10/30/12

You know how i was talking about how reliable patients are... yeah well keep that in mind when i tell you that my patient did not show this morning... Blaaaaaaaa. So i called to confirm like i faithfully do and his phone was off. I left a couple messages a couple times and i  didn't know what to do. He had come in for a screening and i made the appointment with him to his face and his wife was there and put it in her calender. This is terrible to say....but i felt like he was reliable because he was white and educated. Well i was in a predicament because i didn't want to get another patient and then have him come....that happened last week when i was CA and it was a mess, so i decided to just hope he was coming and got my messages. Well when 8:00 rolled around and still no patient, i decided to call. Well this time he did answer and told me he was sick and could not come in. Fantastic Mr.! I really didn't know what to expect that morning so i had called my aunt  the night before to see if her daughter to possible come in if i needed her to. I have found it helpful to always have a backup patient in mind when ever you see anyone! I brought my son up, who is 3, and then payed WSU $32 to clean his teeth like i do every night before bed. I also saw my cousin, who is also 3, and got my 2 Ia's for the year. The funny thing is that they just decided that they are going to count midtown's quads and i have a bizzilion 1A'a. Life is so funny! and expensive :)

10/23/12

Today was pretty uneventful. I was CA and I stocked some things, cleaned some instruments, helped chart...you know all of the meaningful things you get to do when you are the clinic assistant. I will say that i had a fun time with Karlie ( who was CA with me) and Mr. Soloman and Wade who are both so funny! It was very nice not to try and find a patient and worry about if they show up! Patients are just so reliable....LOL.. not!!

10/16/12

I wanted to reflect on mock boards because someday i may think it is kind of funny how terrible i was. Of course today is not the day :( I was so worried about finding a mock board patient that i really wasn't too stressed about the actually cleaning. I had been seeing a lot of perio and i really thought that i was getting pretty good. I was a student examiner in the morning and i thought that was great to see the way the clinic flowed during the test. I thought that it would help me out a lot. It turns out it didn't help me much :( lol. I was such a space case that day i swear. Right before the test at 12: i though i lost my loupes. I ran to my car...they weren't there... called my mom....weren't at the house.... ran back to the car...still not there. It turns out i left them at my unit in the morning on the floor and there they sat the whole morning. I swear i would loose my head if it was not screwed onto my neck! Needless to say i was a little flustered when i started. Then i couldn't get the tray right that our patients bring up Soloman to check in. I literally went back 3 times to get everything that he needed. I guess i wasn't paying attention in the morning or something. When my patient finally got back i thought 2 hours would be plenty of time. I was rocking it....or not. Time flew so fast and i barely got her checked back in on time. I thought that i had done a pretty good job until i got my dreaded sticky with the million spots i missed. I was very shocked, mainly because i thought i was much better than that....turns out I'm not! Although it sucked and i felt about an inch big i did learn a great deal, especially that if there is any question, it is counted as calculus. For boards we do not root debride...we good old fashion root plane!!

10/09/12

Last night my patient cancelled at 9:00 PM. Its happened a couple times this semester and it makes for a stressful night. I always tell tom...I may need you as a patient if my patient doesn't show up or i cant find one. I haven't had to use him yet. Well i called a list of people that i had written down off the resource list. None of them could come on such a short notice. I finally had one last number in the bottom of my back pack. A lady that i screened last week, (that i thought would qualify of mock boards but didn't) gave me the name of her niece who wanted a cleaning. I called and tried my best to talk to her in Spanish...turns out i am horrible. i had my dad call and she was able to come up!!! and she ended up qualifying for mock boards!!!!!! i was elated i only got an OD and x-rays done, $30.00 which i paid for myself but its worth it. I then saw a class II in the afternoon that was very nice and we now have her on a 3 month recall. Sometimes life works out in the strangest ways!

10/02/12

This afternoon had been one roller coaster. My mock board patient that i saw at midtown was scheduled for 12:30 so i can have the professors here check to see if she qualifies. Well she is a sweetheart and showed up but............she had a cold sore!!! I saw her less than a week ago and she has a cold sore:( i couldn't even look in her mouth. It was so sad. Perry said that cold sores take 2 weeks to go away and mock boards is in exactly 2 weeks :( hopefully everything will work out and i will be able to see her. Because she left i had to find a patient. Wade was so awesome and called someone up for me. He ended up being a IB and i was able to finish him. I was actually kinda proud that i went so fast. I got him done start to finish with x-rays when he came an hour late. He was an awesome patient...it was kinda funny he ended up giving me his number after the appointment. He didn't know i was married with two kids. It was very flattering and made my day after such a disappointment with the potential mock board.

10/02/12

This morning was good. I finished a class III in the morning and again she was numb so i had to default to the professors. I will be very excited when i can finally get some experience on my own. I don't know if i am really doing this the smartest way...i have been cleaning lots of class III patients that i could save till after i can do LA myself. I am torn because i want the experience of cleaning harder classifications and calculus before mock board and i want to get as much done as possible when they are willing to come in....however i cant get the LA. oh well, i guess it will all work out. Well my morning was great and i have her on a recall for 3 months.

09/11/12

This morning i saw a class III patient. She was Spanish speaking and there was little communication without a translator. She was very nice and i was able to do X-rays, an OD, and clean 1 Quad. She wanted to be numb and i was able to see instructor Saddler do an IA block. I wish that i was able to numb, however I rescheduled her for October so i will be able to numb her next time. I had no errors and learned how to sweep the distal of third molars with a nevi and Indiana. I am seeing the patient i saw last week for the afternoon. I would like to finish her.  I also passed off ultrasonic 1 PE.
Goals for clinic:
Clean Afternoon's patient's II and III quads with minimal  to no errors.
Pass off selective polish PE

09/04/12

Today was my first day back seeing patients in clinic. I saw a patient last week at midtown and I had a really difficult time. The patient had a major long health history and I had a hard time with the computer. Needless to say I was feeling about as qualified as a hygienist as a Jack Rabbit. Because of this I was very apprehensive about today. However, today went much better than I originally expected. I was talking with my husband yesterday about how I could improve and I came to the conclusion that I over scale. I decided today that I would go over it and if I don't feel anything to move on. I missed area's but it was a better learning experience for me. I still took 60 min to scale a full mouth of a V but hopefully I will get faster. According to Professor Perry it should take half that time. I will get there. I was able to start and finish a V in the morning and then see 2 quads of a II in the afternoon. I will see her other 2 quads ( a II and III) next week. Goals for clinic is to detect calculus right below the CEJ on the line angle of a tooth.

04/11/12

Today is my last day of clinic. I finished my requirements and i just need 3 more quads to make 60. I am seeing my grandma and I am hoping she is easy.
Goals for clinic

1. OD and scale at least 3 quads

How clinic went:
It was great, my grandma is so sweet. I was actually able to finish her completely which was wonderful. I didn't take x-rays because I am so past on my requirements and i would like to take them next year,however she did need a PA so Jacque was able to take one. I learned today that we have pillows in clinic for our patients. It really helped my grandma... great to know! I also am coming to find that class V's are easy especially if they have a lot of crowns. Costly told me that calculus doesn't really form on crowns and I am leaning that is true as I see more patients with many restorations.

04/09/12

I am finishing Maria today who was my 3 quads of III and 1 of II. I have fulfilled my III requirements so i am having Jennifer clean one quad to help her meet her requirements. She is going to be in my chair and I am having my cousin Abby come in for an hour who is 4. I am also going to take a pano on April (abby's mom) my aunt to finish my radiology requirments.
Goals for clinic:

1. Finish Abby in 1 hour
2. No retakes on the pano
3. No errors on Maria's 1 quad of II

How clinic went:
I took the pano first and it was perfect... no problems but it took me longer than I thought on Abby. It was amazing because that little girl had calculus on her lower anterior linguals and buccals. I never would have thought I would have had to actually scale a 4 year old but it happened. I'm sure i am just new at this but i was surprised. 4 years olds also move their head a ton :) Needless to say that I was over on my time which wouldn't have been such a big deal but I was in Jen's chair and she had a patient in the waiting room. It all worked out and she finished her patient even though I cut into her time.  She is awesome. I finished the last quad of Maria and had no errors... Yipee!

04/04/12

Today i am seeing Jana, a patient that i OD'd back in Feburary and was a little upset i couldn't finish her in 1  appointment.
Goals for clinic

1. Finish scaling 4 quads
2. minimal errors

How clinic went:
I had Costly and she really teaches me a lot while instrumenting..oddly enough I always seem to have the most errors with her, she is very very thorough. Can I just tell you that right when you are feeling like a adequate hygientist a patient comes in a levels your head :) This calculus was tenacious!!! I wanted to put my knee on her chest to give me better leverage. Even Costly was putting some arm into it. I pushed it right to the limit but got her walked out on time. Did i mention it had been many many moons since her last cleaning.... like 3650 :)

04/02/12

Today i am seeing Jade's wife Janette. We were over at their house for dinner last night and i was able to chart her restorations. She really needs to be done in one appointment because she is a teacher and she is off for spring break
Goals for clinic:

1. Complete all TX

How clinic went:
I met my goal with no errors!!! She was a class V and really didn't have much calculus, which was nice. It was interesting though, she had a ton of recession, so much that i could see a class I furca on 3 teeth. I had never seen that before. It looked like the pictures that Dr. Tilt showed us in perio class.

03/28/12

Today i am finishing Jade, the patient i saw last week. I should have probably also scheduled someone else because i only have one quad but it seems that i takes me forever with class III's so i decided to possibly just finish early

Goals for clinic

1. Finish TX
2. Pass off ultrasonic 2
3. Pass off gracys

How clinic went:
Great I finished very early and was able to sit and talk with my patient. I explained everything that was going on in his mouth. He had caries on almost every one of his teeth and I taught him the etiology of caries and perio. It was a moment that I felt I actually made a difference. It is amazing how much you can really teach when your not looking at the clock.  I missed two areas, but they were supragingivally and Costly said that even if he left right now (before i corrected them) that he recieved a FANTASTIC cleaning. That felt good!

03/26/12

Today i am seeing my peer pal
Goals for clinic

1. Complete everything

How clinic went:
Great she was so easy i finished her and had plenty of time to spare. No errors (probably because she had no calculus in the first place) and I even passed off my blood glucose PE because I had extra time. After last weeks class III"s  she was a dream

03/21/12

Today I am seeing my husbands old boss. He has a full upper denture and I am praying he is a class III
Goals for clinic

1. Classify him as a class III
2. Pass off removable appliance PE
3. Pass off explorer PE
4. Complete the appointment:

How clinic actually went:
Why i think i can finish class III's quickly i do not know. I figured because i only had the mandibular teeth to OD i could do it fast. I didn't really want to take x-rays because i was done with my PA requirements and i cant do bite wings if the patient is edentulous on top, but i had to to classify him. I would have been fine with taking 2 PA's to classify each side but my instructor wanted me to take 7... Blahhhh. So now instead of the 28 PA's we need i have 43. It was really fun to clean him though. He had a ton of calculus... there was so much on #19 that it was almost hiding his whole tooth. What would we do without an ultrasonic.

03/19/12

Today i am seeing Maria again. She is my 3 quads of a class III

Goals for clinic

1. Scale all 4 quads
2. Pass off Anterior scaling PE
3. Pass off Posterior scaling PE

How clinic actually went:
Well if 2 quads is the same as 4 then I met my goals :) I was able to pass of PE's though! This patient was such a learning experience for me. I had never had my scaler sink so deep into pockets or seen so much blood with a patient. She was such a wonderful patient. She is Spanish speaking so we didn't speak much but was very sweet. I feel bad she has to come back yet again for a 3rd appointment. But in my defence she was a half hour late. :)

03/07/12

Today I am going to be finishing Justin's other 2 quads and then do sealants on his son Noah.

Goals for clinic:

1. Finish Justin with minimal errors (hopefully none at all)
2. Reach into the col
3. Suction better with the ultrasonic
4. Finish scaling by 9:15
5. Seal all teeth for Noah and finish by walkout

How clinic went:
I was a little pressed on time... which is not unusual. I finished Justin, with no errors and I felt good about that because for a Ib he had quite a bit of calculus. But for some reason it took me awhile to do x-rays on Noah. He has a very small mouth and I got all the anatomy with one size 1 film on each side. With that said... because his mouth is so small it was hard to work in. I retook both films. My instructor forgot to tell the dentist to come over to check for sealants and i was waiting forever for nothing, It was almost time to check out and i was able to do 7 sealants in 10 minutes. I felt pretty proud about that. I was cruising!

03/05/12

Today i am seeing a new patient that i have never seen before. She was at the screening and is a IB. She will put me over on my IB requirements and i am praying that i can finish her in 1 appt, because i really don't want to use other days to go over on requirements. I have only finished 1 IB in the time allotted but hopefully i can do it today. I'll say a good prayer

Goals for clinic

1. utilize my time wisely
2. Finish this patient in 1 appt
3. Don't over scale, find calculus and only scale the areas that have calculus
4. be systematic

How clinic actually went:
I was first going to see a IB patient, the daughter of Amanda's patient. Then me and Amanda decided that we would switch because the mom was 2 quads of a class 2 that I needed....so we hurry and switched everything in the computer. We thought they were there, turned out it wasn't them so Amanda called and they said they weren't coming. Clinic really never turns out the way that you think it is going to. Both Amanda's and I's patient didn't come and Karlie couldn't see her class 3 patient because her blood glucose was like 300, and had to dismiss her. when I found out that my patient wasn't coming I called Lana. I had talked to her early this morning and she was going to bring Emma in for a cleaning on Wednesday after her dad. Emma actually stayed home from school today and Lana was worried about her missing 2 days in a week.I asked if she could bring Emma and Kate up asap and she was happy about it. I was thinking i could do two 1A's. It turned out that after Karlie dismissed her patient I was able to  help her out and let her see Kate. It worked out great because Emma took me longer than I thought and I actually was late on walkout by 15 minutes. I was able to pass of 3 PE's. Diagnodent, air/powder, and sealant. I got 4 quads of a IA and sealants (4) so all in all it was a productive day. I felt a little disoriented and my clinic seemed very disorganized. I plan beforehand what clinic is going to be like and what steps I am going to take. When it suddenly changes I feel very disorganized. I hadn't reviewed my PE's before because i didn't think that i would be passing them off for weeks, and was rusty on the material but i passed so i guess it was good, just a crazy day!!!

02/29/12

Today i am seeing my uncle Justin. My aunt says that he has a lot of calculus and that he really needs a cleaning. He doesn't remember his last cleaning, so this should be interesting
goals for clinic

1. pass of gracey- area specific PE
2. accurate probe depths
3. figure out how to suction the water out while working the ultrasonic

How clinic actually went:
Clinic was really good today, Justin is a IB but had quite a bit of calculus. It was really fun to use the ultrasonic and see chunks flying. I hadn't cleaned that much calculus before and it was really fun. He told his wife later (which i found out from my mom) that he didn't feel much at all and that i was much more gentle than the last hygienists he went to. That made me feel really good, especially because i only had one small error on supra of #24 which was not really rough, just a bump. I felt pretty good about the day and feel like my skills are improving. I did get a couple probe depths wrong and it does frustrate me, i have never been off before and the last two patients i have been off a little on. I also wasn't able to pass of gracey PE because of time.

02/08/12

Today i saw a women that i kinda know and she was very nice. we didn't get very far with her cleaning. at the end of the appointment she was upset we couldnt clean her teeth today. It was kind of frusterating for me.Her health history took me 45 minutes because she was on so many medications for so many different things. She was my first diabetic patient so i wasn't quite sure the information that i needed to gather from her. We got through her OD but that was it. No scaling. Next time we will finish her up.

02/27/12

Today i am finishing my grandma's cleaning. She will be a great patient.
My goals for today are

1. Pass of Ultrasonic 1 PE
2. Pass of selective polishing PE
3. Scale all four quads
4. Scale systematically and reach inside the col.
5. Minimal errors

How clinic actually went:
Clinic was awesome. I scaled all 4 quads with no errors. I passed off both PE's and i felt like clinic went really went. My grandma actually has a bridge that is failing and it was interesting to see that. She has visiable exudate coming from the crowned abutment and it was a great learning experience.

02/13/12

Today i finished my first 1B in one appointment. I was so excited...I coulnd't imagine myself accomplishing that. I went over on my time and got marked on that but who cares, i was on top of the world. My patient was off the resource list and very nice, he was missing his maxiallary cuspids so maybe that was why...i had 2 less teeth to scale. I will see him again in 6 months

02/22/12

02/06/12

My patient just called and canceled this morning. It is so frustrating when i just confirmed with her a couple of days ago. She said that her car broke down, which is a viable excuse but it is makes my life very hard. I also got amanda and chelsea to take her boys so they all could come in at the same time and so i had to give them the bad news too. It sucks for all of us and makes clinic very stressful. I called my grandma and she said that she would be able to come in. Thank heaven for family, I don't  know what i am going to do when i run out of family to work on.
My goals for clinic today

1. Take a full mouth x-rays (conventional)
2. Get through my OD
3. Pass off instrument sharpening PE

How clinic actually went: My grandma was amazing. She was so nice and let me take a full mouth x-rays on her. I took conventional film and am now done with my PA requirements and both my schick and conventional technologies. All my films were diagnostic and out of the 20 i took i did not have to retake any. I was very happy about that. I didn't get my instrument sharpening passed off and will need to do that next time. I missed some restorations class 5 on the facial cervical region but other than that my OD went well. She is coming in in a week to finish her up.

02/01/11

I had my grandma scheduled for tomorrow's clinic and she had to call and cancel because she is sick. Because of the short notice i decided to take up korbin and kayla and do 2 IA's. Hopefully it will go well and they will both be well behaved and let me brush their teeth and more importantly they will let my professor check their teeth.
Goals for clinic

1. Finish 2 IA patients and get credit for 8 IA quads
2. Take 4 occlusal radiographs
3. Make this an enjoyable experience for the kids

How clinic actually went: This experience was good. Korbin was a little pill at first. He didn't want to sit in the chair or sit back. I was hard because when we are at home and he doesn't want to get his teeth brushed i just pick him up, put him on the floor, hold him down and brush his teeth ( as nicely as possible) I wasn't able to do that here and it was frustrating to try and bribe him to sit in the chair. It was a good experience though. I was able to get him done and take 2 occlusal films, which was fun to see. I was also seeing Kayla today and Lynette called me right when she got to weber state to tell me that she wasn't going to  come in because kayla just threw up in the car. I kept thinking that maybe i could get her to still come in and we could just clean kayla up if i could talk to her face to face. I asked if she would come in and get korbin and when she came up i begged her to still let me see kayla. She finally agreed when i told her i just need to brush her teeth. We cleaned her up and she did great. She was so good and seemed just fine. I could tell she was a little nervous because she didn't say a word. I was also able to take 2 occulsals on her as well. All in all it was a good clinic day and i got 8 quads of a 1A.

01/30/12

Today I am finishing Emily, She is the best patient and I got 2 quads scaled last time. Today my goals are

1. Finish the last two quads with no errors
2. S/P and fluoride
3. Pass of the posterior scaling PE
4. Possibly pass of the instrument sharpening PE

I had a lot of errors on my dad last week. This week i want to be a lot better. I need to be more systematic in my areas of scaling and use the explorer on every surface to check for calculus. I still have a hard time feeling calculus and i think it is because i am using to tight of a grasp. I am learning and i will get better

How clinic actually went:
Clinic was great. I got there early and sharpened all my instruments, which i felt helped a ton in scaling. I scaled the remaining 2 quads using a systematic approach and i also used the explorer to check for calculus. I tried to really keep a light grasp which i felt helped. I had no errors and was very happy. I finished an hour early and was able to also pass of the peer review calculus removal PE along with the posterior scaling PE. I wanted to also pass off insturment sharpening but Demmings was busy. great clinic day!

01/25/12

I am going to be seeing my dad tomorrow in clinic. I got through his OD last time so tomorrow we will be scaling. My goals for clinic are.

1. Scale all 4 quads
2. Pass of anterior scaling PE
3. Selective polish
4. Fluoride

I am hoping to get my dad finished with his treatment. Hopefully it all goes well.

How clinic actually went:
I was able to scale all 4 quads but i missed 6 areas. I think that i was a little worried about time and in turn i didn't scale the crap out of all the areas. I didn't really use the explorer to check. I also would scale an area and not completely finish because it would take me forever and i thought my dad wanted a break and then i would come back to it. I think all of these factor lead to the missed calculus. I set the goal to work systematically and use the explorer to feel calculus.

01/22/12

Today i am seeing one of my friends. Her name is Emily and she will be a great patient. With that said it still didn't change the fact that yet again i had a nightmare about clinic. Someone stole my loupes and i had to spend of of clinic looking for them and i wasn't able to even get through my OD on a 1B patient. Then she left and i realized that we also work the afternoon so i didn't have a patient for our afternoon session. Crazy dreams.
Goals for today:

1. Pass of explorer PE.
2. Take 4 BWX
3. Get through my OD
4. Scale 1 quad

How clinic actually went:
Clinic was great. I got all of my goals accomplished and actually was able to scale 2 quads instead of 1. I missed a tiny area of supragingival calculus on #24,#25. My BWX were all diagnostic and all in all it was a great day. Demmings was my instructor and she was great.

01/18/12

I am seeing my dad tomorrow in clinic
Goals for clinic
1. Take a full mouth of x-rays...Schick
2. Get through my OD and possible scale a quad
3. Get my chart turned in on time

I have decided to use schick for my full mouth to fulfill the requirements. I don't really like schick and much prefer scan-X. I feel like the sensors are big and bulky and painful. I don't think i will be able to pass of any PE's because realistically i don't think i will get to scaling. I am also hoping to get my chart turned on time. I feel like i run a marathon every clinic session and i never seem to have enough time.

How clinic actually went:
I was able to take the full mouth x-rays on my dad. I used Schick and I am so glad that it is over. It was kinda terrible. The sensors were so big and painful. My dad is really tall and he had to slouch because the machine wouldn't go high enough. The full mouth x-rays took me an hour and 15 minutes, which was forever. I was able to get my OD done but i missed classifying an open bite. I got my chart in 5 min late.

01/11/2012

I worked on my first Spanish speaking patient last week. I had a bad nightmare the night before. In my dream I left my house early for clinic but when i got to school it was 7:50 and everyone was getting their patients back. I then realized that i left my kids home alone. I guess i thought clinic was more important so i went to hurry and set up my unit and there was a paper taped on it that said my unit was reserved for new patient consults only. I then went to ask my professor what i was supposed to do. She was very nonreactive and said that we just would have to find me some other place to work. She strolled down aisle after aisle of dental units and nothing was available. I was getting very frustrated and angry. She then took me down this dirty corridor to a space where there was one industrial kitchen sink, a smelly old garbage and a dirty grassy hillside (dreams often don't make sense). She says to me "I guess you could use this area to see your  patient" I was really angry at this point... I remember thinking there is no dental chair, not light, nothing. What am i supposed to do??? In my dream i start to get really aggressive and start hitting papers out of peoples hands and knocking things off of the tables. I checked with Mr. Soloman and he told me that my patient had been waiting for 45 min and he was getting angry. I then decide that i will just use that crappy dirty old corner to see my patient because i don't have any other options but i have to clean it up first. I then ask the professor for a rake so i can clean up this grassy hillside .....so i can see my patient.
       When I woke up i realized i might be a little stressed out about clinic. :) It actually went really well. I was able to get 4 BWX... all diagnostic, no retakes. I also got through my OD. My patient was a class II and qualified for a mock board, which Sam Anger was going to take. The only scary part is that his phone has been disconnected and he said he would call me to schedule his next appointment. I really hope he calls to schedule because i didn't get to scaling and i need those quads. The main thing i hate about clinic is that our grade depends on other people... we have no control over what classification they are, if the come back, and if they show up in the first place. We can do all we can to confirm and schedule but ultimately it is up the patient. Its very stressful!!

First Day of Clinic

Tomorrow is our first day of clinic seeing patients. I am having my sister Kami come in so I can finish her treatment. I was a little stressed out because I couldn't get a hold of her today and her appointment is tomorrow. I think she is a little bit mad at me so I was worried that she wouldn't show up. But she finally called me back and we are on for tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about tomorrow. I am excited to start seeing patients and also nervous. I am not nervous about actually working on them, but mainly about the grading. I want to do everything well and I think I tend to overscale due to my over assertive striving to make sure the professor does not come over and get a click of calculus. Another aspect I worry about is the fact that, although some may say dentistry is not subjective, hygiene is somewhat subjective. One professor will call something gingivitis whereas another professor won't. One professor will get different probing depths, or interpret radiographs, or bone loss differently than another.  This not only makes it so have to learn the material but also how and what each different instructor looks for and how they interpret it. This is the aspect of clinic that I am not looking forward to.  I worry about getting my patients filled, my requirements exceeded and doing a good job. We will see how it goes tomorrow.... Wish me luck.