Exit interview

Tomorrow i have my exit interview with professor costly. I am done with clinic and ready for next semester.

CA duties and last clinic

Today we learned about CA duties, emergency procedures, and clinic for next semester. If i wasn't stressed already, i am now. It turns out you not only need to meet clinic requirements for next year you are required to exceed them by 20℅to get an A. clinic requirements also wont factor any days your patient doesn't show. I know the power your words have, so i must say "i will finish and excel, and everything will be ok" but i would be lying if i said i wasn't nervous.

real patient

On monday we saw our first real patient. I was very nervous because it was our clinical final. I was going to work on Tom but it turned out that he had to work. I ended up using my little sister Kami. It was a really good choice, she was amazing. I had really low expectations for myself and so it went much better than i thought it would. I had to take 4 BWX and they were all diagnostic. It was awesome because retakes take forever. I was able to get through my OD and even scale 1 quad. Demmings was my instructor and when she was doing my scale check she told me she found 5 clicks of calculus, my heart sank.... then she says " just kidding she is clean" I about had a heart attack. Kami was a great patient, when i sat her up, i asked her how it was and she says "long". It was so true but she was great. I am looking forward to more practice to get better and faster.

mock patient day 2

On wednesday I was able to work on karlie again for our mock patient day. she was so awesome. i finished her other 3 quads, s/p, and fl. I was nervous before hand, but when i was actually working on her i felt good. i still am very anxious when i get a scale check because i am  not exactly sure what i feel, but i am sure it will come. It is fun to work start to finish. I hope i get faster soon, at this pace it will take me 5 hours to complete an appointment...yikes

Mock Patient Week 2 Day 1

Today was my day to be operator for our mock patient days. Last night i was feeling very nervous that i would not finish. I got through my OD and one quad scaled. Wednesday I will finish her other 3 quads, fluoride and selective polish. I felt good about today even though i am slow. I also have a hard time deciding if I am feeling calculus. I am sure i will get better at detecting calculus the more patients i see. Its always hard to when you are working in a mouth that is so clean. Karlie was so good to work on and made my job really easy.

Patient treatment mock patient day 2

Today Karlie was able to finish my other 2 quads. She is awesome and did not miss any areas. I got selective polish and varnish fluoride...which i hate. She was the first one to finish and i have a lot of time left. this is still my clinic day so i must stay until we are finished. I am happy  i was the patient first but now i am a little nervous for next week. I hope i am able to accurately probe and clean.

Patient treatment mock day 1

Monday we started our mock patient days. I was a little nervous until i found out i was going to be the patient. Karlie was the one who worked on me and she did fantastic. I loved that i was able to see how the day flowed without any pressure on me. She was able to get all the way through the OD and also scale 2 quads. I like to be worked on because it gives me an opportunity to understand what the patient feel and get a good idea of what i need to be mindful of, improve on, and practice. It was a really good day. I hope that when it is my turn to be the operator i am able to finish all of the requirements.

Eaglesoft walk out

Today we learned how to walk out our patients in eaglesoft. It was quite easy. We also reiterated how to sharpen our instruments. I hope i don't distort my angles, because i find it hard to use the sharpening guides. I was able to pass off fluoride and sealant PE's today and i was able to work on Kristen. that was fun.Good clinic day.

sealants

Today we learned how to do sealants. I had never done them before but they were super easy. I worked on Cesia and she has an perfect mouth. I had my choice of any tooth I wanted. I made the sealant to high and will have to remember to not put so much on. I was also able to pass of 3 PE's. It was a very awesome day.

treatment plans

Yesterday we learned treatment planning. It was very easy and I feel like eaglesoft is easy to navigate. Treatment planning is easy however I am extremely worried about how long it is going to take me to clean a patient. It makes me nervous to schedule patients and then take 6 hours to clean their teeth. Who has that much time? The tx plan is broken up into 3 phases and I pray it doesn't take me three appointments to finish. I was able to pass of 3 PE`s, which was awesome (dental screening, OHI, and intra-oral camera). Overall good clinic day.

Intra-oral camera?? I guess

I had a really hard time today in clinic. I went in and  set-up (like our module instructed) but for some reason today we skipped our opening pod instruction. This was very detrimental to me, and because of that, I wasn't quite sure what we were supposed to do and how exactly to do it. I read the module, however  I guess I missed the part that said we are doing everything we have learned in the past and putting it into action.  I also didn't feel completely sure about how you chart an OD and actually came to clinic with questions (which I assummed would be answered in opening pod).  When I asked the instructor how to start, she kept on saying "Sierra, how do you do it?" . It was very frustrating that she kept on repeating my questions. I had to keep saying "I don't know". This made me feel really stupid, as the whole pod is looking at me. I understand instructors want you to think critically, but I honestly did not know the answer and it was extremely frustrating that she would not just answer my question. That started out my first 20 minutes in clinic. Sometimes I feel like when you start out shitty its hard to get back on track, which I wish wasn't the case. I then proceeded with my OD.  At the end of the day my inadequate feelings reguritated as it took me forever to write in the chart. I was literally one of the last people in clinic. I even had to have other students clean my unit, shut it down, and sterilize my instruments. I am so grateful that the girls in my class are so awesome and helpful because holy cow sometimes I feel extremely incapable. One good outcome of today is that I have realized that I need to be sensitive to people who are learning and trying their best. Sometimes I tend to think that when I am good at something, or when something comes easy to me, it is the same for others. This is not always the case and todays clinic made me want to be more helpful to those around me. I don't want others to feel the way clinic felt for me on this lovely monday!!!

dental screening

Today we looked in each others mouths and learned how to chart dental restorations, pathology, and appliances. It was a pretty easy day. Sometimes i have a difficult time telling the difference between sealants and composite fillings. I also practiced my curet scaling and i feel like i did a good job. It is coming... slowly but surely.

OHI instuctions

We used disclosing tablets today. That was fun!!! I was able to have a blue mouth and see where i was missing on brushing. We were also paired up with a student that we had never worked on before. That was fun too!! I also was able to pass of sickle scaler, adaption, and instrument design PE's today. I love getting those over with. I hate having them hang over my heads. All in all today's clinic was one of my favorite.

Posterior Scaling

We worked with curets today. And all I can say is that I hope I get better. I made Karlie bleed a lot. It is very trusting of her to let me into her mouth with a sharp intrument and 20 minutes of demonstation. Its funny how easy other people make it look. I will get better, I know that, but it is a learning process.

Instrument issue

We learned our instruments today. We leaned curets vs. scalers and I understand which one is which, it helps that they have a different colored handle :). If they were all the same color I  would be lost. We practiced with our probes and explorers today. We are required to pass off 1 quad of probing in 3 minutes. I am actually very nervous about this because i am a slow poke. How sad would it be to fail a PE. My poor husband Tom will be probed all weekend long.

Explorer

Today we learned how to use an explorer. We were taught which end is the working end, and to tell the truth they pretty much look exactly the same. I thought I had it figured out, then i didn't, then i did. Hopefully it will all make come together in the end. I passed off my intra-oral exam on Amanda, i think i had her to far back when i was exploring because she felt like she was going to puke. I felt bad. I just have to remember that everything takes time and it will take lots of practice to make perfect.

Probing

Today we learned how to probe, or should I say we were showed how to probe. Actually doing it is very different than seeing it done. I want to be a good hygienist that is accurate but gentle and i will definitely need to practice my angles. It was fun to get into someones mouth though, instead of using the typodonts.

Intra-Oral exam

Today we learned intra-oral exams. It was very interesting to see the differences between all of our anatomy. I myself do not have my posterior tonsiller pillars or my palatine tonsils. I had them removed when i was 8. I also thought that it was very interesting to see the saliva ducts. I may be dense but i never really realized that we have Stensons duct in our cheek. That was fun to see. I was able to pass off my vital signs PE and my extra oral PE to Jennifer. I don't think that she minded :) Extra-oral exams feel great. I enjoy clinic and it is fun to practice real life applications of what we will be doing in real life.

Extra-oral exam

Today we learned our dental chair massages. We practiced on each other doing extra oral exams. When we first learned about the procedure I felt like it was a lot of information, however i felt OK when we worked on each other. They are wonderful when someone is doing one on you. It is as close to a real massage as I have gotten in the past year. I know sad huh! I am enjoying clinic so far and love the girls I am in a pod with, both instructors and students.

Vital Signs

I learned how to take blood pressure today. I had never done it before and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I think it is OK because my readings are wrong :) but hopefully they are right. My partner was Amanda and she had a very low pulse and blood pressure which was good because if I can find it on her I hopefully can find it on anybody. I also took it on Jennifer and it was easier to find.  I passed of my fulcrum PE and chair operator PE. They were easy. I am excited to be working more in depth and hopefully will continue to grasp the material.

health history

Today we learned the first part of filling out a health history. At first I felt very overwhelmed but I felt better once I started actually writing in the charts. I hope I am able to remeber all of the step to make it complete. Its funny how inadequate you can feel when you start something new.

Set up and tear down

Today we learned to set up our units and tear them down. I also passed off my PPE PE, however I put my mask below my chin, I didn't even realize that I did, ...stupid stupid habit.  I also used the blue boa for the first time. I thought that it worked really well. We were able to use them on the student next to us, which was much better than using them on a typodont. Overall today's clinic was ok.

I Passed

I passed my first PE. Congrats to me. Today we worked on our typodonts using air/water. We also had a guest speaker that invented the blue boa. I acutally used to work with the inventor when I was a dental assistant for Dr. Capener. She was a hygienist and it was fun to see her again. I feel good about today.

First day of school

Today was my first day of school. I had a nightmare last night that I forgot everything that I needed, I lost one of my new clinic shoes and then oil spilled all over my scrubs. I was anxious, to say the least, when I woke up. However, today has been good. There is a lot of information and I will work hard but I feel like the program will be fun. All the students are really nice and helpful as are the instructors.

I did it

I created my first dental hygiene blog.