The Last Day

DONE! That's pretty much all I have to say! I am officially done with clinic this semester. And boy does it feel great! I can't believe how fast it went by! At the first of the semester I thought I would never make it through the first week let alone the first semester! But I did and I am definitely ready for a break!

We went over the grading rubric for Tal-Eval and how we will be scored next semester with our patients. It was a little stressful to think of having to see actual patients next semester, but I don't want to think of that now. I just want to enjoy the break.

We also learned about emergency preparedness and how we are to react in different situations. I hope I don't have to ever deal with an emergency because I don't know if I'd be able to stay calm! And that is the first step, so I would definitely fail. It is definitely good to know though because I am less likely to freak out if I am prepared and know what to do.

Lastly we learned about CA (clinic assistant) duties. Which was pretty straight forward. We get the opportunity next semester to be the CA twice. We help out where needed, make new charts, sterilize instruments, answer calls, and the list goes on and on.

I have definitely learned SO much this semester. I look back on all that we've gone over and think, Wow! I do still have some improving to do but that will come with the next three semesters!

It's Here!

It came! After 15 weeks of learning different skills, they were finally put to the test today! It was our REAL patient day today! I'll admit, I was nervous for today! The thing that worried me the most is not having diagnostic radiographs and hurting my patient. Luckily I just messed up once and it was on my radiographs.

My peer pal was my first patient, and I am so glad it was her! It took away the stress of having to find a patient and making sure my patient actually showed up! I knew that she would be there and be on time! I was so relieved when she volunteered to be my patient. I wanted to just give her a big hug! Another bonus was that she was able to help me along, and give me pointers throughout the appointment.

All in all I felt pretty good about my patient treatment day. I felt like I was able to move through the flow of things nicely and quickly. I am so glad that I signed up for radiology first! I was able to have the room available when I wanted it and get them over with. I did struggle just a little on the radiographs. I had to do two retakes. I struggled getting the contact between 14 & 15 open. Professor Costley helped me finally be able to get it and of course it turned out perfectly! I learned that I can come a lot more mesially than I would think.

Probing also went faster than I was anticipating. Plus I got a few good pointers on how to improve my probing in the future. For the most part today was not as bad as I was anticipating! I was sure I was going to totally bomb the day. But I survived and got through everything I needed to for the day. Now I can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving! :)

Round Two

I was the patient again today! And it was just as great as last time! But I did have radiology after clinic so I didn't get to come in street clothes or with painted nails. :( But I did still get to relax and take a little nap while my teeth were being cleaned.

It is always a good experience to be the patient. I get a new insight on how I should treat my patients. I definitely get a reminder that I need to be soft and not dig at my patients teeth! I have a new resolve to make sure I keep my grasp and strokes light when I don't have to remove any calculus.

In radiology we learned about panoramic films. I have been taking pano's the wrong way my whole life! Granted, I was never really taught the proper way to take a pano, so I should be cut a little slack, right? But they are pretty involved and it takes a lot of remembering to make sure you get all the steps.

I also learned how to take a conventional pano. At my dental office we only use digital and it goes right to the computer, so no developing whatsoever. It definitely is so much nicer than loading film. It is actually pretty tricky to load a pano in the daylight loader! There is not enough space in the loading area and you can't see what you're doing! Hopefully I will get faster at it, because it took me a good amount of time to load it.

A Day in the Patient Chair

So I finally got a break this week, and boy was I excited! I don't have a single care in clinic, which means I can focus all my stress on class instead of clinic. This week I get to be the patient. The best part... I get to have painted nails!! Oh I have missed nail polish so much! Plus I could wear street clothes and have my hair down so I have at least one day when I don't look like frump.

Amanda was my hygienist today and she was just the best! She was so professional and cute! I felt very calm and relaxed in the chair. Maybe a little too relaxed at some points ;). Poor Amanda had to deal with me falling asleep, I hope I didn't bite her or anything when I was zoning off. But I guess that means she was doing a good job since I wasn't jumping out of the chair.

I was actually surprised at how fast the appointment went. I thought for sure I would be laying there for hours and just be counting the seconds until I could leave. But it really wasn't bad at all! Plus I got another head and neck massage, and you can never complain about that! :)

I can't say enough how great it was to be able to go to clinic today and not have to worry about PE's, ergonomics or anything! It was just a relief! I wish I could have more days like this! ;)

Continuing Care

Amanda was kind enough to agree to come back and let me finish scaling her mouth! And I was able to finish her all up today! It's such a relief to finally make it through one whole appointment with my patient. 

Since I had just seen Amanda on Monday I just had to do a visual check for OD and I didn't have to get an instructor for an OD check. This made the appointment go by a lot faster and gave me more time to scale, which I needed since I had three quads to scale. 

The TA's were really helpful today, I was really grateful for their advice and tips on scaling. I found that it's best/easier to scale one quad at a time. I was starting in the anterior's and then going posterior, but I found (with the help of the TA's) that it is easier to start posteriorly and work forward! It's little tricks like this that I learn when I am able to actually scale a whole mouth. I learn what works for me and what doesn't. I was also able to figure out my fulcrums and see what works best for me. 

I finished scaling, did selective polishing, and a fluoride treatment! Then I was done with sometime to spare in clinic. With this extra time I passed off my final PE! Oh it feels so good to know I don't have to worry about anymore PE's this semester! 

Mock Patient Day

Today was mock patient day, and I was so relieved to be the clinician first! I am able to get it over with! Amanda will be my patient for the week! I am so grateful for her! She is always so patient with me and gives me some good feedback which I appreciate!

I was a little more nervous then I thought I would be, especially because I've already worked on Amanda. But I made sure I got to clinic early enough to get set up and have some extra time to just relax. I only had to get through an OD appointment today which made me relax a little!

When the time came to actually get Amanda back I felt like I was all over the place! I just tried to keep a smile on my face and hide that fact that my heart was pounding a million beats per minute! After about 20 minutes into the appointment I started to calm down and felt more comfortable. Probing still takes my whole life to do! I don't think I will ever get faster at it! But the good news was that I still remembered how to do it and I felt pretty comfortable with it as well! :)

I was able to get through the whole OD appointment and scale one quad! Which was a bonus! Plus I didn't miss any calculus! Another success! I'll see Amanda on Wednesday and finish her up and get my last PE passed off! Which is fantastic! I can't believe how fast this semester went by and that in a few weeks I'll see my first patient!

Sharp to the Tip (or toe)

On November 2nd in clinic we learned instrument sharpening. We had gone over sharpening in class the week before so it was nice to finally have it introduced in class before we had to practice it in clinic. It is important to make sure we always have sharp instruments. When we have a sharp instrument we decrease the chance of causing tissue trauma to our patients. Sharp instruments increase our tactile sensitivity by allowing our grip to be looser, and we have less chance of burnishing the calculus we are trying to remove.

There are a couple of different ways to sharpen your instruments. We learned the moving stone-stationary instrument and stationary stone-moving instrument methods. I personally prefer the moving stone-stationary instrument method, but that could be because I've used that one the most.

When sharpening it is important to remember to keep the original design of your instrument when sharpening. Every time you sharpen you create new facets in your instrument, the goal is to keep the facets as close to the original design as possible. You do this by maintaining a 110 degree between the face of the blade and stone. Also you want to prevent wire edges so you will always end with a down stroke when sharpening.

Every time we see a patient and use our instruments we should check them for sharpness. This will help us maintain sharp instruments and make it easier to keep the original shape. You can test the sharpness of your instrument either with a plastic test stick or using a light. Either one works well, and they are both pretty easy.

Our Grooves are Sealed

Yesterday in clinic we learned how to place sealants. I have actually placed sealants before so it wasn't entirely new to me. But it was good to get the proper technique down and to get more practice (plus receive a few sealants myself). We also did another fluoride treatment and I've decided that I like the gel in a try a lot better than the varnish.

I was the patient first today and Ashlee was my hygienist. Yesterday actually went pretty fast and we were able to get a lot done. She first checked my teeth to see if any needed sealants. I had six teeth that could have sealants placed (and I found out I'm getting a cavity on #15 occlusal :/). Ashlee placed two and Karlie placed another two since her partner didn't need any. I was excited to get sealants because I have some deep grooves and I always get food and seeds stuck in them! Then she polished my teeth and taught me how to brush and floss.

I then got to work on Ashlee and I was able to place one sealant on her. One thing that was new to sealants for me is to check the bite. In private practice we usually just send our patient on their way and tell them that their bite will feel normal after a couple of days. But in clinic we had to check the bite and then adjust the bite so it feels normal. I am glad we did this because it's super annoying to have a high bite! I was able to pass off my selective polishing today as well and use fluoride trays (which I've never done before).

We got out a little early which was nice since it was Halloween (plus I was ready to get home!). The weeks keep flying by and I can't believe it is already November! Where did October go! I am almost 1/4 of the way done with the program! Crazy!

A Pretty Penny

Last Wednesday in clinic was great! I was able to get all caught up on my PE's. It is such a relief to finally be all caught up (well at least to the point I could be, we got 3 more PE's today). I feel like I'll actually be able to enjoy this weekend because we have a little bit of a break.

We learned how to do selective polishing. There are two different types of polishing. There is the traditional prophy angle with prophy paste or the air powder polisher. And that I have never heard of! It is pretty cool even though it tastes bad and is a pain to set up. First you have to put on your "Advanced PPE" this includes aprons, hair nets and the whole nine yards! The air powder polisher is good for heavy stain. We started by polishing a penny. This made me want to bring in all my change and polish them since they looked great! We then moved to the big leagues and used it on our patients. It is a little awkward to do since you have your HVE and the air powder polisher tip in both hands. It gets a little hard to see at times which is frustrating!

We also placed fluoride varnish today. I do not like that stuff at all! It kinda makes me sick, and the feeling on your teeth is just annoying. But I do see the benefits of it. It is left on the teeth a lot longer so you get the fluoride for longer than you would with gel or foam. So I guess I just have to take the bad taste for the extra fluoride.

What's the Plan Stan?

On Monday in clinic we learned how to put together a treatment plan. You'd think that after 2 1/2 years working at my dental office (and using Eaglesoft) I would know how to put together and print out a treatment plan. Well I didn't! I know pathetic, huh?

It wasn't hard by any means just a lot of steps. I felt like I caught on pretty fast, which is good that means I can pass the PE off next clinic session. The only thing would be to remember to make sure I schedule everything for the right phase, the right appointment type, the right day, and the right clinician (me :)). When making treatment plan we have to make sure our instructor approves it before we print it off. We then make two copies and the patient, clinician, and instructor all have to sign both. One copy then goes home with the patient while the other copy stays in the patients chart.

After we went over the treatment plan we were able to have to day to get caught up. It was so nice! I was able to get caught up on all my PE's except for intra-oral camera (which isn't hard so I can do it on Wednesday). It felt good to finally get OHI and Dental Screening passed off. Those were the two that were stressing me out for some reason. It's over now and I'm so glad! Now all I have to worry about is my Dental Hygiene test! Piece of cake right? NOT! I will definitely be studying all night and all day tomorrow.

Deja Vu

Wednesday in clinic was like deja vu. We pretty much did the same thing on Wednesday as we did on Monday. It was nice though because I felt a lot more comfortable and I felt like I knew what I needed to do. I didn't feel like a complete idiot not knowing what needs to be done or the order it needs to be done in.

The challenge today was that we had double the amount of teeth to work on! We probed and scaled all lower teeth instead of just one quad. I was actually surprised that I was able to get through the whole "appointment" because we had to do double the amount of teeth and we actually had less time.

Clinic goes by way too fast now, I can't believe we only have a couple more sessions until we see our first real patient! (Ah!) I am glad that after today we don't have to scale anymore. It's not that I don't need the practice (because I do) it's just that I am done having my teeth scaled! My gums are super sore and they just need a break. Plus if I have to be disclosed one more time I may throw up! That stuff is nasty! So I feel very bad for my patients because I will have to make them go through it!

Piece it all Together

On Monday in clinic we were on our own! We went into clinic and we were set free! It was a little overwhelming because we didn't get meet before with our instructors to go over the day. We practiced and OD appointment with our lab partners. We started from the very beginning and went through all the steps. I am very glad we did this because I'll admit I had forgotten a few steps that we have to do.

I did realize that it will take us forever to get through a entire appointment with our patients. The OD alone took me all clinic and I only had to do one quad! So I'll need to let my patients know in advanced to be ready for the long haul and possibly have to come back at least once.

I gave my lab partner some exciting things to look at in my mouth. So I'm a tongue and cheek biter (I know it's bad but I can't help it :)) and I've been pretty bad lately. I chewed some ulcers on my tongue and they have been bleeding for the past week every time I brush and use my tongue scraper. But anyways she was able to practice recording a lesion on the OD form and the Treatment Record. Is it sad when we get excited to record something out of the normal? Maybe, but that's okay! :)

Clinic was pretty stressful but by the end I felt a lot better about what we actually have to do when we get a real patient in our chair. I am glad for the extra practice day we got. The semester just keeps getting closer and closer to ending and we get closer and closer to seeing our first patient. It's crazy how fast it's gone by!

How Many Fillings Do You Have?

On Wednesday in clinic we learned about charting. The patients chart becomes a legal document. If our patient ever got kidnapped (heaven forbid!) and the police needed to check their dental records we could help identify the person as our patient! That is a lot of pressure put on us to make sure we have the dental chart always updated and correct! There are so many different symbols that I don't think I'll ever be able to remember all of them! Good thing we have our clinic manual! That things is like the bible! I would be so lost without it!

After listening to our professors teach us about charting I thought it would be a piece of cake to chart! Oh boy was I wrong! When composites are done well it is almost impossible to see the margins if you don't have radiographs! Plus adding in sealants I just wanted to give up! I still don't think I can tell the difference between a composite restoration and a sealant when looking clinically. :/

A sealant

A composite restoration

I did learn that I still have some sealants on my second molars. My mom had always told me I got them when I was little but I didn't remember. I do have a few (6) fillings, but I can't even remember the last time I had to have a filling, so that has to count for something right?

Clinic just continues to go full steam ahead and doesn't ever slow down! I am always amazed at how fast the four hours go by! I'm pretty sure I could stay in clinic all day long and still feel like I didn't get enough time to practice! I guess that where my trusty typodont and family comes into play! They're always willing to let me practice on them and for that I am very grateful!

Disclosing

Yesterday in clinic we learned about OHI (Oral Hygiene Instructions). This is the most important thing we could do as a dental hygienist. We can work on our patients and get them squeaky clean but that won't do anything if the patient isn't keeping up on their oral hygiene. Brushing and flossing is SOO important and we need to emphasize it for our patients in a manner that doesn't seem like we're nagging them.

There were definitely a lot of laughs today as we disclosed our patients. The disclosing agent shows where there is biofilm on the teeth. If it turns pink that is new biofilm and purple is older biofilm. We then used the PFI (plaque free index) to calculate how many surfaces had biofilm/plaque. It was a big eye opener to see the spots that I am frequently missing. I frequently miss my mandibular lingual premolar and molar region. But overall I'm not doing so bad (but that shouldn't be too much of a surprise since I am in dental hygiene school!). I did look a little hypoxic because my lips turned blue (we forgot to put vaseline on before!).

I was also able to get a lot of practice on scaling which was great becuase I definitely need all the practice I can get! We had about an hour of practice time and I became more comfortable with anterior and posterior scaling. This gives me hope that I one day I will be able to do it perfectly! :)

Scaling Away

Wednesday in clinic we learned posterior scaling. I like posterior teeth because they are easier to adapt to, but some spots are harder to see. It was also hard for me to get the correct angulation. I think I am overestimating how wide 70 degrees is. While scaling you are to keep the face of the instrument at a 70 degree angle to be able to remove the calculus. The face on a universal curet is 90 degrees so in order to get the desired 70 degrees I have to angle my instrument. I kept bending my wrist in all sorts of weird ways and I still had a hard time getting the correct angle. I sure hope it comes easier as I get more experience because if not my patients will hate me! :/

I passed off my probing and explorer PE on Wednesday as well. I probed the lower right quadrant and I did it in 4 minutes 30 seconds. We were supposed to try and get under 3 minutes but not to many reached that. That good news is I passed and now I don't have to stress about it any more! I do need to work on adapting sooner and rolling my instrument in my fingers in the anterior teeth. I made my partner bleed once again (big surprise right?!).

In radiology Wednesday afternoon, we had a little surprise as we walked in. Professor McConaughy and our TA's Tori and Sam had decorated the Dexter's for us! It was fun and got us in the mood for Halloween. We took 1/2 a FMX with the Schick sensors and 1/2 a FMX with Scan-X. I am still trying to get used to Scan-X since I have only used Schick but I am liking it. I think the patients will appreciate Scan-X more since the plates are a lot smaller than the Schick sensors. But I do like how instantaneous the Schick sensors are. You don't have to load them into the drum.

All in all last week was LONG! But that because we learned a lot and it felt like too much to take in. I still feel behind and I think that is always going to last. I am just relieved that I got three PE's passed off today (two in clinic and one in radiology). Oh boy will I be glad when I don't have to do PE's anymore! :)

The time has come....

After much anticipation and waiting patiently, I was finally able to clean a tooth yesterday! I was able to hold a sickle scaler in my hand and remove calculus. It was great!

I feel bad for my first patient, he really took a beating! My typodont was quick to volunteer himself to be my first patient (what would I do without him?). He had a lot of calculus for me to remove as well. The bad thing with that is I started to focus more on removing the subginigval calculus than on my grasp, technique and posture! (Not good!) The poor guy probably has all his enamel scraped off! But I did get all the calculus so that has to count for something right?

My lab partner was my second patient, and considering she actually has feeling and can talk I was more careful with her! I started out very hesitant because I'm sure I've made her bleed enough these past few weeks with probing and exploring, and I didn't want to make her bleed again. After a little I felt like I was getting the hang of it and felt pretty comfortable. She did have a mandibular lingual bar which made scaling the lingual surfaces a little more difficult, but it was great practice since they are so common now. I practiced probing on her once again and I feel pretty confident with probing. I did get a 4 mm pocket and that was pretty cool! I was surprised at first because the probe just kind of dropped. I didn't have to push at all, it just dropped nicely! Her's is most likely as pseudo pocket since she have generally healthy gums, and is not a candidate for periodontal disease. 

Tomorrow we get to work on posterior scaling which I am excited about! Clinic just gets better and better, but more stressful as well. I have what feels like 20 PE's to pass off! They just keep piling up. Tomorrow I pass off my explorer and probing PE, and hopefully I get a few more passed off as well. But life is great and I am still enjoying every day of my dental hygiene experience!

Instrument Classification

Last Wednesday in clinic we learned all about our instruments. We got every single instrument out that we had and identified them. We found out which ones were rigid and non rigid. Rigid instruments are good for heavy build-up and deposits, while non rigid instruments are great for light build-up. We learned what instruments had a long or short functional shank. Typically anterior instruments have a shorter functional shank while posterior instruments have a longer functional shank so it's easier to reach to the back of the mouth. We learned the difference between a toe and a tip. A toed instrument is used subgingivally and is good for root surfaces, these are called curets. A tiped instrument is used supragingivally and is used around the margin and crown area, these are called sickle scalers.

We also were able to practice a little more on probing and exploring which was good because I need it! I feel like I am getting better though and it's getting a little easier for me. I'll still have to sneak home an instrument pack so I can practice over the weekend on my family! They're such good sports! :)

At the end of clinic we sterilized all our instruments so they will be ready for us next week. I had forgot how much we actually had! I'm excited to finally be getting into using our instruments and actually feeling like a hygienist. I love it! Clinic has become a lot more fun and goes by fast, sometimes too fast!

Here we go "Explorering"

So I'm not sure if explorering is even a word, I'm guessing it's not, but I'll use it anyways. On Monday we learned how to use our UNC 11/12 explorer. We use the explorer to find and surface abnormalities. These would be restorative margins, calculus, caries, or root abnormalities. I was more nervous today than with probing because the explorer can be sharp and I was worried I would hurt my patient. But it turned out not to be that bad, and I didn't hurt my lab partner.

I still feel like I have so much to learn and catch up on! I'm still not confident with probing and definitely not with the explorer. But that's what practice is for! I have siblings that will have to let me experiment on them, and my trusty typodont is always there for me. He's so reliable! :)

Probing

What do giant marshmallows, candy corn, probing, gingival margin, and the junctional epithelium have in common?

A lot more than you would think!

Yesterday in clinic we learned probing. I was actually able to seat a patient in my chair, hold an instrument and practice/work on my patient. It was pretty exciting even though I was nervous for my lab partner (my patient) who so kindly volunteered to be my first victim. I guess she wasn't exactly my first "patient". We started out practicing probing on a marshmallow and candy corn. I know I thought it was weird/random at first as well--but it turned out to be pretty helpful. The marshmallow feels about the same as the junctional epithelium around a tooth (which is the base of where we probe). So it helped me feel how much pressure is needed when probing without puncturing the epithelium. And I was surprised to find out that very little pressure is needed! This was hard for me as first because I usually have a firm grip on my pens when I write. I am the person that will tear through the paper with the pen while I am writing because of how hard I am pushing. So I really had to focus on keeping my grip light and barely applying pressure. The candy corn was helpful to practice the angles I should be at when probing. The shape of the candy corn resembles the shape of a tooth, and depending on where you are on the tooth the angle you probe at changes.

I then was able to practice on my ever so faithful typodont! He really is the best! He never offers a word of complaint, even though sometimes I think he should! ;)

Lastly I practiced on my lab partner. She was really great as well! I was very nervous as I was getting ready to go in, but she was very compliant and let me feel around her sulci. I have to admit that I did make her bleed a few times and I kept saying "I'm sorry!" but overall I felt pretty good about it. I still need to practice being able to read my probe and positioning my mirror so I can see the posterior areas better while maintaining proper ergonomics.

Yesterday was great and now I am one day closer to becoming a RDH! :)

Open wide!

Today we went intra-orally on our lab partners. That needs a little more explaining... we performed an intra-oral exam today on our lab partner. We got up close and personal while we scoped out our patients oral cavity. The intra-oral exam is basically a oral cancer screening. We do it as a service to our patients to make sure there is nothing abnormal.

Sierra was my patient patient. She let me use her as my trial run of the exam. I learned some new anatomy today as well. Such as the maxillary tuberosity (which is located posterior to the maxillary second/third molars), the linea alba and Fordyce's spots. She had healthy gums and I didn't detect any lumps or bumps, coated or hairy tongue (thank goodness!!) She is missing her anterior tonsillar pillar but besides that she was passed with an "A".

I was also able to pass off my vital signs PE today, which is nice to get that off my shoulders and under my belt. Hopefully by Wednesday I will be ready to pass of my health history, extra and intra oral exams PE's. Whew.. I still have a few to do!

Clinic gets better and better. I learn more each session and I'm starting to feel more like a dental hygienist (even though I'm still 1 1/2 years away from being one). I'm still loving it and I love all the girls and guys in my class. They're all awesome! :)

Head and Neck Massage

Today was a great day in clinic! I received a head and neck massage during clinic--twice! It was fabulous! There was a point behind the massages, it wasn't just to help us relax. We learned how to do an extra-oral exam today. An extra-oral exam is important because as hygienists we are responsible for finding and bringing to our patients attention any abnormalities they may have. As we do an extensive exam we are doing our patients a favor by early detection of lesions or lumps.

For the exam I start by looking around the patients vermilion zone and border (lips). I start by palpating the supraorbital region, then move along down the zygomatic arch. During the exam I ask my patient to report any tenderness they may feel or have been feeling. I am feeling the lymph nodes and the structure of the bone, noting any abnormalities. I then move toward the temples and the TMJ. I ask my patient to open and close, do lateral excursions (go side to side), and protrude the jaw (move forward). I am listening to clicking, popping, or seeing if my patient is having any pain. I check the pre- and post-auricular nodes. I then move along the mandible and palpate the masseter muscle and the paratid gland. I have the patient clench and release the jaw to feel the muscle better. I continue around the mandible feeling for any abnormalities. I have the patient turn their head to the side while I feel the sternomastoid, along the clavicle and the trapezius. I then feel the submandibular and sublingual glands for any abnormalities.

I felt like I was able to get the extra-oral exam pretty well. And it was fun to feel the differences in peoples anatomy. It was also really relaxing to receive one especially with all the stress I have this week! It has been quite the week and it's still not over! But I'm still loving every minute of it and I am still glad I chose Dental Hygiene as my profession!

Vital Signs

Today in clinic we learned how to take vital signs on our patients. Vital signs include taking blood pressure, pulse, respiration's (breaths), and temperature. As hygienists we don't need to worry about taking temperature, unless our patient is running a fever. Then in that case we can't see the patient. Today was a pretty easy day in clinic for me because I already knew how to take vital signs. I was a CNA in high school so I had vitals drilled into my head at that point in time. I did learn that my vitals were WNL (within normal limits) and in fact they were a little low (which is alright!). 

I was also able to pass off my patient positioning, instrument grasp and fulcrum PE's today. It sure feels nice to be able to get all those out of the way! Now I can focus on Health History and the vital signs PE. I also learned a little about instrument positioning. As I was passing off my PE's my instructor gave me a few tips on how the explorer should be placed on the tooth. She said that the handle should be close to parallel with the long axis of the tooth. And depending on where you are in the mouth determines what side of the explorer you will use. This was very useful information and will be very helpful later in clinic and class. 

Barriers, barriers and MORE barriers

Today during clinic we learned to get our unit ready for the day and how to take it down and close the unit up. We barrier everything. If you touch it or think you might touch it you have to place a barrier. We have sticky tape, headrest covers, tube covers, and tray covers. I never knew there could be so many different types of barriers. It's way different from private practice!

I was able to have my first patient in my chair today. She was very cooperative and let me spray water into her mouth until my heart was content. I was also able to use the Blue Boa on her. It was cool to see how it works on a real patient. She said it was really comfortable. I was able to be the patient later in clinic as well. I sat there while I got water sprayed into my mouth and my cheeks sucked. I tried out the Blue Boa as well, and I really liked it. I barely noticed it was there and it kept me from feeling like I was drowning. 

Clinic seems to be going faster now and we are starting to learn more. Before I know it I'm going to be seeing my first real patient! It still seems so far away but I'm sure in a couple of weeks I'm going to be wishing we were back to the monotony of placing barriers, putting on and taking of mask, goggles and gloves. So I guess I better enjoy it while it lasts.

Wash, Mask, Eye wear, Wash, Glove

Initial wash, mask, eye wear, 3-step wash, glove. This was drilled into my head today during clinic. We learned our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) PE.It was a little confusing at first to make sure you get everything put on in the right order and placed correctly, but after 100 times of going over it I'm pretty sure I have it down pat!

We also had Ann Arrington come in as a guest speaker to show us how to use the Blue Boa. I think it is a very convenient tool to have! I have watched the hygienists in private practice try to keep their patients from drowning when they use the ultrasonic and it never works very well. The Blue Boa is comfortable for the patient and very easy to use. I plan on telling the hygienists where I work about it, I'm sure they will LOVE it!

We also got to use our typodont today and practice the air/water syringe. It is a little tricky at times to not have the water spray out of the mouth and go all over the place. I just need to practice more on positioning my A/W syringe and placing the suction.

It was another good day in clinic. I was able to pass off my first PE and it's nice to get that under the rug. Now I can focus on the other heaps and loads of studying I have. But I'm still smiling and excited! :)

Ready or Not

Ready or not the first day of clinic came and went. After thousands of dollars spent, weeks of stress, and months of waiting it finally came. As nerve raking as it is to think that for the next two years I will be spending the majority of my time in someone else's mouth, learning about the mouth or studying the mouth, I am excited to finally be taking classes that I'm interested in! I just need to remember to keep on breathing and I'll make it through these next years.

This morning when I woke up I was a little skeptical about how today would go. I had to work in the morning and then clinic started today at 12:20. The whole morning I was nervous. I was unsure of the unknown. I didn't know what to expect or how everything would pan out. I was pretty sure I would get to clinic and be completely overwhelmed and start having a breakdown in clinic! But much to my surprise I did not start crying or freaking out in clinic. It went a lot better than I was anticipating. We became oriented to the clinic and our pod. We learned our first PE (how to work Eaglesoft), Taleval, and watched a movie on Universal Precautions.

Today was great to because it got rid of the first day jitters and got me even more excited for the program. It will be a great two years! I'm definitely excited to dive head first into the program! Good luck to my classmates as well because it will be a great, hard, fun, and exciting two years!