lota stain

Today both my patients had staining which is a tedious task to remove, I don't know what I would do with my ultrasonic, that thing is the best when it comes to stain removal. My morning patient had severe recession I asked him if he scrubbed his teeth to which he said yes, I informed him that he doesn't need a lot of pressure to remove plaque and he was surprised to hear that. My second patient had his lower third molars which were covered in calculus and plaque I told him that its hard to clean all the way back there but that it's important. I really enjoy when I can teach a patient something that they have never learned or heard of and it's even better when they are actually interested in the advice I am giving. Another day down at the VA, only three more sessions there. I better rest up tonight, mockboard starts bright and early tomorrow!

dental convention and national board

Well I took the national board (5 hour test) on Valentines day and it was very long! I honestly don't know how I did, there were a lot that I knew and a lot that I didn't, I hope that I passed because I'd hate to take it again. We went to the dental convention last week as well. The first class I went to was interesting and informative about the hygienists role with implants. The next one was about sharpening your memory, it was entertaining at first but it dragged toward the end. Tomorrow I am taking the Process of Care, then I go to the VA the next day and have my last clinical mockboard on Thursday, I sure hope I do good, we are getting close to actual boards, wish me luck!

FMX? absolutely!

Morning patient no showed, story of my life. I was sitting up front trying to find someone to come in when the clinic phone rang. I am sure glad I answered it because a guy wanted to come in to get a full mouth of xrays taken, he actually came in a half an hour later and I got 20 films done! sweet. So my afternoon patient was quite the character. I had met her once before when she dropped off a list of her medications. I walked up to her and said hi and then she randomly said "I have a twin!" to which I replied wow that's cool, so do I. She then said "I am a liar.. I don't have a twin." .... alright.... that's randomly strange... so I bring her back and she says she is afraid of the dentist and hates going, I go to take her blood pressure and she says "that is gonna hurt my arm I have arthritis." That was the beginning of a very particular patient... I couldn't probe sufficiently because she was jumpy and sensitive, I did what I could and then decided I'd clean a quad at a time. I ended doing a right IA, which went pretty well and I was able to clean the LR without errors (I even got a class III out of her) the appointment was challenging at times but we both had a sense of humor about it and overall it went really well.  I walked her up front and she wanted to make sure I had room to see her again because she said she really liked me, so soon enough she will be back in my chair again. Thank goodness the day is over though!

week of injections!

So this week at the VA my morning patient was quite difficult, in that he was very particular in what he wanted and he wasn't real nice about it either. He wanted to be anesthetized in his whole mouth for the cleaning and since not every quad can be anesthetized at once I numbed one quad, scaled, numbed the second, scaled, and so on. But I got to do 8 injections so it was a good experience. My patient also had extreme tissue sloughing all over his mouth even on his tongue, it would wipe off with gauze but looked super sore. We had a dentist look at it and give an okay to move forward since it wasn't bothering the patient, but I had never seen sloughing that extreme before. Lunch was great :) we will leave it at that. My afternoon patient was a super nice old man. He got in the chair and I took his vitals. His first BP reading was around 159/85 I told him that sometime the initial reading is high so we left it on. The next two readings proceeded to jump drastically, it got up to 200/118! It was pretty unreal but the patient said that he felt fine. Since we couldn't continue with treatment he was dismissed. He was so sweet and said he was sorry, like it was his fault, I hope he recovers well. Thursday I saw my old roommate and finished her quite early. My afternoon patient had canceled the night before and the one I had found later that day canceled on me, I wasn't feeling well so I got an okay to go home. Altogether I feel like I am not going fast enough on my requirements, I can't find the patients I need, let alone have them show up! I hope things change quickly.

win some lose some

So I feel like I was mentally and physically prepared for today (our second mockboard). This morning I was an examiner and we took our LA mockboard written test, I have to brag a little bit because this was the only good news of the day, I got a 100%, so cool, but hey I did read the whole textbook I'd look pretty dumb at this point if I didn't do well on it. So in the afternoon I tell my patient to be here by 12:20, she shows up a little bit past 12:30, I take 4 PA's on her, but two get lost, (they are eventually found) but that sets my nerves off, great I haven't even started. So I take her back get everything signed start cleaning and she flinches, I told her I want her to be comfortable, but she has never had an injection and doesn't want one, so I continue. I finished about a half and hour early and send her to get checked. Comes back with quite a few errors to say the least. Perry comes over to help me correct them, and told me to get more comfortable with positions, and that I CAN cross 12:00 into 2:00, which helps a lot. He told me to explore my way then switch position and explore the other way, that helps I can feel the areas I missed. So with those tips I hope that next time I will be more successful. Might I add that my patient was a TALKER, "What was my probe depth, what are you doing, what do the letters means, where are my bad areas?" Gosh please stop talking, thanks! I can't be mad because she is super nice and likes me a lot I am just worried because she is my next mock and actual board patient. I am also worried because she had tenacious calculus as was stated by Perry himself. But I am not giving up I'm gonna keep on going, all I can do is my best, you win some and lose some!

rollercoaster week

This week has definitely had it's ups and downs. Second week back trying to remember all that you've forgotten over christmas break AND scrambling to find a mockboard patient for next week. I really am not liking the switch of clinic days on thursdays. I feel like I am at my best at the beginning of the week which is why I loved my schedule last semester, but you have to work with what your given. Accomplishments: 3 injections, 3 PE's, crazy but helpful experience with tenacious calculus, 1 pano, 7 PA's 2 sets of btws and everyone one of my patients telling me that I did great! Downfalls: forgetting how to properly use the nitrous, second guessing myself, spending way too much time on insignificant things. BUT I officially found a board patient, not only that but she is willing to come for my mockboards, and she qualifies, and she speaks english. I could not be more relieved. To everyone else who are still searching, I'll be praying for you!

back again, for the finale!

Can I call it a finale? I think I will, just because its that official, I mean if I happen to survive it :) Tuesday I was clinic assistant, it was a long day but I was fortunate to be able to do some sealants and 2 PE's on Mollee's patient since there were a ton of sealants to do. Yesterday I final buckled down and scheduled my POC exam and I hope to be able to schedule my LA written soon. If all goes to plan I will take all three boards in february, wish me luck! Today was long but good, saw family, both 1B's. My twin came in the afternoon she was so excited to tell me that she brushed her tongue and that it was really clean! (I gave her an orabrush for christmas) I meant to do PE's but they didn't work out. Tomorrow is our first screening for the semester at an elementary school, bright and early, hope I wake up! I already feel like I am talking too much, so until next time...