Today my morning was great. Another patient that my peer pal had given me came in today. She is one of the sweetest ladies I've worked on. I took new radiographs and finished her today. She speaks Spanish but she also speaks English very well! She was so grateful that I was able to get her in to have a cleaning. She takes great care of her teeth! She had very healthy tissues and very little plaque.
My afternoon is where it got crazy! I had three kids coming in. This was the first time I'd seen three patients in an afternoon and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish all of them. They were all siblings and some the most well behaved kids I know. This made the day go by a lot better.
I was able to take radiographs on all three of the kids, which was a bonus! I was planning on placing a some sealants on the youngest, but we used the diagnodent and unfortunately we weren't able to place the sealants due to decay.
Kids are easy and fast to clean. I did see orange stain for the first time which was kinda cool to see. It came off really easily with a scaler.
I was definitely exhausted after the day was over, there was a lot of running around, cleaning up, and setting back up today. On the plus side the afternoon went by way fast and I am officially done with all my minimum requirements for the year! :)
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Cancellations
This morning my class IV patient came back, her husband was supposed to be Hailey's patient. But I got a call at 7:45 telling me that her daughter is sick and that her husband is going to stay home and won't be able to come in. I felt sick! It's one thing if my patient cancels but thi
My afternoon patient was supposed to be the daughter of one of my patients, I had called the day before to confirm and she said they were planning on it. Well 12:30 rolls around and no patient, 12:35, 12:40, 12:45 still no patient. This patient is usually really good at being on time, so I hoped that everything was okay. I called her and she was surprised that her daughter wasn't there. She told me to call her other daughter (the sister to my patient) to see if they were coming. When I did she tells me that they aren't coming because the daughter has school. Great! That would have been nice to know when I called yesterday to confirm! So to the resource list I go....
Luckily as I getting ready to call a patient off the resource list, my patient called me back and said that her other son could come in, which was a relief! I was able to take radiographs and still finish him. He was only a 1B so that was expected.
The feelings of having a patient cancel or no show are definitely the worst! But I'm glad it all worked out in the end.s was Hailey's patient! I felt so bad! I felt like I was responsible for it, I called a patient of mine to see if they could come, but they couldn't. Hailey said it was okay, and it's not my fault since it's not something I can control. We looked at the resource list and tried multiple numbers. She was able to find a patient that was able to come in that morning, which I am grateful for!
My afternoon patient was supposed to be the daughter of one of my patients, I had called the day before to confirm and she said they were planning on it. Well 12:30 rolls around and no patient, 12:35, 12:40, 12:45 still no patient. This patient is usually really good at being on time, so I hoped that everything was okay. I called her and she was surprised that her daughter wasn't there. She told me to call her other daughter (the sister to my patient) to see if they were coming. When I did she tells me that they aren't coming because the daughter has school. Great! That would have been nice to know when I called yesterday to confirm! So to the resource list I go....
Luckily as I getting ready to call a patient off the resource list, my patient called me back and said that her other son could come in, which was a relief! I was able to take radiographs and still finish him. He was only a 1B so that was expected.
The feelings of having a patient cancel or no show are definitely the worst! But I'm glad it all worked out in the end.s was Hailey's patient! I felt so bad! I felt like I was responsible for it, I called a patient of mine to see if they could come, but they couldn't. Hailey said it was okay, and it's not my fault since it's not something I can control. We looked at the resource list and tried multiple numbers. She was able to find a patient that was able to come in that morning, which I am grateful for!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Mockboards
This was the day I have been dreading since I first started this program... MOCKBOARDS!!
Just the name is intimidating! I knew the first mockboard would probably be miserable and I would be frantic. Luckily I was in the morning and I was able to get it over with first.
I made sure I arrived earlier than normal in the morning, so that I would have plenty of time to set up and let out some nerves. All I had to worry about now was my patient showing up! I had confirmed and confirmed twice, but you still never know if patients will show up. That is probably the thing I hate most about the program. I hate having my grade depend on someone else. Luckily my patient did show up today and on time! Whew-- first step was clear.
Within an hour my patient was submitted and brought back to my chair. I administered my local anesthetic--which was my first time in the clinical setting! It went great and smoothly, plus she actually got numb!! My only fight now was against the clock and my patients calculus!
I'm glad that I had worked on her before so knew what type of calculus she had. The calculus removed easily and wasn't very tenacious! Thank goodness!! I took a break halfway through to relax my hands and take a breather. I then charted recession and probe depths. I was finished scaling and still had about thirty minutes left on my time. Saying "I'm done" and submitting my patient back to the examiner was the hardest part of the whole thing! I kept thinking what if I'm not really done and I fail completely!
When my patient was brought back from the examiners they told me what spots I missed. And I only missed....one spot!! I was amazed and happy! This means that I have a very high chance of passing my first mockboard. I had my instructor come help me find the missed spot and then checked my patient out.
I had made it through my first mockboard and it went better than I could have ever hoped for! They had told us that most people fail their mockboards and that we shouldn't let it affect us. So I'm very happy that I actually passed! It was definitely a blessing and I am very grateful for it!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Perio day!
Today was very exhausting! It was filled with lots of perio. Which is a good thing because I need a lot of perio this year!
My morning patient was a lady I had seen before and I was just finishing up her remaining three quads. She has class III periodontal disease, and a lot of calculus. Luckily it comes off pretty good. She didn't have to be numb which surprised me, but she said it was fine and didn't hurt.
My afternoon patient was one that my peer pal gave me (thank you MeChel!). She saw her last semester and told me that my patient really wants to improve her health so she wanted me to have her come in. I saw that she had been diagnosed with class IV periodontal disease last semester and when I looked the x-rays I was amazed!! I hadn't ever seen so much bone loss! I wasn't even sure if it really existed! Every single tooth was mobile in her mouth. Her plaque free index was way high, so she has been doing a great job keeping it clean. She gums were very inflamed and there was a lot of bleeding. I was only able to probe the maxillary arch because she was very sensitive. I had my instructor numb a quad and then I went to work. I didn't even know how or where to start. But eventually I finished. I was only able to finish one quad because the calculus was very tenacious. I put her on CHX and hopefully I will see some improvement at the next appointment.
My morning patient was a lady I had seen before and I was just finishing up her remaining three quads. She has class III periodontal disease, and a lot of calculus. Luckily it comes off pretty good. She didn't have to be numb which surprised me, but she said it was fine and didn't hurt.
My afternoon patient was one that my peer pal gave me (thank you MeChel!). She saw her last semester and told me that my patient really wants to improve her health so she wanted me to have her come in. I saw that she had been diagnosed with class IV periodontal disease last semester and when I looked the x-rays I was amazed!! I hadn't ever seen so much bone loss! I wasn't even sure if it really existed! Every single tooth was mobile in her mouth. Her plaque free index was way high, so she has been doing a great job keeping it clean. She gums were very inflamed and there was a lot of bleeding. I was only able to probe the maxillary arch because she was very sensitive. I had my instructor numb a quad and then I went to work. I didn't even know how or where to start. But eventually I finished. I was only able to finish one quad because the calculus was very tenacious. I put her on CHX and hopefully I will see some improvement at the next appointment.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Continuing Care
This morning I had my first patient of the year come back (the one I think I can use for mockboards) and I did a screening on her. When she was first in my chair and I found out I could use her fore mockboards I was so flustered because I wasn't thinking about it at all! I didn't know the protocol for mockboards and I wasn't even exactly sure of the qualifications. So this time I did my homework before. I read the candidate guide and knew what I needed to look for. I had to take some x-rays and then I started feeling for calculus. I then had my instructor check her, and she qualifies for mockboards!! I am so happy! It's such a relief that I don't have to worry about it anymore. I am also grateful that she is willing to be my mockboard patient.
In the afternoon I finished one of my patients who is a class II. She is a sweetheart and is very worried that she is going to lose all her teeth. I had to reassure her that if we keep her on a maintenance schedule that the chances of her losing all her teeth are very minimal. She was relieved to hear that!
Overall today was a good day! It couldn't have gone much better! :)
In the afternoon I finished one of my patients who is a class II. She is a sweetheart and is very worried that she is going to lose all her teeth. I had to reassure her that if we keep her on a maintenance schedule that the chances of her losing all her teeth are very minimal. She was relieved to hear that!
Overall today was a good day! It couldn't have gone much better! :)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Half Day
Today I only saw one patient because we had a lab in the afternoon. My patient this morning was another referral from my dental office. He was the boyfriend of a lady that used to work for my dental office. She called me and said that her boyfriend hadn't had a cleaning in forever and that he has periodontal disease. So I was thinking "Perfect! Maybe he'll be a class III". But much to my disappointment he wasn't. He ended up being two quads of a II and two quads of a V. So I won't complain too much, and I still have plenty of time to find class III patients.
He was very nice to work on and I was able to finish him completely. He didn't need radiographs because he said that he'd had them a few months ago. (I was trying to figure out why his girlfriend told me it had been years since he'd been to the dental office, but he'd had x-rays that year?? I was confused, but oh well)
In the afternoon we had a lab and we had a refresher on taking blood glucose and using the diagnodent. We also went over the saliva check test--which I am not excited about having to perform on one of my patients! Shannon helped us with periodontal files and graceys. I am still so nervous to use my periodontal files, I don't want to gouge my patients tooth surface! Lastly we were able to try out different ultrasonic/sonic machines. I definitely like our magnetostrictive ultrasonic, and it could be that it's what I'm used to. But the sonic scaler was very heavy and bulky, I didn't like it at all.
He was very nice to work on and I was able to finish him completely. He didn't need radiographs because he said that he'd had them a few months ago. (I was trying to figure out why his girlfriend told me it had been years since he'd been to the dental office, but he'd had x-rays that year?? I was confused, but oh well)
In the afternoon we had a lab and we had a refresher on taking blood glucose and using the diagnodent. We also went over the saliva check test--which I am not excited about having to perform on one of my patients! Shannon helped us with periodontal files and graceys. I am still so nervous to use my periodontal files, I don't want to gouge my patients tooth surface! Lastly we were able to try out different ultrasonic/sonic machines. I definitely like our magnetostrictive ultrasonic, and it could be that it's what I'm used to. But the sonic scaler was very heavy and bulky, I didn't like it at all.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Signs of Improvement
One of my favorite things is to improve, and when I have actual physical signs of improvement it is even better!
Today I was able to see three patients at the VA! Okay I know this is really pathetic when compared to private practice, but it was a huge step for me in school. When we first started at the VA they told us that in a couple of weeks we would start to see two patients in the morning. I laughed inside and thought "Ya, right! Maybe at the end of the year I'll be able to see two patients in the morning". This was extremely overwhelming to me because I kept thinking back to last year and how I was barely able to finish a 1B in a single 3 hour appointment by the end of the year. But much to my surprise it happened today!!
Everything today just worked out perfectly for me. The stars were aligned, or something like that. My patients were easy, and I was able to finish them all fast. I like being able to see multiple patients in a day, it makes the day go by faster. This also gives me hope that by the end of the year I will be ready to start in a private practice and see 10+ patients a day! But for now I'll just continue taking baby steps...
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