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.