Mission Accomplished

Well I finally feel like I accomplished something. Even though was having one of my 1B patients coming back today, I still feel like I was able to get a lot done. I completed my exam on her, and did some sealants and I passed off my Diagnodent and air powder polishing PE's! Yeah!!! Today for my exam I was really focusing on trying to get the time I needed to get a 4 on my scaling becuase she had a pretty healthy mouth. I was worried about missing spots however trying to hurry so fast! I was able to get it done in 20 mins with only missing 1 spot! I was pretty excited because in the past I have spent forever trying to check and recheck my work. I feel like it was a good confidence builder...just what I need to get me through the rough, overwhelming days that lie ahead! I feel like I learned a lot from Instructor Vining. Today he went over a sequencing pattern with our pod and I really liked the idea of it. I'm really going to try hard to start doing that sequence with every patient. He promises it will make us faster and that once we get the sequence down it will come automatically! One mistake I made today is that I didn't start with the mandibular lingual anteriors, so I felt really rushed with them. Jeff said to Always start with the hardest areas and then go to the easier areas. I'm up for trying any suggestions that helps me become a little bit faster and more comfortable with what I'm doing!

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees

Today I got another class II patient!!! I was stoked! He was very receptive to my OHI and seemed like he was a little more motivated when he left to do better. It was the first time I had used the flip chart to teach and I think it worked really well. I didn't get to scaling yet, but I'm planning to do that all next time. He will be my exam patient. He was really easy to talk to and pretty open about things. It has been since he was 12 or 13 since he went to the dentist. Probably like 10 years. I just hope I can convince him that he needs to get in there and get an exam from the dentist when I am done with him. One thing that I learned today is to talk about finances when setting up the appointment with every single patient, even if they have been in before. He had been in several times before, so I figured he was aware of this, but showed up with no money. I ended up paying for the BW's (my decision) but made sure he knew that he needed to bring $28 with him next time because I cannot afford that! I just pray that he really will come back and that he really will bring money with him. It is very obvious to me that money is a huge issue of why most people don't take care of their overall health, including their teeth. But the world keeps turning and we just have to hand over the money! If anybody knows of any $$$$ growing on trees, please help me be aware of this!!!

FINALLY!!!!

I finally did it! I finally was able to have a class II patient in my chair. I can't take the credit for it though, Chelsea B. actually gave me her name becuase I had drama with confiming my patient yesterday. It is so nice to feel like we are all helping each other out so hopefully we can all make it through the semester together. I really appreciate her...I owe her big time!
I was a little nervous at first becuase I didn't know how much Enlish she spoke, but she was great, very easy to talk to. I only got through an OD check, but I was able to take 4 BWX and 3 PA's, all digital! That is good news. It was good to be getting 5 probe readings and actually be right! She had a ton of bleeding and I could tell it was really sore. Vining thinks it will be best to numb her up for next time. I'm excited. She actually acts like she is motivated to doing what she needs to do to help get her mouth healthier. She also asked a lot of questions...it is good for me to get drilled with questions! I feel like I am continually learning...I just really hope I am retaining it all!!! There is sooooooooo much information out there to know!

Rest and Relax!!!!

Today was a fun day. I could actually sleep soundly last night and didn't wake up having any nightmares about my patient not showing up. It is amazing what stress does to you! I learned a lot today. I feel like we covered a lot of good things...Dental Codes, Tx planning, ultrasonic, denture cleaning and diagnodent. The most interesting thing to me was the diagnodent because I have never seen one of those used before. I would like to run one of those things around my mouth! I think it could be a very efficient tool. Costley also said a few things that helped me relieve a LITTLE bit of stress about meeting the requirements for clinic. I just need to get all my PE's in and make sure I'm doing my best and having a patient in my chair every time and hopefully all will work out. Jamey, my peer pal, also said that she was all done with her class II and III patients so she would send them my way if she came across any. Hopefully she can help me out. One thing I realized that I need to review as well is what instruments need to be used where, particularly the Gracey's. From now on we will need to tell the instructor what instruments we will be using for treatment at the OD check. I think this will help me think through things and get a plan in my head. I know I have SOOOOOOOOO much to learn and soooo many skills to develop and improve on....my only hope is that in some small way I am showing progress!!!

CA Day #2!

Today I was CA for my 2nd time. I ended up switching Jessica because she wasn't able to be in clinic today. I had a lot of fun. It was good to work with Tori a little bit and get to know her a little bit better. It was a little bit different than last time becuase I got to close down everything and learn how to run the autoclave. Everything else came back to me pretty quickly, but Tori was still a really good help. I'm kind of excited for the break I'm getting. I didn't have a patient today, we are having a lab day on Wed. and next Mon. we are out of school! I hope by the time next Wed. rolls around I won't have digressed! I'm still really stressing over requirements...I just gotta think to take it one day at a time or I'm going to go crazy!!!

Thank Heavens For Husbands!!!

Well....today was interesting. My patient called me at 10:30 to cancel because of the weather. She works at an insurance company and didn't feel like she could leave because the claims would pile up. Frustrating. Luckily my husband was able to come, even though it was not convenient at all for him, bless his heart.
That was only part of the stress of the morning. On the way to school I got stuck in a snow bank by my house. My landlord had to bring me to school (how imbarrassing!) and my car is still stuck. Luckily my husband was able to come in today, although it wasn't very convenient for him.
I need to be more careful in the pockets and interproximally. I really gave my husbands gums one heck of a work out! Today, instead of NOT going deep enough into the pocket and interproximally, I think I was trying to go too much. However, I feel like I improved a lot in my technique and Angie was very helpful. I really need to pay close attention to the lingual mandibular anteriors. She gave me a good tip to use my Barnhart to get the calculus off the straight linguals or any groove by using the toe. I think this will come in very handy. I was able to pass off my universal instrumentation PE and my instrument sharpening PE because we had extra time. Hopefully I can take what I learned today and improve upon it!