I made it!!

Today was our first day of patient treatment and I made it! I didn't have a nervous breakdown like I anticipated and I got my patient completely done by the end of the day, which he's very happy about! My back is a little sore but I tried really hard to correct my posture everytime I would think about it. Posture really is one of the hardest things to think about when you're probing and scaling. True, it took me almost an hour to scale 4 quads of a class 1B but I did it. So anyway, I am glad we did that today it was definitely a good experience. I feel like I am ready for next semester. Now I just need to find some patients... see ya next semester!

Radiology

I usually don't write about Radiology so I thought I'd just take a moment to say hallelujah- my x-rays are done!! It feels so good to be done not to mention now I don't have to come in next Wednesday. I liked doing the patient treatments a lot because now I am ahead on two patients that I will treat in clinic and it was good experience so I don't forget everything I learned this semester. I really wasn't nervous during my patient treatment but I did make a few mistakes... like forgetting to get the double film packets from Mrs. Campbell and just using our regular films... oops!! Hopefully that won't hurt me too much. Oh well!

Time flies when you're scaling...

How was everyone's holiday? Mine was the perfectly needed break before we finish up this mother of a semester. Wow! I can't believe today was our last day to work on each other before patient treatment next Monday. Unless we end up getting some time on Wednesday but still I can't believe the semester is almost over. It really has flown by. I was thinking today when I was doing the PSR that I really can't believe how much I've learned this semester. I've gone from not being able to probe to being able to do an entire mouth (without recording numbers) in like 25 minutes. Plus I feel like I can look in someone's mouth and actually know what I'm looking at and why it looks the way it does. I feel like even though I've complained a lot about specific clinic days I have really learned everything I need to know to start working on patients and now I just need practice.

What to say...

Today I really don't know what to refelct upon. Clinic felt a little confusing at parts today. At some points I felt maybe a little overdirected. Like when we walked out physically and me and my lab partner weren't sure why we walked out but then we just walked back in...??? Overall, days like these are good because it is just what I need- to go through everything from beginning to end. I am pretty sure that most of my patients are going to be coming back for a third visit because I am slow but I am determined to try and get them done in 2 appts. I am sorry to my loved ones that are going to have to suffer from my inexperience. Okay, well that is enough for today... only 2 more days until Thanksgiving!!

Only one more Monday until Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving dinner and if you can't tell, am very excited for it! As for clinic, we did the air/powder polisher today. It was messy but my teeth felt clean. I can't imagine having to do that on a patient and not making them feel very uncomfortable. I think I prefer the regular selective polishing with a cup and paste as both the hygienist and the patient.

Week Eleven

This week in clinic was pretty good. I liked polishing and fluoride treatments because they are both simple. I need to work on getting the polishing cup right up under the gum line though. I'm glad that on Wednesday we didn't have to fill out our lab partner's charts. Personally, I've had it up to here with writing "HHX: No significant changes since..." It was a nice break to not have to worry about the chart anyway! Well, let's see here, what else to say? Oh yes, I did say to check back with me this week about posterior scaling and sure enough, I am so good at it! JK! ;) Really though, I have gotten A LOT better at it since I blogged last week saying that I had never scaled. Now I think over the last two days in clinic I've pretty much scaled all the surfaces of posterior teeth. One thing I noticed that makes a BIG difference in scaling is the patient position and chair position. If the patient is too high or too low or laid up or back too far it can make getting a good scaling position nearly impossible. So if you can't find a good position for a certain area of the mouth, try moving the patient a little.

Me and Eric 

community health wiki

I don't know how many people will read this but our wiki is officially up and running so feel free to visit it at www.seedwiki.com/wiki/get_chapped. The title is Get CHAPPed (how appro) but it is password protected so unless you can guess what it is, then I guess you'll just have to wait until class tomorrow. I'm really enjoying working with the wikis and I like that everyone in the group can see everyone else's comments, unlike the blog which is more individual. I was thinking that it might be a good idea for community if we posted our weekly comments in a special section on the wiki that everyone would have access to. That way we could respond to one another and read each other's comments all in one location. I think we would format it different than the ethics wiki where all comments were listed on one page which made it kinda confusing. We could seperate the comments by week. Also, if the wiki ever goes public, I believe that we have the capability to hide that page. Its just an idea!

Polish and shine

At first when I started typing this post I was only a little mad but now I am super angry. First of all, this is the third time I have typed this post because I have lost it twice and I have no idea why so if I lose it a fourth time you might just see a post that says "THIS SUCKS!!!" Okay but now for the real stuff... Today was a frustrating day in clinic for the following reasons: 1) We were supposed to learn and practice polishing and by the time I got to polishing I only had maybe 5 minutes. So that was lame. Part of this is because I spent an hour doing HHX, intra/extra exams, dental screening and probing a whole half mouth. I just feel like I need to learn the new stuff more than I need to keep practicing Blood pressure, extra and intra exams and dental screenings. I do need more practice probing but that is just because I am slow, not because I am not comfortable with it. Also, I hope we will get to practice polishing and using our universal curets more because I have never even used a universal curet on a posterior tooth except for the first time we practiced on a typodont. This PE is due next Wednesday so we best get some practice on this before then. 2) I am frustrated that I am in a pod with only one other person so we do not get the same amount of instruction as everyone else. This was especially apparent today. The only time I saw an instructor was when I would call them over to check me off or if I would ask for help specifically. But even then it was like, they'd check me off or answer my question and then go right back to whoever they were helping. Either I am perfect and just don't need help or I am being seriously neglected. I hate to complain and I know it seems like its all I ever do on here... I really do like clinic! I just had a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day today. Plus it seems like everytime I complain about something on my blog, within a week, I feel better about it so just check back next week to hear me talk about how awesome I am at polishing and scaling posterior teeth! :)

Community Health to the rescue

Okay so I hope this post isn't too late because I totally forgot about having to make the post but I believe it is just due before the next class session, right? If anyone knows the answer for sure, help me out! But I just wanted to say that I am totally stoked for this class because we are actually going to make a difference. Or at least put forth a effort! I always feel like I get so passionate about issues like this but when it comes down to it I just don't know where to start. It feels really empowering to know that I do have some control over the situation and I personally can help to make a change.

Moving on...

Today was another day of review but to be honest I didn't feel like a lot of what we did was necessary. I really didn't need practice doing intra/extra oral exams or practice taking BP, Pulse and Respirations. I know I'll be doing this in clinic but how often do hygienists in the real world take your BP? Not often. Plus, when we get our first patient in the chair I'm worried I'll get through the HHX, and then come to probing and I'll only get a quad done in 30 minutes because I just haven't had enough practice. What I wanted to be doing was getting more practice doing dental screenings, probing, and scaling. We really haven't even started scaling. I'm getting a little nervous about how little I feel I know with the semester being more than halfway through.

Paperwork

While I now realize that I hate paperwork and am almost ready to quit because a new patient health history can make you nuts... today was a very good review of these things. We went over all the aspects of paperwork from beginning to ending (or at least as far as OHI). It really solidified and clarified a lot of things that I was really confused on. I feel like I have a much better grasp on health histories & charting now.

Blue gums... and a major vent

Today I learned that disclosant is messy. But a useful tool because I thought my teeth were so clean because I brushed and flossed right before class only to come in and see that I still had tons of plaque and basically all my lower linguals had plaque on them. It was so gross! I can only imagine what it would look like to disclose someone with marginal to bad hygiene... gross! I am going to post a picture of our whole clinic class with disclosant in our mouths.
I hope we work on exploring again before the PE is due because I'm still not real sure of which end to use in different spots and I feel like I need more practice with EVERYTHING.

Okay now I will vent for a minute about how poorly my time & money was used by attending the UDHA conference all day on Friday. If I have one big suggestion for next year's first year students it is please don't force them to attend this conference. I ended up losing over $170 in cost and lost wages plus driving plus time spent and I really didn't benefit that much from being there. First, I've only been in school for 6 weeks and I couldn't relate to anything the speaker was saying. I'm not a "bored" person typically and I can honestly say I can't remember that last time I was that bored in my life. It wasn't the fault of the speaker, she was great. It was just that I could not relate in any way. It was good to see the table clinics and we needed to be there to help sell but the rest of the day was, I feel, a total waste.

Fun with colors!

Today in clinic we went over charting the dentition and any restorations, recession, bridges, etc. I worked with Lindsey and she let me start on her. She had a few (wink, wink) composite fillings but most of them were really good. In fact on her right max. first premolar, the filling was so good, you could only see it when the light was just right so you could see the border. Good work! Then we went to charting, which is basically coloring in teeth with all sorts of fun lines and dots, which is awesome! Lindsey said that I have little holes on the occlusal margins of my molars and that she got them on her teeth from grinding. I think when we do sealants I'll have those sealed. Okay so my problem for the day is... I had horrible posture all day today and I wasn't really comfortable with my positions. Does it matter where we sit when we are examining the teeth?

Another day another probe reading

More probing today. I am getting better at it (at least I think so). I got to probe two different lab partners so it was good to get some practice on someone else and get a different view for part of the day. One important thing I learned today is that the plastic covers for the air/water syringe and the suction ALREADY have holes in them! I have been puncturing my own holes thus far so that was a good thing to learn.

Frustrated with probing & exploring

Today we did more exploring and probing. I am wondering if I have enough patience to learn this. I am getting a little frustrated honestly but I just keep telling myself that if I stick with it, one day I really will be able to do it. There are so many things to think about when you are exploring and probing... your position, your posture, your grasp, your fulcrum, the amount of pressure to apply, keeping your grip loose, rolling... etc. I have a headache! But its not all bad, I mean, I think it will be fun to do when it doesn't take so dang long.

Scary little things

Today we worked on mannequins mouths... basically DXXTR without a face. Scary little things! We worked more on exploring and getting good fulcrums. I liked working on my lab partner better than working on the mannequin but it was good to work on the mannequin to be able to be a little more daring with my explorer and go more subginigivally. We got a little head start on probing too... boring! :)

Exploring - ouch!

In today's clinic we did the intra-oral exam for the first time. I thought the hardest part was just learning all the different anatomy we need to look over. After we finished that, we started practicing with our explorers. Thanks for letting me make you bleed Ashley! Exploring was pretty exciting because it was my first real experience working with an instrument. I am still having a hard time with posture and it was hard concentrating on not letting my wrists bend too much or getting my head bent at awkard angles. I am still kind of stunned that I am actually here, learning the art of hygiene!

Extra-oral cancer screening

Today in clinic I learned to do Extra-oral exam for cancer. It was fun and awesome when I got to be someone's patient because its a really nice little massage. I might have relaxed my patients a little too much because I had a hard time finding their blood pressure afterwards... or maybe that's just because I am slow and still can't take a BP! The rest of DH clinic was a little harder because I find the fulcrum and instrument positions to be really awkward and hard to do. Well, I salute Hygienist's for their skills because I honestly had no idea that so much skill was involved in cleaning teeth! As for Radiology, I consider my day a HUGE success because I completed two BWX on DXXTR #2 and he is a bugger with all of his overlapping teeth. Here we go!

Vital Signs

Today in clinic we assessed vital signs on 4 different patients. Everything went well but we got done really early so I am wondering if we could have done more activities during this clinic session. It was a fun clinic session though.

My boyfriend and me...

First time blogger

Wow! I am now officially a blogger thanks to dental hygiene school.