Last Clinc Day...

Today is my LAST CLINIC DAY of 2010!! WAHOO!!! Holy cow! Time has flown!! I have done so many quads and I am definitely ready for a break!! I am just seeing an easy 1B today, I felt like I needed to take it easy and save all my harder patients for next semester! It has been a good semester and I have accomplished a lot! I feel like I have grown a lot with my skills and have learned a lot!! I am excited for next semester and can't believe that I graduate in 4 MONTHS, 4 WEEKS, and 2 DAYS!!! But who's counting??

Another Class IV

Today I saw a true, true, true class IV. All four quads were IV. I only worked on the lower left quad, and it literally took me 2.5 hours just for one quad. There was radiographic boulders on every...single...tooth! If I had been alone, in private practice, I literally would have broken down in tears! It was SO HARD!! He told me he hadn't been to the dentist in 40 YEARS!! Oh my gosh, I about died! Connie stayed with me the entire time and assisted and I couldn't have done it without her! I was EXHAUSTED!!!

Class III, Class III, Class III

Yep, I saw 3...count them THREE, class III patient at the VA today. That was rough! All of them had their OD done, so all I had to do was clean. Clean, Clean, Clean. I felt pretty good about it though, and it gave me a lot of experience!!

Mock Boards...

Today was mock boards! It was pretty stressful but I think overall it went very well. I think I did a good job cleaning my patient. I know there was an area on the distal of #18 that I could still feel a roughness and I tried with all my might and couldn't get it. So I just ended up submitting him. After I thought about why I didn't use my FILES?? Really?? I totally could have gotten it off with them, oh well, live and learn!!

First Class IV

HOLY COW!!! I am in awe. I have never really had a patient with deep pockets, so I wondered if I was probing correctly...well today I was walking the probe along, mesial...3, facial....12, distal...12, WAIT, WHAT?? A 12??? I will say it again, Holy Cow!! I was even able to use my curved slimlines on the deep pocket and furcation! I loved it! It was awesome!

Chair Positions!!!

EEK! I am struggling with my chair positions! WHY? Why after all this time are they giving me trouble? But it's so true that you can't do proper cleaning unless you are in the correct postion...I'll keep working on it...

Getting Better

Last year I saw a patient that was a perfect board patient! She had radiographic calculus on a lot of surfaces and I remember trying to do a cleaning and all I did was debride. It was the hardest patient I think I ever had to work on at that time. Well I saw her again today and it was much better. I felt like I did a good cleaning until my intructor came over and told me I basically missed every mesial surface. But at least I was consistant. I know I don't get mesials very well and it's because I am not comfortable with my position and with the way the instruments need to be held. She sat down with me and showed me the best ways to get the mesials and I learned a good lesson that day!

First Class III of the Semester

Today I saw my first class III of the semester. There was a lot of subgingival calculus that was hard to remove. I missed quite a few spots the first time because I think I am at the base of the pocket and I am really resting on a ring of calculus. I learned that I need to really get my explorer in deep enough so I can tell what I am feeling.

So....

So I saw my dad again today. Keep in mind that last year it took me at least two appointments to clean him, and today I finished him in 2 hours. It was very exciting. I am getting quicker which is very nice, but I still need to gain confidence in myself. I always seem to second guess myself when I shouldn't. Things are getting better as the semester goes on. But then again, I haven't seen very many hard patients at all!

First Official Post of my SENIOR YEAR!!

So this marks my first official post of my Senior Year! Getting back into the swing of things was easier than expected, but I still have a lot to learn. My first few patients were pretty east classes and weren't too difficult. But one of my first patients was a class III and I don't know how ready I was for that. We have great instructors this year that sit with us and make sure we understand what we missed and how to fix it. Things are going good, I just need to increase my confidence.

Clinic Day 15

I FOUND MY CLASS III!!! And I was so excited that I did the whole OD and two quads in one appointment! It was hard, but not as hard as I had expected! Since the gingiva is looser, it makes it easier to get down deep where the calculus is! I am feeling pretty good that I have met my requirements! And not a moment to soon! Since school ends in two weeks!!

Clinic Day 14

I still needed a true class II exam patient, so my patient today was spanish speaking and a class II. It is hard not being able to communicate with your patient and having to go find some one to translate for you when you need it. He had the most tenacious calculus! It was so hard to remove, and of course I missed like 15 spots, on my exam! Oh well, it was a good learning experience I guess! I need to get better at being able to detect calculus!

Clinic Day 13

Today I saw my cousin who was also a 1B, but she will make the perfect patient for my caries risk assignment. I used the diagnodent on her and got some pretty high readings. We did x-rays and I finished the cleaning. I am meeting with her next month to go over the caries assignment!

Clinic Day 12

Today I saw and finished a 1B with x-rays. I love when I can get so much accomplished in one appointment! She hadn't been in for a few years and she was a harder 1B, but I was still able to finish what I needed to and get her complete in one appointment! Wahoo!

Clinic Day 11

Today I saw my 1B friend again to finish her up. We were done super quick because she had virtually no calculus! So we had plenty of time to spare so I passed of like 5 PE's! It was awesome! I always feel relaxed when I am comfortable with the patient so she let me pass of some PE's that I wouldn't have wanted to pass off on some other people! Next week we get a break from patients to learn a couple more PE's then it's on to patients again for the rest of the semester!! Wish me luck!

Clinic Day 10

Today I saw a true class II. They are definitely hard! We only made it through one quad and he will come back in March. All the patients I have had say I am very gentle and that is good but sometimes I feel like I am not getting deep enough. I might be too gentle! Class II's are very hard for me right now, but hopefully they will start getting easier!

Clinic Day 9

Today I saw my Aunt, she ended up being a class 1B. But she was a little more difficult than other 1B's I have had. Her mouth was really tiny and hard to get to the back teeth! She needed premed, so while we were waiting the hour to start I did a full mouth series of x-rays. It wasn't as hard as I had remembered from last semester! I felt good about the scaling and didn't miss too many spots, I got her finished also so that was nice!

Clinic Day 8

I had my class V back today to finish. I used the ultrasonic throughout most his mouth and then finished up with hand scaling. I am trying out some different instruments to see what ones I like best and I feel the most comfortable with. All in all he was pretty easy, I didn't miss too many spots.

Clinic Day 7

Today was a class V that I used for a class II. You could definitely see the bone loss on the x-rays, but he was doing a good job at maintaining his perio. I feel like I did ok, I only got to one quad before the appointment was over but he did good and I felt good about it. He is coming back on Monday to finish up.

Clinic Day 6

Today was another 1B and I felt so good about myself because I finished his whole appointment in one day!! I was excited and so was he because I knew he didn't want to come back! He was pretty easy, but that is a lot of things you have to get done in 2 1/2 hours!! I am feeling ok about my 1B's, but not about anything else!

Clinic Day 5

Today I saw a class II and it was SOOO hard! The tissues were pretty tight and she had a click of calculus mesial and distal on I swear every single tooth! I didn't get a lot of time with her after the OD because she actually ended up being my peer pals board patient so there were a few instructors that came over and checked her to make sure she qualified. But when I finally sat down to try a quad or two it was the hardest thing I had ever done. She didn't want me to use the ultrasonic so I hand scaled what I could but I sucked! I really hope I am ready for something like that next year when I am taking the boards!

Clinic Day 4

Today I saw my good friend who was an easy IB. My first IB. She hadn't been to the dentist in 5 years and I swear she didn't have a click of calculus anywhere! It was fun to have a relaxed day and not worry about every thing I was doing. She was easy going and we had fun!

Clinic Day 3

Today I saw my little 4 year old niece, a class IA. It was fun but it was really long for her and me. And kids are a whole new story! I didn't really know what I was doing. A little polish and some fluoride and OHI and we were good! Next time I will do two kids in one appointment since there is definitely time!

Clinic Day 2

Well today I saw my dad, to finish up what I started last semester. I got straight to work since I didn't have to do any OD stuff. I finished all 4 quads and thought I did so well until they came over to check. I did really good on the supragingival calculus, but missed a TON of subgingival calculus!! There were three quads of a class II and one of a class III, and boy did I learn my lesson! It was really difficult to clean a class II since the gingiva is tight. I obviously did not go subgingival enough...lesson learned!

Clinic Day 1

Not much today that is unfamiliar. We organized our pods and re-familiarized ourselves with our pods and then we did some PE reviews. It felt pretty much the same as last semester. Patients start on Wednesday. I am scared but I know the best way to learn is just to dive right in, so here I go!