Last day of clinic

Today was the last day of my 2nd to last semester. Hallelujah!! Both of my pt's no-showed, which teaches me the importance of calling to confirm. Thanks goodness I don't need either of those pt's so it's not a big deal. I did get to pass off my blood glucose and sealant PE's :) I'm ready to be done for a while. This hygiene thing is taking it out of me. I got a really really nice complement from Professor Costley on my TA paper, so I'm really happy about that.

I love my Hubby!!

Dave came in today to get his teeth cleaned. I'm a little bit mad at his dentist (who won't be named) because Dave went in there after his last cleaning almost a year ago to have some areas checked that had obvious decay. The dentist said that he didn't need fillings. Well, today I took x-rays and found that he has multiple cavities that have gotten bigger and one of them may need a root canal. Needless, to say I am not amused!! Too bad we don't have dental insurance because I didn't think we would need it while I'm in school. It's only 2 years, I thought we could make it restoration free.
What I learned today:
Do not use the ultrasonic on 1B patients. From my experience they have all said it's too uncomfortable. I also think that it takes too much time. I could have finished Dave's cleaning in half the time if I would have used the ultrasonic on the mandibular anterior and hand scaled the rest of his mouth to deplaque. I'm just too worried about missing calculus so I refuse to not give each pt my full effort.

My last pt no-showed which is good because I need those requirements next semester.

I'm Spent!!

I have officially completed all of my requirements for this semester as of right now. What a relief. Now I just hope that I have this good of luck next semester, especially with finding a board patient. Time is flying by, thank goodness, because I'm not sure I could take too much more of this. I was telling Dave that I don't even want to be a hygienist anymore. School has seriously sucked the life out of me. He made a really good analogy. He said, "It's like driving, you have to sit through boring classes and then they stress you out on driving tests. You get so nervous driving in the beginning and it seems so hard that you almost don't even want to drive anymore. Now that we're done with drivers' ed and we've been driving for a long time, we can talk on the phone, put on makeup, and eat while driving and it's no big deal." Hopefully that's how hygiene will be.

No More 1B's

I do not like cleaning 1B's, they are not fun and I think they are kind of hard. I really need to work faster on my 1B's. I spent way too much time exploring. Jamey and I practiced giving each other local anesthetic, Instructor Perry is intimidating. He taught us a different method than Prof. Hanson and I don't know which one is better.

Mockboard Day!!

I didn't know if I could do it, but I did. I passed mockboards with an 88!! What a relief. There was a huge piece of calculus on the distal of #30 that I couldn't remove for the life of me, I tried everything. I also missed a piece on the mesial of #31. Time flew by me, it was crazy how fast 2 hours went by. I felt bad for my patient so I payed for her cleaning. I need to remember not to write my patients first name on their x-rays. I swear everyone I talked to said they caused tissue trauma, but none of us got marked down for it. My pt's gums were all torn up, I don't know how to prevent it though. She had never had her teeth cleaned in all 42 years of life, yikes.

Lucky Number 3

Today was a good day in clinic, other than the fact that I was told that we all suck at probing. There's an instructor who apparently gets mad if you're one mm off, thank goodness they're ok with that on boards.
I saw a class III pt in the morning who was really nervous so we only did the OD.
I attempted to do sealants on a little girl, but the Diagnodent said no to that idea (at least I passed off the PE).
I saw a split class II/III in the afternoon. It's the first pt I've worked on this year that was numb and I loved it. He seriously went to sleep while I went to town on his deep pockets. I'm going to start asking more of my pt's if they want to be numb.
My goal for next time is to work on angling the probe into the col.
Tamara was so nice to me today. She cleaned up my unit which helped me a ton because I had to get to work.

Today I cleaned the last 2 quads of my class 3 and it went really good. I really need to work on x-rays because I totally suck at them. I used the right and left ultrasonic tips in deep pockets and it went really well, I really like them.
I love Instructor Allen, she is so nice. She came up to me today and told me that she thinks I am really good in clinic, and I have a good attitude, and I'm good with pt's. I think that she is so nice to complement me, because whether it is true or not, it really raises my confidence and makes me want to prove to everyone that she is right and I am the best. There are certain people that I want to pattern my hygiene career after, and she is one of them, she really does have such a good attitude about it.
My goal is to really really work on radiology, no more hoping for the best.

Do People Deserve A Second Chance?

Last semester I only had one pt no-show on me. I was so mad that I never called to reschedule her. Well, she called into the clinic and I got her name since I'm her preferred provider. I decided to give her a second chance, only because she had radiographic calculus 2 years ago. Silly me, of course she no-showed (techinically she came 35 minutes late, but that's as good as a no-show since she had to be out of there by 2:30). Fortunately, my sweet sweet little bro came in to save the day. I can't wait to get out of school where no-shows don't totally ruin my life, although I realize that they will always be a huge problem.
Good news, I found a mock board!! She wouldn't really qualify for real boards, but she'll have to do for mocks. I got this pt's name from the women's health connection last November but I waited until now to call her. It's a really weird situation because she doesn't speak English at all, she's middle-aged, and she's only been in America for one year, but the lady that I remember meeting at the health connection spoke English, was old, and it was a little over a year ago. There is definitely something fishy about this whole situation, but who cares, I have a mockboard!!
I felt really retarded today. It was like it was my first time seeing a pt. I don't know why I was struggling so bad, but whatever. My goal for next time involves being a good hygienist.
Today I had to ask myself why I wanted to be a hygienist anyways. I hate days like today when you question one of your biggest life decisions.

Unlucky Me!!

Well, it's not so much unlucky, it's more like stupidity! All I can say is thank goodness for mock boards. I had a pt that I knew was a class 2, but since I have all of my class 2's I gave her away. Turns out she qualifies for mock boards. I take this an important lesson learned. I'm glad that I learned it now instead of next semester when I'm looking for a real board pt. I have learned that you never give away a pt without first doing an OD on them. Better wasted time than failing boards due to lack of pt. Everything always works out for the best.
I have a lady scheduled next week that could possible qualify, my fingers are crossed and I'm praying for the best.
Goal for the future:
Don't be stupid!!!!!
Don't give away any patients!!!!!

I saw a class 5 pt this morning that went good. I did one quad of a class 3 this afternoon that went really quick and it was really good, too bad my 2nd class 3 pt that I had scheduled no-showed. Hopefully he will come back at some point. I was stupid and forgot to call to confirm last night. I left him a message at lunch, but that didn't help.

Love, Joni

Lucky Me!!

So I had a class 2 scheduled for today, but he had a cold sore so I couldn't do any scaling. Luckily, he had his 10 year old daughter with him to translate so I ended up cleaning her teeth, and yep, she needs sealants. I have them both coming back in 3 weeks to take care of everything:)
My 2nd pt was just 3 quads of a 2. I finished her with no problem, and for the first time I'm finished with time to spare. It was nice to actually have time to repay the favors that others have done for me.
I felt more organized today even though it was kind of crazy when I had to hurry and clean up to get the little girl in the chair.
My goal for next time is not to miss even one piece of calculus.

3's a charm

Today I managed to squeeze in 3 patients, phew! 2 class V's and a class II. I didn't think I'd be able to get through the day, but I made it.
Things I learned:

• I'm not that bad with an ultrasonic. Turns out it's normal to have debris left behind that you can gently scale off.
• If a denture has attachments, some Dr's recommend soaking it in a mild detergent such as dish soap instead of the efferdent tabs. My pt informed me of that while her denture was soaking in the efferdent water. No big deal, I just took it out and it was fine.
• Gina is really nice. She cleaned my unit for me; otherwise, I wouldn't have had time to eat lunch.
• Dave has a cute smile. But really I already knew that.
• If a pt has a hard time using the floss threader to floss under a bridge, a proxabrush works great, as long as there is enough space between the pointic and the gingiva.
• The parobite works really great for bitewings. Mine were perfect.

My goal for the future is to ALWAYS CHECK FOR MOBILITY!! I always forget that small detail.

My last pt (M.B.) left her blanket in the lobby. I left it in the office so she can come get it. I need to call her when I get my schedule for next semester to schedule her. She wants to come in every 3 months. She also wants me to do some research on a product called Vince which is powdered toothpaste.

My 1st pt (B.H.) has a friend in her 50's with bad teeth that she wants me to schedule. I'm going to call her next week.

So Far, So Good!!

Today was a great day in clinic. I'm no longer afraid of Instructor Perry, he's actually very, very helpful and I'll probably learn a lot from him. Prof Alexander was great as usual at teaching me how to get the calculus that I missed. I was lucky to have Dr. Naylor do my last scale check and she said I did a great job. I'm glad that a dentist checked my work because I've always been nervous about the fact that the dentist has to do an exam after my cleaning in the real world, but she made me feel good about myself and confident of my skills.
The best lesson I learned today: Blood Pressure
Ways to get a lower blood pressure reading: (compliments of Instructor Perry)
1. Make sure pt's legs are not crossed.
2. Give the pt time to relax.
3. Elevate the pt's arm to the level of the heart.
4. Make sure pt's arm is straight, never bent.
5. Make sure the pinky is above the level of the thumb.
These tricks really do work!! I took my pt's bp 3 times, the first systolic reading was 160, then 150, then 140. Thank goodness. My pt ended up being a class 3/class 2. Just what I needed.
I've been lucky thus far. I've had only class 2's and 3's. All my dreams come true.
My goals for clinic next time are to pass off PE's, FIND A MOCKBOARD PT ASAP, and speed up. I feel that if I were better prepared things would go smoother, but I'm not sure how to be better prepared. I'll figure it out.

Joni

My List Of Things That Must Go

1. Patients who steal my safety glasses, Boo!!
2. Time deadlines (3 hours just isn't long enough sometimes)
3. Digital PA's :(
4. Stress
5. Late patients

Now that I've made my list, I can expound on those ideas. My first patient was 30 minutes late, what a great start to the year. She then forgot a parking pass and had to go get one, that made me even happier. She was really nice and really talkative which helped me relax, but wasted a lot of time. She loved our safety glasses and couldn't stop talking about them. Surprise, she took them with her and I didn't realize until she was gone, what a sweet angel. She'll probably be getting a call from me about that. The good news is she was a class 2 and I did finish her whole mouth.
On to patient number 2 for the day. She needed a FMX, so sticking with my "Fake it 'til you make it" motto, I decided I might as well do digital x-rays, even though I've never taken digital PA's nor do I know how. Normally my motto works just fine because confidence is key and if I think I can do it, I can. Well, digital x-rays pretty much kicked my butt! The sensor was too big for the pt's mouth and I couldn't get the sensor parallel to the tooth, it was so impossible and so frustrating. Fortunately, Prof. Alexander was able to give me some really good pointers. I couldn't have done it without her, but I guess that's why I'm still in school. Sometimes I forget that I'm here to learn so I get discouraged when I don't know how to do something, silly me. Part of me regrets going digital, but part of me is thankful for the experience because now I'll know how to handle future situations.
Good digital tips to remember:
1. When trying to place the film as far posterior as possible for pa's, have the pt close slowly as you push the sensor further posteriorly. This relaxes the palate and allows the sensor to be positioned correctly. This tip also works when taking mandibular pa's because as the pt closes, the floor of the mouth relaxes allowing better sensor placement.
2. Use sensor #1 when taking anterior pa's. #2 is far too big making foreshortening inevitable and the pt can't really close completely.
3. Have pt lift their chin slightly in order to have their occlusal plane horizontal to the floor.
4. Never do a FMX digitally!!

I did pretty well with calculus removal. My first pt went very smoothly with just hand scaling, I was loving dental hygiene. My 2nd pt wasn't such a breeze, possibly because I used the ultrasonic which I apparently suck at. The main problem was probably that I was already stressed and tired from the x-rays, so the tenacious calculus and time restraint really killed me. I wish I wasn't always working against the clock, I know that's how it is in a real practice, but it makes me not do as good of a job as I think I could.
Professor Alexander gave me a good scaling tip to remove the calculus that is almost always found on the ML line angle of the 1st premolar. She uses the H6/7 and from the 12 o'clock position with her fulcrum on the tooth next to it, she scrapes all the way across into the contact with a horizontal stroke. Brilliant. The good news is that I finally fell in love with the H6/7 sickle scaler today. I used to find it too big and bulky to be useful, but today it wiped the calculus off like it was nothing. I'm glad I gave it a try.
It was weird today, I felt like I had better technique today then I've ever had, even though it was the first time I've picked up a scaler in 4 months. I should stick with hand scaling until we learn the ultrasonic.
Well Instructor Perry, you wanted a blog, here's a blog.

August 30, 2007

Clinic Orientation
Today was a good refresher of clinic. I'm so excited to actually see a patient. I think that Professor Alexander is going to be great and Instructor Allen is so nice and she seems to be very helpful. I'm nervous for no show pt's, but hopefully this year will be a success. I feel very confident about my skills and I'm sure I'll do just fine.

I'm Spent!!

I finally finished all of my requirements by the hair of my chinny chin chin (No really, I have no facial hair). My class 3 pt showed up today and I was able to have a great learning experience on a man who hadn't had his teeth cleaned ever in his 78 years of life. Wow! I know, it was intense. I did 3 quads and Celeste did one. Good times. My goal for next semester is to finish my hard requirements early so I don't have to be so stressed in the end. It's been a great year and I've loved almost every minute of it, except for that 10 minutes I spent studying this semester :) I'm excited to have a break from all things dental. I've got lots of fun vacations planned so I can't wait to finish up my last 4 finals and be done with 1st year!!

Boo to No-Shows!!

My last quad of my class 3 didn't show up today. It's because his chimp granddaughter, who's 30, couldn't bother to pass on a simple message or let him have his own cell phone. I do not like white trash people because they take advantage of everyone else. If i'm sounding bitter it's because I am. I expected sweet relief today when I finished the last quad of my requirements, instead I'm stressed out of my mind about finding one more quad of a 3. It really shouldn't be this hard or this stressful. That is my goal: To devise a plan for finding patients that doesn't involve any crazy stunts. I'm thinking mandatory screening days on Fridays. If we would have been forced to do screenings, we might not be in this situation right now. That's not that great of a plan, but for now it's all I've got. My class 3 wants to come in this next monday, but his selfish, bratty granddaughters need him to take care of their kids, and take them to work, who cares if his teeth are 2mm from falling out of his head. Who makes their 78 year old grandpa do everything for them? I mean, really.
So now that everyone knows I'm slightly bitter, I had better end this.
P. S. Thanks to Steph I still managed to clean 4 quads of a class 1B. So Thanks Steph!!

One More Quad

Well, I only have one quad of a class 3 and he is scheduled to come in tomorrow.
I finished my little bro, a class 1B. It was so nice to do an easy cleaning for once. I passed off air-powder polisher. That wasn't very fun, but atleast it is over! My goal for next time is really work on my instrumentation, not just get the teeth clean anyway possible.

My last little 1A

I finished my last 1A pt, so now I only need one more quad of a class 3, which I have scheduled for next week. It's amazing how things eventually just work out. I was so stressed about not finishing my requirements, but now that I'm done, I realize that I never should have been so stressed. My goal for next time I sharpen my instruments is to use more pressure and less strokes-Thanks Instructor Hemsley.

Class 3

Well I found my class 3 pt!! Thanks to Yvonne for the referral. I'm pretty scared because I have no idea how to clean 11 mm pockets, but I'm sure I'll manage. My goal is to remain calm and to not be frustrated by my future learning experience that I will be having tomorrow with my Class 3. Fortunately he is really nice.

Another Class 2

I was scheduled to see a Class 2 pt and I did the entire OD and x-rays, but I don't need anymore class 2's so I gave the pt to Laura. I ended up being the CA the rest of the day, Boo! I was going to have to give my pt a ride home, but luckily he opted to take the bus. Laura is so nice, she gave him bus fare. Thanks Laura, you're the greatest! My goal for next time is to do a screening day in order to find my last 3 quads of a class 3.

My Mistake

I actually had a real learning experience at school on March 7, it was weird :) I thought I had done a good cleaning, but I left tons of subgingival calculus on the mand anterior. I never knew my instruments could go that deep. The calculus was tenacious, but once I realized it was there I was able to get it off. Unfortunately, I've seen all of my class II pts, but I haven't done my class II exam, stupid of me. Oh well, at least I've learned from that too. My goal is to declare exams more often and finish up my PE's.

No Show Patient

My pt that I thought was a sure thing didn't show up. Too bad Holly and I had him and his wife scheduled. Luckily, I was able to find a very nice pt to come fill my chair for 45 minutes. I only got through OHI and she has dental insurance so she will be going to her dentist for the cleaning which is fine because she is a 1B. I am so fortunate that she came up to help me out. I paid for the BWX which isn't a big deal. My goal for next time is to have a short notice person ready to call.

Thanks Christy!!

My sister Christy is the best sister ever!! Since my pt no-showed, she let me clean her teeth (even though she felt like she was drowning). I gave away the name of my pt that no-showed because I'm mad at her and I refuse to schedule her again. I had called and confirmed that appt yesterday afternoon and even offered to reschedule her, but she said no. That is why I am mad at her for not showing up. I did my second 1B exam today and passed with all 4's!! Yeah for me. I need a class III pt and soon. If only my uncle max would answer the phone when I call him. My goal is to be more firm with pt's in letting them know that they have to show up or else.

Class V

I saw my first class V pt today. It wasn't too bad and I'm gaining more faith in the ultrasonic. I didn't miss any calculus so that was nice. Turns out I have to be Sheryl's anesthesia board pt, scary, but that's ok, I can handle it. I'm mostly just nervous about the oral pathology test. My goal for next time is to be more confident with the Ultrasonic.

I love the Ultrasonic!!

I finished a Class II pt today. It was kind of nice to have Prof. McConaughy do my scale check because she is very thorough and caught a lot of the gingival concerns that I and previous instructors had missed. I love the ultrasonic. At first I was kind of lost because I didn't really know how to use it, but by the end I felt way more confident and it was really cool to see big chunks of calculus breaking off effortlessly. My goal for next time is to be more thorough in my scaliing of the distal surface of 2nd molars.

Feb. 7, 2006

I finished an entire 1B pt today and did 4 sealants with ease. It was really nice. My goal for next time is to remember to list #12 and #13 on the HHX, this is the first time I have forgotten.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Dear Celeste,
Valentine's Day is officially cancelled. Turns out you told Cupid that you are cute, and so when he actually saw you, he died laughing. Thanks a lot liar! (I heart Celeste)
I love the Ultrasonic, but I need to work on not giving my patient a shower. My goal for next time is to pay more attention to when I have my foot on the pedal so I don't spray my patient so much.

ClassII

I did 2 quads of a class 2 pt and a FMX. It was good except I thought we did scale check at 10:45, turns out it's 10:15 which is what time I started scaling. Looks like I'll get docked for time. My pt was really nice and understanding. He is going to come back in April from SLC to finish. What a nice guy!!

Edentulous

I finished my edentulous pt today. It took a lot longer than it should have. I had to wait forever to get 1 PA. My goal for next time is to not let the stress of life and school get to me. Lately I have been so stressed.

Today was a good day!

I finished Ruth today. I was hoping she was going to be a class II, but bless her heart, she didn't have a single piece of calculus. ClassV it is!! Everything went smoothly except for the fact that I was totally disorganized. Atleast I finished my pt in one appointment, yeah for me! Next time I am going to be completely organized and not forget to have my pt sign for x-rays and to print a tx plan.

Thanks Mindy!!

I cleaned my BFFs teeth today. It was so fun for me, scary for her I'm sure. I finished my first pt in one appt. It was exciting except that I went way over on time. Like 20 mins. Hopefully I can speed up as I go. My goal for next time is to go quicker and finish on time.

1-24-07

WoW!! Being a CA is the worst! I thought it would be nice not to have a pt so that I could relax for once, but no. I was busy the entire time and I even got out of clinic late. It was a really bad day for me. Oh well. Better luck next time, which is in April, Boo!!

1-22-07

What a slow day!! I swear I couldn't move fast to save my life. It took forever to chart everything and probing took even longer. I must have been talking too much and not focusing enough. My goal for next pt is to finish in one appointment. It will be a class IB so it shouldn't be a problem. Next time I won't talk so much and I'll really pace myself.

Dave is Done!!

I finished Dave today. I managed to do 3 quads in 38 minutes. It's nice to finally finish a pt. I feel really good about everything now. I'm excited to clean Becky's teeth. Scaling went really good because I remember to use an exploratory stroke until I came across some calculus, then I engaged the stroke. I passed off 7 PE's today!! Instructor Vining ok'd passing off that many so I'm very happy. I passed off explorer, anterior and universal instrumentation, intraoral camera, diagnodent (phhew!), sealants, and selective polishing. I even managed to finish early. Today was a really good day for me. My goal for next time is to be more observant and more organized. P.S. Celeste and I put our master plan into action today to find new pt's. So far so good, but we haven't tried calling anyone yet. Wah ha ha ha ha!!!!! (Evil laugh compliments of Celeste)

My what clean teeth you have!

I'm writing this a couple of days late, but it's the thought that counts. I cleaned one quad of Dave's teeth on Wednesday and I managed to take a FMX, but not without some tears from Dave. He hated the sound of the scraping and the films were too painful for him to handle, but that's understandable. I didn't do very good as far as charting goes. I always forget to look for and chart recession. I also forgot to chart decalcification. There are so many little details that it's hard for me to remember everything. I got a blue slip because I forgot to transfer Dave's dental restorations from the erasable sheet to the green sheet. Of course I remembered that little detail as I was going to sleep that night. I always remember stuff like that when it's too late. In the future I need to remember not to scale every surface of every tooth. Exploring needs to be my new favorite thing.

Back to school...

Back to school...Back to school... To prove to Dave that I'm not a fool!! It was hard to wake up so early, but I made it. Everything went good. I feel like the skill is still there. I can't wait to work on Dave on Wednesday. I'm excited.
Love, Joni