10 pounds have been lifted off my shoulders today!!!! I found a mockboard patient! She seems to be very reliable and willing to help. Her dentist had told her he wouldn't start the treatment plan until she had her teeth cleaned (smart idea!). When I talked to her on the phone she said she needed a deep cleaning and wanted to be numbed up and everything...I wasn't quite sure what to expect. She ended up being a class 2, but with only 1 quad that would qualify for mockboards (not as deep of a cleaning as I was thinking!). She had x-rays in oct. of 2008 so she is bringing her BWX with her, and we took 4 pa's of the LR quad today. Her calculus is pretty tenacious (I cleaned the left side today), I think partly because she is a smoker. I implemented some of what we learned this week in class about smoking cessation and she told me her and her boyfriend both want to quit. I really hope she does!
This morning Denae was kind enough to let me do a sealant on one of her patients. (luckily my patient was way cool and let me step away for a minute). Thanks Denae....it feels good to get one of those out of the way!
This afternoon was a breeze. I had a 1B, pretty dang healthy. It was nice for a change to have an easy patient. Although at the same time I'm wishing I was fulfilling some harder requirements. We took 1 PA because she had her lip pierced to the left of the midline and she wanted to check on the bone level. I'm getting closer to meeting my PA requirements! Overall it was a fun afternoon.
I was stressing out so bad and so it was such a relief to find my mockboard patient today. Now of course I will stress that she will qualify for sure and that everything will go well, but I think it will. Thank heavens for answered prayers!!!!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Yet Again...
Today went well. I didn't have a patient scheduled this morning after trying and trying for 2 days straight. I came in and mr. solomon called a patient for me. They were able to come in, but didn't get here until 9:00. She ended up being a class 5, so I used her as an exam. I need to work on getting the distals of the back molar.
This afternoon I had another class 5. I tried the new Scan-X system. I like it. I was kind of nervous because I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, but with a little help it went great! My patient had a weird bridge...the crown of the pontic couldn't even be seen in the x-ray...it was pretty crazy! I only missed 1 spot on her...the distal of one of the wisdom teeth. That spot gets me every time!!!!
Another week gone by and no mockboard patient. I think somebody's trying to teach me some patience....I'm holding out for next week, and if I don't have any luck then I will have to scramble to find some names to call for some screenings. :(
This afternoon I had another class 5. I tried the new Scan-X system. I like it. I was kind of nervous because I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, but with a little help it went great! My patient had a weird bridge...the crown of the pontic couldn't even be seen in the x-ray...it was pretty crazy! I only missed 1 spot on her...the distal of one of the wisdom teeth. That spot gets me every time!!!!
Another week gone by and no mockboard patient. I think somebody's trying to teach me some patience....I'm holding out for next week, and if I don't have any luck then I will have to scramble to find some names to call for some screenings. :(
Friday, January 16, 2009
Just Another Day WITHOUT a Mockboard Patient!!!
Yesterday clinic went okay. I feel like I'm getting good requirements, just not what I'm most stressed out about right now, which is a mockboard patient. I don't even have any names to call of people to screen. If anybody has any suggestions...please fill free to give them to me!
I had a new patient in the morning who was 1 quad of cl 3 and 3 quads of cl 2. He had some 8 and 9 mm pockets and he didn't even want to be numb!!! I got the cl 3 quad done and had moved to a second quad. When I was getting close to being finished the patient said he needed to be done because his jaw was too tired and it kept popping really bad. Prof. Perry said to just finish that quad next time and get it graded then because I knew if I had him check it then I would have quite a few errors.
The morning seemed to be pretty long. I had a major headache, which really made it drag on. It's just not the same when you aren't feeling up to par. I had my new loupes in clinic for the first time and I didn't even get to use them becuase of my headache...bummer! I'm hoping to try them out real soon!
In the afternoon my brother-in-law came in. I was hoping he would have had more calculus becuase he hadn't had his teeth cleaned for 8 years so that he could possibly be a mockboard patient, but no such luck. I did use him as my class 2 exam so I'm finished with my cl 2 exams...yeah!!!! He was fun to clean because the calculus pretty much just came right off with the ultrasonic. His tissues were pretty red, swollen and tender. I've never seen tissue so fluctuant in the mandibular anteriors. I RXed some Peridex for him to try to help these heal.
He had geographic tongue...of course I forgot the proper name for it, but Perry was quick to remind me of it! If any of the rest of you have forgotten it is benign migratory glossitis. Although he was kind of a woosy (I don't even know how to spell that word!) patient :) I had a ton of fun cleaning them!
Perry caught one of my errors that I've been pretty consistent with so he suggested that I need to bring the cone head a little bit more up and slanted downward instead of going straight on when taking BW's. I had been missing the bone level behind the very back molar. I tried it and it worked fabulous! I love that I get constructive critism to try to make my skills the best I can.
I had a new patient in the morning who was 1 quad of cl 3 and 3 quads of cl 2. He had some 8 and 9 mm pockets and he didn't even want to be numb!!! I got the cl 3 quad done and had moved to a second quad. When I was getting close to being finished the patient said he needed to be done because his jaw was too tired and it kept popping really bad. Prof. Perry said to just finish that quad next time and get it graded then because I knew if I had him check it then I would have quite a few errors.
The morning seemed to be pretty long. I had a major headache, which really made it drag on. It's just not the same when you aren't feeling up to par. I had my new loupes in clinic for the first time and I didn't even get to use them becuase of my headache...bummer! I'm hoping to try them out real soon!
In the afternoon my brother-in-law came in. I was hoping he would have had more calculus becuase he hadn't had his teeth cleaned for 8 years so that he could possibly be a mockboard patient, but no such luck. I did use him as my class 2 exam so I'm finished with my cl 2 exams...yeah!!!! He was fun to clean because the calculus pretty much just came right off with the ultrasonic. His tissues were pretty red, swollen and tender. I've never seen tissue so fluctuant in the mandibular anteriors. I RXed some Peridex for him to try to help these heal.
He had geographic tongue...of course I forgot the proper name for it, but Perry was quick to remind me of it! If any of the rest of you have forgotten it is benign migratory glossitis. Although he was kind of a woosy (I don't even know how to spell that word!) patient :) I had a ton of fun cleaning them!
Perry caught one of my errors that I've been pretty consistent with so he suggested that I need to bring the cone head a little bit more up and slanted downward instead of going straight on when taking BW's. I had been missing the bone level behind the very back molar. I tried it and it worked fabulous! I love that I get constructive critism to try to make my skills the best I can.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A Beginning to an END!
Yes, it has happened. My last semester of school has officially started! Yahoo! It should feel great, but it doesn't feel that great. Instead I feel very overwhelmed! Mindy just updated me today that we have 63 days left until boards (not including sundays of course)....This was like a slap in the face! I have 63 days to know EVERYTHING since the beginning of my college days while still doing all the other bajillion things that need to be done!!!! Now that I have that off my chest I can talk about how my day went.
First day back and I must admit that I was a little bit rusty. Overall though I was very pleased how today went.
I did 2 quads of class 3 exam this morning and only missed 2 spots! I was able to get in 4 injections. I learned something very valuable today while doing my PSA. Put your finger on the occlusal plane of the max teeth, then go down the teeth until you reach bone and then pull the cheek straight out (if that makes any sense at all...) and it really opens it up! I was pulling the cheek in a weird way so it looked as if I was inserted enough for my injection but when Prof. Perry showed me what to do with the cheek it surprised me where I was at!
I was pretty nervous for this afternoon becuase my patient (returning from a year ago) has some pretty severe dental anxiety. I was able to do my nitrous P.E. and she was a class 2, which Perry encouraged me to use her as my exam. (2 exams in one day...the first day of the semester too!) I didnt end up doing injections (which I was super happy about because I watched Joni do it last year and it didn't look fun!) She was able to make it through with the N2O and some topical. I found that I was very paranoid about hurting her though becuase I didn't want to get her all wriled up. I missed 2 spots on the mand anteriors becuase I couldn't get the correct adaptation with the N2O nose in the way....Next time I need to remember to remove that for a few minutes to check this area. I felt that this appointment was much more calm than last year, which was enough to make me happy.
Better go get to my studying...where I will spend every spare second for this semester.
First day back and I must admit that I was a little bit rusty. Overall though I was very pleased how today went.
I did 2 quads of class 3 exam this morning and only missed 2 spots! I was able to get in 4 injections. I learned something very valuable today while doing my PSA. Put your finger on the occlusal plane of the max teeth, then go down the teeth until you reach bone and then pull the cheek straight out (if that makes any sense at all...) and it really opens it up! I was pulling the cheek in a weird way so it looked as if I was inserted enough for my injection but when Prof. Perry showed me what to do with the cheek it surprised me where I was at!
I was pretty nervous for this afternoon becuase my patient (returning from a year ago) has some pretty severe dental anxiety. I was able to do my nitrous P.E. and she was a class 2, which Perry encouraged me to use her as my exam. (2 exams in one day...the first day of the semester too!) I didnt end up doing injections (which I was super happy about because I watched Joni do it last year and it didn't look fun!) She was able to make it through with the N2O and some topical. I found that I was very paranoid about hurting her though becuase I didn't want to get her all wriled up. I missed 2 spots on the mand anteriors becuase I couldn't get the correct adaptation with the N2O nose in the way....Next time I need to remember to remove that for a few minutes to check this area. I felt that this appointment was much more calm than last year, which was enough to make me happy.
Better go get to my studying...where I will spend every spare second for this semester.
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