It's Raining 1B's

Today I got another 1B off the resource list! I pick names that i think will be harder classifications but all im getting are stinkin 1B's. My pt this morning was really cool to talk to though. He had not had a cleaning in four years yet he had a very healthy teeth. I will hopefully be able to find more class III's and a mockboard before the time comes for another mockboard. :)

#2 Mockboard

Mockboard day is over! I cant believe how much less stress the second round of mockboards was for me. I was still really nervous but I was confident in the process and that my pt did show up! I didn't do too bad but their are a few things i know i could improve like really sticking to my routine. I should have gone over at the end with the ultrasonic also. I am going to be putting my ultrasonic away for a little bit so that i can really perfect the use of my skills on hand instrumentation.

What... No Ultrasonic?

So today I let myself down a little. My a.m. pt had a pacemaker and I wasn't able to use the ultrasonic. I thought that I would do fine without it because he didn't have too hard of calculus. Little did I know how much I rely on my ultrasonic because when it came for a scale check, I had missed spots galore! I really am taking this learning experience to heart because I want so badly to be a good clinician and I want to be good at my hand instrumenting. Goal: for the next few pts (after mockboard) I am not going to use my ultrasonic. I want to make sure my skills are up to par and that I'm not just falling back on the ultrasonic. Wish me luck!

I'm Havin' Fun

Today was a good day! I was a little nervous coming back for our last semester of DH but the day went very smoothly. During my a.m. appt. i thought to myself, "This is a lot of fun cleaning teeth!" I realized that I missed this during the break. Next week I really want to work on improving my times, I know we still have a semester left but I still feel like I need to be faster. Yay to the last semester! Good luck to us all. :)

The Last Fall Semester EVER!

Thinking back to the start of this semester and remembering how much i didnt know but know now, really gives me hope for my future! I feel like i have learned so much, not only with my instrumenting but with how to communicate with pts. I feel like being at the VA has been such an amazing experience for me to learn how to communicate with pts from all different walks of life. With instrumentation i feel so much more confident in using my ultrasonic curves, files, and all the new instruments we didnt know at the start of this semester! I am really excited for next year and finishing up my schooling experience!

Fulcrums I Wished I Knew

Today was a good day in clinic. My pt came on time and ready for the cleaning but because I didn’t look at the health history before his ride left, I ended up waiting for the bottom signature before I could even start. So it did take me an hour and a half before I got the signature and could finally start. He was a really cool kid and was totally patient about the whole situation. Anyways, I learned that I really need to consciously start using extra oral fulcrums. We learned about them that one day in clinic but I have yet to incorporate all of them into my cleaning routine and today it would have helped.  I am super excited to go to the VA on Thursday to get to practice what I have learned today! Lab was also very fun and I learned to use Oraqix and Arestin!

At Least He Didn't Pee In The Cup!

So my morning pt was the sweetest little old Spanish speaking man. He has been to the clinic multiple times before and when I brought him back he was responding to everything i was saying in his broken English. After the extra oral exam, i handed him a cup of Listerine and told him to rinse with it for 30 sec. and he said ok and seamed to understand. Thirty seconds later when i go to collect the cup, the Listerine is not in the cup or in his mouth. He totally swallowed it all! I asked Dr. Naylor who was in my pod if he was going to be ok because i was kinda freaking out. Ha ha, at least he didnt take it to the bathroom and bring it back with a urine sample like that story of the other Spanish speaking pt. Overall it was a wonderful day in clinic! I do think that i need to step up my scaling times because i am still very slow. Goal for next week is to make sure i have a translator if needed, and to speed up my time.