REAL Patient Day!!

Yesterday was our first real patient day. I had Bryan come in and he was a good sport even though he'd been fighting a bad cold for the past few days. Vitals was my first obstacle, I had to retake his BP a few times cuz it was coming up higher than we expected it to be and I kept doubting myself since it had been a while since we had done vitals. Xrays were next but I didn't have a problem there and actually took some dang good Bwxrays!
It had been about 1 1/2 yrs since his last cleaning and he had a lot of calculus built up. He had a lot of 4mm pockets and bleeding everywhere and since his xrays showed he was beginning to lose a little bone made him a class 2. Good for me bad for him! I only got through the OD and barely explained OHI before I had to walk him out. No cleaning today! But I told him that next time we can just go directly into the cleaning.
Overall it was a good experience. I just felt rushed even though we had 2 1/2 hrs to do everything! Now I'm looking forward to cleaning all of that calculus off his teeth!!!

Last Mock Patient Day

Today was the last day of working on each other. I was the RDH today and Kirsten was my patient. Her teeth were pretty clean so it didn't take very long to scale them but I did have to go back to 2 areas on the lower lingual anteriors that I missed. I also passed off the Sealant PE. I guess this means I'm ready to start on real patients? A little scary but it has to start some time!

RDH for a day!

Well it was my turn to be the RDH on Wed. I was the only one in my pod so it was very quiet. It took me probably 20 min. to do a full mouth probe and by the time I got to scaling I only had 40 min to do 2 quads of scaling, which may seem like a long time but when we haven't done much practicing it's not! I missed 3 areas of calculus but what I learned there was that I need to dry the teeth so I can see the calculus better. Great learning experience and next week will be the same thing just different person.

The beginning of the end!

This past Monday we started our mock patient days. I was paired with Stephanie this week and I was the patient first. It was a nice relaxing day for me except that my back hurt by the end of clinic from being in the chair so long. It was also good to see someone go through what I need to do on Wed! I did find out too that I will be alone in my pod since the other three were RDH's first. Oh well I guess that means less distractions!

No light is good!

Today we learned how to sharpen our instruments. The one thing you want to make sure is that there is no light reflected off the edge--that means it's sharp! I have loved this week in clinic cuz it's been an easier week. We passed off the Air Powder Polishing and Fluoride PE's today too. I'm soooo glad to be done with the air powder polishing!!!!

Easy day

Yesterday was a less stressful day of clinic. We applied one sealant on each other and then passed off the selective polishing PE. Sooo easy! We did fluoride after the polishing and I was able to try the cherry cheescake flavor that the 2nd years were raving about. I must admit it was really good! We are almost done with all of our PE's! Next week we start our mock patients, it's getting closer and closer to when we start on real patients!! Think I could use any more of the exclamation points?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Whoa Nelly!!

We sandblasted our teeth today using the air powder polisher. Can you say nasty taste?! That was the saltiest thing ever!! I'd prefer not to have that done again. We also did the prophy polishing and fluoride varnish. Our teeth were sparkling clean until that varnish was applied! Clumps everywhere though it did taste the best out of the whole experience!!

Ultrasonic Scaling

Wow I think I drowned Kelsey today while trying out the ultrasonic scaler. Lots of water! It's pretty easy to use I think but it sounds like we just use it when there are lots of good sized chunks to get off. We all were also in a big rush to pass off the two PE's for today which were OHI and Intra oral camera. I think I'm getting more aggressive when I want to pass something off because I will tell the other girls "Hey I called (instructor) next to pass off my PE." That's so unlike me, I'm usually the patient one. Guess I'm getting a little more stressed out!

Practice makes perfect--eventually!

Last Wednesday we had a good practice day. We started off quickly going through our partner's health history, disclose them and go over OHI, probe 1 quad, and scale using our universal scaler enough to pass off the PE. Then after all was done we had to sit and write everything that we had done in their chart. I thought that was great because I was feeling lost when it came to that part. The one thing I learned from our TA Meagan was that anywhere we have the Rx is where we have to have our instructors sign! We have a few more practice days coming so hopefully I'll have it down by the time we see patients!!

Smile you're on intra oral camera!

Monday we were able to try out the intra oral camera. I thought it was great seeing how I've never had the previlege of using one before. The only problem is that you have a hard time of looking at the computer and pushing the button for a picture at the same time. The camera is hard to control because it's like with the dental mirror and indirect vision. Oh well it'll still be interesting especially for the patient to see up close what's going on in their mouth!

Dental Screening

I had a very busy day on Wed. First we had to chart each other's restorations and because my partner wasn't there I was put in a 3 some with Stephanie and Karlie. Luckily we zipped right through each other and were actually done with all three of us before everyone else! Then we were able to pass off PE's. I was determined to get three passed off but I actually ended up getting four done! Love being able to stay ahead of those dead lines!!

Here at Weber we bleed purple!

Yesterday was great! We used disclosing agent and made our mouths all purple in order to see what plaque, oh whoops it's called biofilm now, that was left on our teeth this morning. We also recorded each other's PFI. A lot to write in the chart but overall an easy day!

Last Wed. we switched to scaling the posterior teeth. I found this to be easier than the anterior which we did last Monday. The instrument has a toe on it which I guess I find to be less intimidating. The one thing I keep repeating to myself in order to make sure I use the right end is that the instrument is not supposed to wrap around the tooth--the terminal shank needs to be parallel with the axis of the tooth.

Careful! It's sharp!!

Monday we started scaling. We learned how to scale the anterior teeth. I didn't do so well because I didn't turn the scaler soon enough and kept pinching Emily's gums! I also used my fingers to move the scaler instead of my whole wrist and arm. Definitely need to practice more!!!

Monday we learned how to use the explorer. I thought it was interesting because I've used the explorer but had never been taught how to properly use it. The other thing I learned while reading in Nield was that you do the distal separately then you take the explorer out before turning it to do the mesial. While we were practicing on each other I was trying to turn it while it was still under the gum line. Hopefully I won't poke my patients!!

Probing

Probing is finally here! Heard a lot of ouches in clinic as everyone got to poke their neighbor. It's definitely going to take some practice to get the angles right and I have a hard time reading the probe, may need to get some loupes to fix that problem! Jenn was a good sport, I felt bad that I had to keep probing in tender areas cuz I couldn't tell which line to read!

We've moved on to mirror fulcrums and the right way to grasp instruments. Finally getting into each others mouths! I worry about the fulcruming because I want to fulcrum on the opposite arch but they want us to fulcrum on the same arch we are working on. That and I need to tape my pinky to my ring finger to keep it from sticking out!!!

Ok so last Wednesday we passed off the Health History and Vitals PE's. We also learned to do extra oral exams. I had to make a separate list of the areas we have to evaluate in order to learn them because just following the PE I kept losing my place. I practiced on both my husband and daughter and feel like I've got that one down.

Still working on the Health Histories. I think I'm understanding it more after today. It's just going to take a lot of practice! Also took vitals today on our pod pals. Not too hard. My problem is just remembering the numbers before I write them down!

Health Histories

All about Health Histories!! That's what we've been doing this week. We have to write a novel on every patient and anything that is the least bit wrong with their health. I know it's important but it is very time consuming!!

Today in clinic we discussed how to fill out the Health History and what to write down in the treatment chart. Also our pod passed off another 2 PE's: the Exposure Control set up and post appointment tear down. Love passing those off! Just means one less thing to worry about. We also made our own personal patient chart to be used in clinic.

Clinic today was all about setting up and tearing down our rooms. Our pod, which consists of 4 students, has now passed off the first 2 PE's which were the Eagle Soft (computer program) and the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). Alot of memorizing going on right now and finding out exactly how they want you to do things. I think the one thing I'm going to struggle with is remembering to remove my gloves before going out of our pod!

The first week of school so far has all been review which I'm very glad for. I feel for those who haven't had experience in our class because I'm sure they are very overwhelmed! The only thing I'm stressing over is finding patients but Sarah, both my peer pal and TA, said not to worry about it because everyone gets the patients they need. Hopefully that's the case this year too!

Dental Hygiene Orientation

My first blog! A little overwhelmed from all of the information received here today at Dental Hygiene orientation. I'm going to need a truck to take home everything that was given out today!! The best thing is that I'm finally starting the program and will be done Spring 2011!