's a learning experience!

Today I really learned how to use the explorer and I went a lot further under the gums than I ever thought was possible! I think it is really good that we can tell each other what hurts and what doesn't. There is so many different things to think about. I think one of the hardest things for me is to figure out what end of the explorer to use. I have decided that I need to start looking at the tip before I determine which end is right just by looking at the shank. Right when I think I understand it, I'm proved wrong! I guess a little bit of blood never did hurt anybody...right Mindy????

Caution!!! Slippery Surfaces!!!

Wow. Today I felt a little overwhelmed. We were learning adaptation and angulation. I had a hard time getting the hang of it! I still don't feel completely comfortable, so hopefully on Wednesday I become more comfortable after more practice. It is so different trying to do it on a real person than on a typodont! The teeth are so slippery! Angie helped a lot and Michelle was very patient with me! Thank heavens for instructors and classmates!

Rugae, Caruncles and Torus...Oh my!

Today in clinic we had a lot of fun. We learned how to do intra-oral exams. The time sure does go by a lot faster when we are exploring new things on each other. I didn't even know some of those features of the mouth existed! And if I did know, I didn't know how to find them. I found it really interesting.
I realized one thing as I was passing off my Health History PPE... I missed something on my case study (I hope that won't take off too many points!) I forgot to write "physician's consult" in the upper right hand corner under medical alerts. I sure do know now though for the next time it comes up...and I don't think I'll forget it!

Pinky down, down, down!!!

Today in clinic we went over fulcrums and the use of the mirror. The only time I have previously used fulcrums is when polishing in the office. However, I was not focused on where I was fulcruming, and I have this nasty habit of letting my pinky finger chill exactly where it is not supposed to be! I am definitely going to have to break that habit.
I can't imagine that someday I will be able to do all this without thinking about it....Right now it seems really tricky! It seems like there are so many different things to think about at once! I can only hope that after a lot of practice I will get it down!

She is Alive!!!

Today I learned AGAIN how to take blood pressure! I learned how to do it like 2 years ago, but I haven't done it for so long that I totally forgot how to do it! The first time I tried it today I didn't hear a thing... After a few more times I finally heard a beat and realized my pod partner really was alive! After practicing today I felt a lot better about taking blood pressure and I'm starting to feel more confident about it. Vital signs are such a simple thing that can be so important. I wonder how often they get over looked in private practice.
We are learning so much I am just hoping that I will be able to remember it all so I can apply it later!

Details, Details, Details!

Today in clinic we learned how to review health histories and record entries in the patient chart. I have never gone over one in so much depth! I now realize that they are truly valuable to anyone in the dental office...especially those performing the dental treatment.
Today my pod partner didn't have hardly any thing listed on her health history, but I get nervous about how much time it is going to take me to go over a patient that may have a lot of things to list! I sure do like abbreviations!
I am so sure that important details get looked over so much in the dental office because of the carelessness of the staff. I have never had anybody sit down and review my health history in so much detail...but this is something that I want to do. I am a very detail-oriented person so I want to put this to use to benefit my future patients!

Busy Bees

Today in clinic we learned ALOT! Learning how to do the patient write-up in the chart was pretty intense! It made me excited though to think about everything that we are going to know by the time next year rolls around and then the next...my TA (Joni) had written up some notes to put in a pretend chart and she sounded really smart! I think it's great because EVERYTHING that we are learning in our classes will be applied. It is much harder to enjoy learning something if you think you are never going to use it again!

Practice makes perfect...Hopefully!

Today in clinic was really good. I got a lot of practice in! I have previously learned about the time clock, but it was associated with assisting. It was interesting to learn that we only use the 8-12 in hygiene and the areas that we work with in the mouth were completely new to me. We were actually able to handle the mirror and scaler, which helped me to figure out which areas I will need to be using indirect vision. I passed off 2 PE's which feels good, but I know there are ALOT more ahead! Practice, practice, practice!

First Day of Clinic

Yesterday was my very first day of clinic. I was pretty familiar with everything...except for Eaglesoft! I've been using Dentrix the past 2 years and am really comfortable with it, but Eaglesoft seems to be quite a bit different. I'm excited to learn the program and get the hang of it!

First Post

I made it!!! Let's see if this works!