Well today I had my last class 3 exam patient so thats a relief to get that done. This way im done with all my exams, and I got a lot of PE's done too. Now I pretty much just have the horrible ones to do, like the saliva one, diagnodent, and all those ones. They're the definite dreaded. I think I'll just bring Jesse in one day and try to pass off all those one's so i don't have to take the time to wait for my patient to spit in a cup and check how their flow is!:)

VA Day

today was a great one for the VA. My first patient we got done with 2 quads on a 3 because he had to leave early. But I was ok with it. Then after him Connie asked if I wanted to do one quad on a class 3 she had for root debridement. We got that done as well so it turned out good. Then I got a class 2 after lunch and finished him but with those 3 patients I got to do 4 injections plus x rays, and lots of pe's done. So that was pretty exciting.

Horrible

My afternoon patient today was pretty atrocious. I thought she would qualify to be a class 3 with all the calculus spurs on the x rays along with bone loss. Then our instructor still said a 2, which was fine but was just saying how hard and tricky they would be and they would actually be harder then a 3:< So....after finishing one quad I wanted it checked to see how I was doing but she wanted me to keep going and finish. I missed soooooooooooo many spots it was crazy! I don't even know what to think. So someone I should have had finished that day, has to come back AGAIN. A pain for the patient and myself. I also chose her to be my eaglesoft patient and knew to take digitals, but then on some random thought I switched to conventional! What was I thinking? Not the best day I've ever had.

cold sores!!!!!!!

well last night my 8:00 patient canceled so scrambling all night to find a patient we finally found somebody to come in. I thought she would be a class 2 and had gotten her name and number from the health connection. Meanwhile, her name was also on the recall list and so to of us thought they were our patient. Turns out she was a four! so we were going to split the quads but then after we got her laid back in the chair there was a tiny little cold sore on her lip. So there went my morning patient once again! No quads. I've about had it with cold sore's, premedications, and patients that don't show up.

Easy day

I had my mom come in today who is a 1b. Its funny how they seemed so challenging last semester and now I feel like I don't do anything to even clean hardly on 1b's. There's just not much to it compared to 2's and 3's. I wish they were all this easy and fast. One day I guess.

wow!

Today I had a patient who had a kidney transplant. He had not premedicated and said he was told last time he was in the clinic that he no longer had to. Well I couldn't start anything on him until we had contacted a dr for the go ahead. The patient wasn't happy about this at all and was getting really frustrated with us wasting his time. he couldn't understand why it was such a big deal and wanted to sign a waiver saying he didn't care and to go ahead with treatment. The nurse I talked to was not overly helpful in the least and we had to try about 3 different doctors before we got the right one, with the not so helpful nurse. We then had to wait for a call back but then they would not tell me anything until i walked back into clinic and had him use my cell phone i was on to confirm who i was and that he was there. In the end it turns out he absolutely DID need to be pre-medicated they said. After that he was much calmer and appreciative but this took the entire clinic time and once again....NO QUADS!!!!!

not the best day

Today my patient came that I planned on using as a mock board pt. we were going to take her x rays and clean the rest of her teeth. Well it turned out she had a tiny tiny little cold sore on her lower lip. She wanted us to do it anyways because she said it was healed but the scab kept coming of. so... we got to accomplish absolutely nothing. But she still sat in the seat for a long time taking up clinic time trying to decide whether we could in fact work on her or not and having Mr. Solomon come in and out trying to explain to her why we had to have her leave. Mock boards are in only a week so I wasn't real confident about having her come back with it healed and as luck would have it I screened a patient after her that day and she is now my new patient for that day. But I still got no quads in or anything overly effective. But I'm glad I at least have a good patient for that day.

I finally did my class 2 exam today. I thought it went pretty well. I was hoping she would be a good mockboard pt because she had enough clicks but I guess they were not big enough. Everything else was perfect for it. Her probe depths, no restorations like crowns or anything, then just the perfect bone loss. just not my luck I guess. She was a good one to work on. She didn't speak english but brought her daughter who could translate. She had good calculus evenly spread, heavier on the lower linguals and she had some in the mesial groove of the first premolar that we were taught about. That was the first time I had ever felt that so that was kinda cool.

My patient today was a class two. She really needed more dental work done then anything. Obviously she needed a cleaning, but she had sooo much decay and areas that needed to be filled that had just chipped off. She knew before she came in that she needs a rt canal and has lots of cavities but has no money to take care of it. It made the cleaning a lot harder because there were so many sensitive areas where the ultrasonic could not be used and places that had chipped right down only buccally by the gingiva. She was a little harder because of those things but not bad.

Today i saw another class 5. she wasn't bad at all, the hardest part was that she didn't speak a lick of english. So anything I saw or wanted to mention, she had absolutely no idea what I was saying. We had her OD done from a time before though so she was pretty quick other than coming 20 minutes late. She had a lot of build up on the lower linguals but it was not real tenacious. Pretty good patient over all.

My class 3 patient came back from lunch and was ready to just finish up, so we got her numb and got started. It seemed like it took forever for only having one quad left but she was finally done. Hurray! I'm sure she couldnt wait to be done finally. She's from logan and that was her third time back. She was really great about it all though. We had a lot of extra time at the end so we went over OHI for a long time, which was great because normally at the end your hurrying to get the patient walked out on time. This was my last day of clinic for the semester and whole first year! Woo Hoo! That feels great.

today I had my class 3 come for the last time but we had to have her all day in order to get her done. So came in the morning and I did ok I thought on her first quad but the second when i felt like I did better I missed more than I ever have. we ended up walking her out like 45 minutes late because she was numb so we figured I should finish her then, rather then after lunch when she wasn't numb anymore. She brought 3 kids with her and her husband so watch them while they weren't being seen. So she made it easy and also really cared about what she needed to do with her kids and her teeth, and said she would like her husband to come in next semester.

Well i didn't have a patient today and wasn't even going to come because i have a full day coming up for my class 3 but i just thought i would pass off a few pe's on my husband. So i had him come in and passed off the intra oral camera, the air powder polisher, and after he left i did the peer calculus removal evaluation. Then there was a walk in that wanted an appointment so i cleaned everything up and put her in and we got done with hh, od, and 2 quads. She had a lingual bar and tons of build up on both sides of them. So i was pretty happy with what i got done today other then there was sooo much that i left clinic really late! but I atleast got an extra couple quads done and should hopefully get another 4 done next wednesday.

today i had my 5 year old nephew and 2 year old niece come in. The 2 year old was adorable of course and by making it fun, she endured it and did really good for a 2 year old but it was really hard to do much on. My nephew did awesome and was super excited to be there and tell me all about his pirates of the carribean wi game! So that was really fun. even for those two small appointments i felt like there was soo much charting to do. Im not used to having 2 patients come in, even if they were short appointments. But it was really fun having them there for my patients. Is always nice to get a break with someone you know and they're excited to be there too.

today I saw a patient that had really bad teeth. as i was probing then chunks were just falling off. there was a lot to get and on top of it he was a gagger just trying to get to the back tooth, he had a huge tongue that was always in the way pushing things around and a very strong bottom lip! Plus...he did not want to be there at all! then he refused to wear the protective eyewear. It was a lovely appointment. Needless to say I think we were both glad when it was done. Just one of those days ya know?

Today was a super mellow day. My patient canceled in the morning, so my husband came in and we did some x rays and a sealant, then passed off my diagnodent pe. It all went smoothly and there was no rushing or anything at all. Plus its my husband so not a lot of pressure. So it actually turned out kinda nice not having my pt show up, it made it much more relaxing and a relief to be able to take it easy. Especially after having the weekend from hell. So this was a nice change of pace!

class 2

Today was my first true class two patient. It was really fun. She has some diastema's on her lower anteriors with a lot of calculus that filled up the spaces. It wasn't too hard to get off and she said her teeth felt weird after all of it was off. we got all 4 quads done so she doesn't have to come back. She was a really good patient and easy to work with. With her and my class 3 patient lately I feel like i have learned a lot better how to use the ultrasonic correctly and make it more useful so thats been a good thing I've learned. I just need to finish my class 3 and 1 more kid and i have all my requirements if all that goes smoothly. Then we're done with our first year. Woo Hoo!

class 3!

Wow! today i had all day to just scale pretty much aside from health history things like checking blood glucose and stuff, and i only got done with ONE quad! dang what a slow poke. Other than the time it took I felt like it went smoothly for my first class 3. I haven't even had a true 2 yet so i thought it went good. and the patient really seems to be trying and is concerned about the condition of her mouth right now so its nice to have such a good patient to work with. She is coming back for another appointment for a morning and afternoon session. That time I should definitely be able to finish her up, hopefully next time will be faster!

2nd child patient

today i had my nephew come in. He was my 2nd child patient. i always second guess myself a lot more with children for some reason, but today i felt like it went much easier. I charter a lot better and quicker this time so the second time around was really good practice. i didn't leave any spots to correct and there was a couple to get so thats always nice to hear when your done that you didn't miss any. normally doesn't happen for me. He was really good with everything so it was a good day. His x-rays turned out and it was really good experience since im not real wonderful working on children yet. and its always nice when you get done early and have time to clear all your stuff out without rushing and having to have everybody else do it for you.

No Show

Today my patient didn't show up so I stood around for quite a while but luckily a lady came in and was hoping to get in so i took her and she ended up being my true class two. I didn't get very far on her so she's scheduled again. But the x-rays i took ended up being good and probe depths and everything like that so it was a pretty good day.

class 3!!!

Today I found my class three patient. I was so excited and relieved that i found one. now my only worry is that she comes to her other appointments because she can only come on a monday and my schedule is pretty full. So if she misses one I can't finish her. Her x-rays were super helpful. I never would have guessed just by looking at her but on her xrays there was tons of calculus spurs, and bone loss, and probe reading were going to 7's. So I didn't get a whole lot done, i didn't even start scaling but next time for sure and I am also taking fwx. so thats another nice perk. we also checked her blood sugar so i passed off that pe and thats one more out of the way. So today was a really good one. lots of my probe readings were not near deep enough so i guess i definetely learned form my mistakes. so it was a good day!

change of events

well my patient canceled at short notice the day before so i called someone off the list but they couldn't speak any english. So luckily my brother in law speaks fluant spanish and could help me out. He talked to him for me and set up a time. But then he changed his mind and couldn't come because of work so they brought their two kids in. It was stressful but i was sooo glad they at least came and brought their kids. I have never worked on a child before so it was really good experience. I got some help and started being able to tell the difference between the deciduous teeth and got to take x rays on him which turned out good. He had good teeth and we found a couple caries most likely but he was super cute and interested in everything that was going on. So it turned out to be a really good day and good experience for me as well.

looonnnggg day!!!!

well i have been at school from 7:30 til 5:00 today. 9 & 1/2 hours! i was a CA today then had clinic. skipping passed all the morning stuff, my patient was really great today. He was a 1B and was really good experience. He had lots of tough tenacious calculus really subgingivally and also really interproximally. so it was a challenge to find but also to get off. I definetely made him bleed a lot but he was a sport. We thought he would be really sore and need to take some ibuprofens but he felt good after and he was done that day other than xrays. So i was happy about it. I haven't got to feel much actual calculus like that yet and he didn't have any restorations to get in the way or worry about. so it went pretty well i thought.

no patients today

today we didn't have patients so it is a little more relaxing but the day goes by slower. we learned how to check blood glucose levels by pricking our partners fingers so that was different. we were very nervous needless to say cause we are wooses. but it wasn't too bad. then we learned how to clean dentures and also use the diagnodent to check for caries. then me and my pod partner had a little time to use the intraoral camera for a little practice and take some pictures so that was fun too. Well thats about it for the day, til monday!

bad day

wow. well today i felt like i worked fast and good. my patient had really great teeth and everything so i felt like i did fine. but when i got my scale check she came over and i had missed 7 areas in the whole mouth! so that wasn't very good and im sure my grade was aweful. i was really surprised to find out i had missed so many. i never have missed that many at all so that was pretty crappy. so it was not the best day but hopefully next time will be better!

Today i finished my class 2 patient. it went really well it thought. i missed 3 areas but they were small and i was happy about it because there was a lot of restorations he was normally a class 5, so its kind of hard to tell a difference between some of the different grooves and bumps and things. And today i actually had time to spare too, that was pretty nice to not be rushing out the door and feel so scattered. my next patient is a second timer too so im feeling good about the scaling and second appointments but now i feel like its been forever since ive seen a patient that i've had to do x-rays or probing on so hopefully i can practice more on those soon and haven't lost what i felt like i was getting better at. today we did find a couple overhangs and an incipient lesion right under it and a couple more from the x-rays so that was pretty interesting. over all it was a good day and went smoothly. hopefully next time even with a shorter clinic it can go just as good.

February 3, Today my my patient came in for her second appt and it went really well. I felt like the day just flew by though. i worked fast i thought with all four quads, and i didn't miss one tooth so i was super excited. then after that i got to put a sealant on her. she needed 2 but we ran out of time. But the day went well and i felt like the actual cleaning went really good because there was things to scrape off and some recession and since i didn't miss anything i felt like i was improving hopefully. but there was nothing really exciting, new or different that day so that pretty much sums it up!

Today I had a patient come in off the call list but it was her second time in so we got to finish her up. It was good experience today because she had asthma so using i needed to find the albuterol and have it chair side, and using the ultrasonic was a condraindication so i hand scaled her full mouth and ended up finding some different things and it really helped to feel with more tactile sense then normal. it was pretty interesting. I found a class 1 or 2 furcation just by the different bump even though it wasn't visible. It helps to have to learn without the ultrasonic because i can feel whats normal rough or bumps compared to restorations or furcations and things like that. And it also helps me with my technique quite a bit. Where the ultrasonic just kind of gets the job done easier and faster it seems like. So I definitely took longer today but she was a trooper and a really nice patient. So it was a good day over all.

Jan. 27, 2010
Today I had my mom come in for her second appointment. It went really well. I took a long time scaling but i got 3 pe's passed off and really tried practicing my tecnique while scaling with posture and being able to see correctly and everything like that. I only missed one tooth that still had something on there so i was happy about that. It was a good day to practice because I had plenty of time to try what I needed to, rather then just compromising my tecnique and positioning to get them done. She is all done with flouride and polishing ect. So i'm sure she's happy she wont have to drive from tremonton anymore to come to these long cleaning appointments.

Jan. 25, 2010
Today I had a new patient off the call list. She was very nice and on time. I was so happy to see that. When its not someone you know all you do is worry that they wont show or will be extremely late. She was a great patient though. She was having some grinding in her jaw that had never been there and had never caused her problems and was worried that sometime it might lock on her. So I got to take a panoramic x-ray on her. so part of another one of my requirements was filled that i was so worried about finding. Now that i've been doing conventional this whole time, I am feeling much more comfortable taking x-rays then I was and need to start using schik and scan x for the rest of the semester pretty much. I didn't get to scale on her either but we did go over a little ohi just for before her next appointment and that was all other then the regular probing and stuff. So she is coming back in just one week to finish her up. she's been very cooperative and easy to work with so thats made things really nice.

Jan. 20, 2010
Today my mother in law came in. It went really well. I planned on a simple 1b and taking normal 4 bwx x-rays. Instead, we ended up taking a full mouth of pa's and 4 bwx. so that was really great experience. she was a good patient and toughed through all those x-rays. they are my weakest point for sure so that took the longest but i didn't have to retake even one, so i was thrilled. Normally out of 4 bwx I would have to retake 3! I got done with all the probing and extra and intra stuff. so now I've just got the cleaning left. So I was pretty pleased with that day. it went well and i got to do a full mouth and had wondered how and who i was going to get to do that, so it worked out perfect. I've got her coming back in 2 weeks to get her scaling done and the rest of her appointment.

EXAM

Today I had a new patient that I have never met come in for the first time. Up til now I haven't had many patients but they've all been family. I was really worried about her showing up on time or showing up at all. But she came only 10 minutes late and had already filled out her health history without any medications or anything, so we could get right into it. she had just had x-rays taken so only wanted a cleaning, so that was nice and I was able to finish her whole appointment in one session. I ended up using her as an exam which was nice cause I felt like I did well and its one out of the way now, which is a huge stress relief. All my probe readings including a 4 were agreed upon and she had a lingual bar on all her anteriors upper and lower with cement on each tooth. So it was harder to get all the plaque off but I got a good score and only had to go back to a few. Which wasn't bad for my first patient I scaled on and a full mouth. I also passed of my exploring PE that day. So all in all, I had a really good day that day and made me feel like I was improving.

Good Day Finally!

So today i got a class 2 patient expecting a 1b. So I was really excited to have that for the experience. My x-rays turned out well finally, and i saw some things that i haven't got to yet. I saw quite a bit of recession, a furcation, and attrition which was pretty cool. It also helped with my OD for finding different things in the mouth like different fillings, crowns, sealants, and charting all that with the recession and the other things that were a bit unusual for me to have seen already. We also after taking the x-rays, found two incipient caries so that was pretty cool too. I didn't get to scaling so hopefully he will come back and I can finish his appointment. But he was a great patient and really easy to work with. So overall I didn't feel like I got a lot done fast, but I learned a lot and the next appointment should be much easier and faster.

First Patient day!!!

My mom came in today. She was a great patient. I didn't get much done. I only got done 4 bwx done, the hhx, od, extra and intra exam and full mouth probe. I had to retake every single x-ray. But at least the second ones turned out much better. Not great! but better. It was a little harder to take I felt like because she has bilateral mandibular tori. I got my conatacts open both times this time though so i think thats an improvement. Next time will be a little better since all I will have to do is scaling, polish, ect. No x-rays! thats all I care about, they are definetely a BIG weak point! I look forward to working on her again, but I'm still pretty nervous about anybody else. Hopefully I'll get faster pretty quick, I feel so bad having people come twice just as a favor.

First day Back!

Well our first day back we didn't see a patient. we split into groups and went to three different groups of learning. our first one we learned about the ultrasonic scaler and practiced with it on our typodonts, then we did some case studies on how to classify patients, and what to do for their OHI, then the last group we learned about our graceys and the different ways and circumstances that they can be used in. Next time is our real patient day. I've got my mom coming in but I'm still pretty nervous so we'll see how it goes.