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.