Done with requirements!

This last Tuesday was my final day at the VA Hospital. I only needed to get two more quads of class III/IV to finish requirements and I got them! I've really liked going to the VA but because I knew it was part of school I'm glad that I'm done there. Graduation is now in two weeks! I can't believe it's gone by so fast! Just think in a month I could have my license in my hand and be working in a dental office out in the real world! Exciting!!

Boards

HOLY COW! No spring break this year, it was boards week instead. Wed. March 16 was the anesthetic board day. In the morning we had the written test. If you passed then you moved on to the clinical test later the same day. I passed, whew! That afternoon I was one of the last to take the clinical test. When it came to my turn I was ok until I got my patient in the chair. Then I was all nerves. I have never shaken so much giving an injection before! I think I just had so much adrenalin going through me from it being such a long day! I was so happy to get that purple slip of paper with the Success Memo at the top of it!
Friday March 18 was hygiene clinical test day for me. The only thing I was nervous about there was my patient showing up. He was in Los Angeles when I talked to him on Monday but assured me he'd be there on Friday. I gave him a big hug when I saw him walk through the door! He was so nice and was trying to keep me calm. I feel like I did well. I couldn't feel anything afterwards while exploring or flossing so let's hope I'm right! They say it can take up to a month to get our results back so we're all patiently waiting!

March 3 LA mockboard

We had our mockboard for LA this morning. I used McCall, my peer pal, as my patient. She was great and had great anatomy too! I didn't have time to be nervous cuz as soon as I had her seated and placed topical, Dr. Hansen and Instructor Wold were over to watch me. I started with the left IA and did great. I moved on to the right PSA but because I didn't go posterior enough I kept getting oseous contact. I should have backed out and reinserted but instead I just tried to redirect a little without saying anything. I finally gave up and decided to just say at sight of deposition even though I knew I wasn't and at that point Dr. Hansen said to pull out--I failed. But she told me what I had done wrong and that if I had talked my way through it, pulled out and gone more posterior I would have been fine. I was glad they had this mockboard.

Getting Busy Feb. 24

This morning I was trying to finish a patient that Marilyn and I were sharing. She used him as her mockboard last week so he still had 3 quads of class III left to do. Unfortunately I was only able to do 2 quads but that's better than none seeing how I still needed around 22 quads of III's and IV's.
This afternoon I got busy though. I had set up to have my niece and nephew to come in so I could get my 1A's done and then after them I had another class III to start. I was able to get 1 quad finished on him but also did a couple of PE's as well. I should have been wearing roller skates I was moving so fast!

Feb 17 Mockboard

We had our 3rd and final mockboard. I was able to numb him up and get started pretty quick and before I knew it I was done and it had only been like a half hour. I kept feeling and feeling and could not find anything on his teeth. So after another half hour of making sure I had got everything I finally gave up and decided I was done. I sent him over to be checked and Instructor Wold did find 4 areas I missed. 3 were very small but 1 was burnished so I had to get my files out to get it. How did I miss that many spots after feeling for so long???? Marilyn told me to use floss besides the explorer and since she didn't miss anything I'll have to try it! I still passed the mockboard but felt defeated because I shouldn't be missing that many spots!

Feb. 10

I was able to finish up my class IV I started last week. Missed two spots in the one quad this time but I still think it's good because she had root caries and it was hard to tell if there was calculus left or the edge of the root.
This afternoon I brought back my class III for a tissue eval. Her pockets were better but she had a ton of plaque on her teeth and bleeding everywhere. I think the problem is a language barrier. She says she understands my instructions but I don't think she does. I told her to call back in the fall for another cleaning so the student who gets her will probably get another class III out of her unless she improves on her home care!

Feb. 3, 2011

I did a true class IV this morning and it was awesome! Her xrays were amazing to look at. I was hoping to get both quads done on her but was only able to complete 1. But I only missed one spot in that quad which I felt very good about seeing all the calculus she had on the root surfaces on the xrays! She was a good patient for being elderly and having alzheimers though.
My afternoon patient I was hoping would be a class III because she's a smoker and it had been a few years since she'd had a cleaning. No such luck! Tons of stain and some calculus but that's it. Class II. Starting to look a little desperate for class III's.