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.