Today didn't really go as planned! This morning my patient was 30 minutes late. Her BWX were the hardest ones I have ever taken (I'm surprised they turned out as good as they did...I didnt' have any retakes just 2 supplemental films to get the maxillary bone). The bad news is that I only got an OD done, but the good news is that she is a class III! She has quite a few class 1 furcations, a lot of recession and even some class 1-2 mobility. She will definitaly be a good experience. She can only come at 8:00 which only leaves me with the last day of clinic. She will be finishing off my class 3 requirements and my exams so I hope it doesn't fall through or else I'm screwed!
This afternoon was soooo crazy and hectic! I planned to see a 7-yr old boy and then see his 16-yr old sister. The little boy was quick and easy. I love doing kids. However, his older sister had like 3 HUGE cold sores!!!! GRRR! Ruin my plans! I tried to call my husband to see if he could come in so I could do my blood glucose and caries risk assessment pe's on him, but he was already at work so that wasn't going to work. Luckily Liz had a patient that she had scheduled for 1:45 and she was going to be busy with her class 2 patient so she told me I could have her. I was really excited to have something to do to fill my time and help me meet requirements.
I brought the patient back and she had kind of a complicated HHX. She was diabetic, had high blood pressure, and taking several meds....those HHX are always a treat to work with! After taking her BP 4 times it was finally low enough to proceed! However, since it took so long it was like 2:40 and I hadn't even done an OD yet. Prof. Perry was so good to work with me and help her get her finished and on her way. One thing that was kind of cool is that I got to use the new intra oral camera...that thing is soooo much better than that old dinosaur we have had to use in the past! She had a big red area on her palate that I had never seen before. I asked Prof. Perry about it and he said that if there was white specks with it he would think it was a yeast infection, but there wasn't. We told her to watch for any white to appear and if it does to go see her regular dentist.
I had 3 charts to fill out this afternoon so I was a little late getting out of there. Thanks so much to my lovely pod who is always so willing to help me get cleaned up so I'm not there as late! You guys are awesome! By the way, it happened to me again. I had all these big plans to complete PE's today (the accessory fulcrum, Caries Risk Assessment,Blood Glucose, Ultrasonic) and I didn't complete any of them!!! Such is life I guess, but hopefully I will be able to get around to them sometime soon becuase the semester is coming to an end!!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
RELIEF!!!! I can FINALLY breathe!
Today was the big day...MOCKBOARDS!!! I was scared out of my mind. I haven't been that nervous for a long time! I honestly felt like I was either going to throw up or pee my pants...or both! Luckily now it is all over with and I can say prayers of gratitude!
I started off this morning being a student examiner. It was really good for me to find out a little bit more what the paper work is and what needed to be filled out. It was also good to be able to put myself in the shoes of the examiner and search for spots of calculus.
After lunch it was my turn! I was really nervous that something was going to go wrong. I started off kind of on a bad foot becuase as I was setting up my tray I dropped my sharpening stone and it broke into 3 pieces...Lovely! Luckily though my patient came ON TIME AND HE QUALIFIED!!! I was stoked. Once I got scaling I wasn't as nervous, it seemed just like a normal clinic day. I was concerned about a few spots, but when my results came back I had actually missed two different spots and none that I was worried about! Lucky for me, those spots weren't counted on my grade becuase it hadn't been chosen in advance to be graded. I did make a mistake on my perio statement. I didn't realize that because he had 4 mm of recession on 1 tooth, he would be classified as severe...at least I'm finding this out now!
I'm soooooo grateful we had this opportunity to run through things so I can continue to prepare for the real thing. I can't even imagine how nervous I'm going to be that day! I was happy how things turned out and excited to be able to use this experience to better my skills. I'm glad we get to do this 2 more times before the real board! Thank heavens we have intructors who know what they are doing and can help us!
I started off this morning being a student examiner. It was really good for me to find out a little bit more what the paper work is and what needed to be filled out. It was also good to be able to put myself in the shoes of the examiner and search for spots of calculus.
After lunch it was my turn! I was really nervous that something was going to go wrong. I started off kind of on a bad foot becuase as I was setting up my tray I dropped my sharpening stone and it broke into 3 pieces...Lovely! Luckily though my patient came ON TIME AND HE QUALIFIED!!! I was stoked. Once I got scaling I wasn't as nervous, it seemed just like a normal clinic day. I was concerned about a few spots, but when my results came back I had actually missed two different spots and none that I was worried about! Lucky for me, those spots weren't counted on my grade becuase it hadn't been chosen in advance to be graded. I did make a mistake on my perio statement. I didn't realize that because he had 4 mm of recession on 1 tooth, he would be classified as severe...at least I'm finding this out now!
I'm soooooo grateful we had this opportunity to run through things so I can continue to prepare for the real thing. I can't even imagine how nervous I'm going to be that day! I was happy how things turned out and excited to be able to use this experience to better my skills. I'm glad we get to do this 2 more times before the real board! Thank heavens we have intructors who know what they are doing and can help us!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Some Good Experiences!
This morning we had a lab in clinic. It was really fun to test the pH of our saliva and check our blood sugar. Then we got to practice wtih our curved ultrasonic tips and accessory fulcrums. We also got to try out a sonic scaler and a Piezo scaler; it was interesting to feel the differences between them and the ultrasonic. Katie and Liz were also nice enough to let me try on their loupes for a few minutes to get a feel for them. I'm slowly narrowing down my choices. It is a LOT of money to spend, so I want to make sure I make the right choice!
This afternoon I had a patient come in who I had seen last year. She was my class three last year so I was hoping she would be a class 2 or 3. She was a 3!!! Yeah! I'm using her as one of my exam patients. I was able to give LA for my first time on a real patient! She was nervous becuase she didn't like the shots last time....little did she know that this was my first time and I was more nervous than her! I was the one that needed somebody to calm me down, but I was trying to pretend I'd done it bunches of times and tell her it wouldn't be bad. It went well, but her anatomy kind of took me by surprise. Her zygoma made it very hard to get to where I needed to be for the PSA and I hit osseous 2 times when I did the MSA...I felt like I was clear out in the vestibule! It was quite the awakening that everyone one is NOT going to have textbook anatomy to look for and sometimes you have to make some adjustments!
I also was able to place Arrestin on 2 sites. It was really fun and easy! I liked doing it! I hope it makes a difference in her deep pockets. She is coming back in 3 weeks so I will be able to evaluate if it made any difference and also see if the Chlorehexidine makes a difference as well.
I went over time, but I feel like today was a good day. I had a lot of first experiences, but learned a ton! It's amazing how much we continue to learn everyday!
This afternoon I had a patient come in who I had seen last year. She was my class three last year so I was hoping she would be a class 2 or 3. She was a 3!!! Yeah! I'm using her as one of my exam patients. I was able to give LA for my first time on a real patient! She was nervous becuase she didn't like the shots last time....little did she know that this was my first time and I was more nervous than her! I was the one that needed somebody to calm me down, but I was trying to pretend I'd done it bunches of times and tell her it wouldn't be bad. It went well, but her anatomy kind of took me by surprise. Her zygoma made it very hard to get to where I needed to be for the PSA and I hit osseous 2 times when I did the MSA...I felt like I was clear out in the vestibule! It was quite the awakening that everyone one is NOT going to have textbook anatomy to look for and sometimes you have to make some adjustments!
I also was able to place Arrestin on 2 sites. It was really fun and easy! I liked doing it! I hope it makes a difference in her deep pockets. She is coming back in 3 weeks so I will be able to evaluate if it made any difference and also see if the Chlorehexidine makes a difference as well.
I went over time, but I feel like today was a good day. I had a lot of first experiences, but learned a ton! It's amazing how much we continue to learn everyday!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A FULL Day!!!
Today was long, but good. It was the first clinic day that BOTH my patients showed up, and they were BOTH on time!!! This morning I did one quad of a 2 and one quad of a 3. His calculus was some tenacious stuff! I got to use my perio files for the first time and I used my orange swivel ultrasonic tip. I love them! I feel like I've been missing out by not using them! It was the first time that I could really see chunks of black calculus coming out of the pocket! I also felt like I accomplished alot becuase I passed off 3 PE's! I'm excited also because I'm seeing this patient again in January.
My afternoon patient was a class V, but I was able to take a full mouth set of x-rays (I thought was great because previously he had rejected x-rays!) He had a pretty intense medical history, so it took me 45 minutes to go over! Patients like this are really great practice and experience, but NOT good for my time utilization score! Prof. A helped me test his blood sugar becuase he was diabetic. I hadn't seen how we do it in the clinic before, so that was neat; easier than I thought it would be. I didn't miss any spots in my scale check so that was a bonus!
My afternoon patient was a class V, but I was able to take a full mouth set of x-rays (I thought was great because previously he had rejected x-rays!) He had a pretty intense medical history, so it took me 45 minutes to go over! Patients like this are really great practice and experience, but NOT good for my time utilization score! Prof. A helped me test his blood sugar becuase he was diabetic. I hadn't seen how we do it in the clinic before, so that was neat; easier than I thought it would be. I didn't miss any spots in my scale check so that was a bonus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
