Statement of gingiva

Today we had to formulate statments on the gingival status of our partners. I worked on Shalyce today. She is fantastic. It was blazin hot everywhere today so we all took off our lab coats and just sweat our little bum-bums off. I had NO idea what I was doing today and it was really frustrating because every instructor showed us something different and we were thoroughly confused. But we did get a chance to practice our probing. I feel like it's really coming along, like I know what I'm doing....kind of.....time will tell.

Perio-probing!

So, I am listening to Escape (the pina colada song) as I am writing this and I am just about the happiest person on the planet! I had a BLAST in school today, which I'm quite sure is from my severe lack of sleep the last week (esp last night, I was out with Rigby and Gill playing on the town---he just got back from the mish in Wisconsin baby!!!) Anyway, so today in clinic we did some probing and it was DANG HARD!!! After like 45 minutes, I was getting used to it....kind of. I am realizing that it is all about the angulaiton that doesn't hurt the patient. If it's off, then it KILLS! So, it was Staci's turn next and she did so good! She got a mucho long time to practice, and my cheek was raw from retraction, but all in all she did great! We are just getting used to all of this new stuff and I sure do hope that we can get better.....I don't want to hurt my patients. Staci was such a champ and didn't even complain when I poked her, but I need to practice more, so she'll know better than to be a good patient. Oh, and they found some weird stuff in my mouth, like some recession, and some weird ledge that is apparently bonding stuff from my braces 12 YEARS AGO!!!!! What the heck?!?! How is that still there? Why did nobody remove that from my mouth! GROSS!!!!!
Also, Staci and I realized that we laugh WAY too much! As we looked around the clinic today, everyone was all serious and we were laughing our bums off! I don't know why, we are just funny people I guess. We are always doing what we are supposed to.....but we just laugh all the time. I'm sure that people in the clinic are getting SO sick of hearing my loud laugh.....but....that's me I guess......
Ok, so this post is forever long, but we were having a blast in radiology (as usual....) and I heard something that reminded me of the song monster mash and I told everyone how excited I was for this time of year because they randomly play the moster mash on the radio and I love that song. So then, like 10 seconds later......IT CAME ON THE RADIO!!! I about died! LOL! I just love my life! I just love Staci and Abby and all my girls in DH. love and hugs to all ya all. Great times.......
ok, so I think I'm done now...... peace out!

Explorer

Today we practiced using the explorer to feel for calculus. It was pretty challenging. We practiced on Dexter first and then Tandem was my next victim. She practiced on me first and did a really great job! Then when it was my turn I kept making her bleed. Poor girl. I am having a hard time turning my instrument all the way in to the interproximal area as much as I need to. I thought I was doing pretty good with my indirect vision also, but as it turns out, I'm not. So pretty much today was a day where i found out just how much I really don't know what I'm doing or have a firm grasp on it. BAH! way frustrating!

Fulcrum

Today was fun in clinic. We got to actually get in our partners mouths and poke around a little bit and use our mirrors. It helped to actually sit there and practice our operator positions and use the mirror for indirect vision. There wasn't enough typodonts for everyone so staci didn't have one. So Prof. Costley taped a free-standing typodont to the headrest of her chair and it wasn't working out so well, so after I was done with my sad and very broken down typodont I let her practice on mine. We always have so much fun in clinic. Shaylce practiced on me and did a fantastic job. She just has a very natural touch.
I was able to pass off my mirror fulcrum and my extra-oral exam PE's. I love to pass off PE's, I feel so accomplished. I'm a little nervous about doing the Health History one.....but I will survive!

2nd year observation

This is a recording of the events that happened on Sept 16, 2008, Unit #6 in the Dental Hygiene clinic. Item #1: I got to unit 6 where Emily Stapp was anxiously awaiting my arrival. Ok, seriously.....Emily went to get her patient16 year-old patient Maria (name has been changed for protection) and the mom and lil brother came back also. After a 30 minute english to spanish translation it was decided that Emily was going to take 4 bwx and clean Maria (patient). As Emily took Maria back to get x-rays, Nick was talking to pt's mom about getting her teeth cleaned today. Well, what Nick didn't know is that Maria's mom was going to be Emily's patient in a few weeks and he had just given away one of her patients!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!?! So, she told Nick and he said to go tell the DH student that would be working on the mom. Well, Emily and her fellow student decided that they'd just swap patients and this student would owe Emily a patient (class II patient non-the-less!).
As time went on, Emily was deciding that Maria needed some serious OHI instructions. She cleaned and scraped and ultrasonic-ed (with the help of her lovely assistant at the saliva ejector) scraped, cleaned, scraped, polished and flossed. Maria now had the cleanest teeth she'd ever had and my time at unit 6 was over. What a experience this was. It was neat to see what goes on in the clinic for real. Emily was wonderful to observe and did an excellent job despite the many obstacles that were in her way. *applause*

Intra-oral PE

We were real today! We practiced inside the mouth! Staci and I were pod partners again (love that girl) and we got to practice doing extra oral exams on eachother. We both had some fun things that were different in each other's mouths. I had a leukoplaik (sp?) lesion inside the right cheek were I apparently have a cheek biting problem.....didn't know. Also, today Prof Costley had the idea to get the larger blood pressure cuff and VOILA I had normal blood pressure again! Great discovery. I also passed off my Vitals PE on Professor Costley and did great, except I forgot to have her uncross her ankles. Darn. But I know my stuff and I did good. So, that was clinic today! It's really fun to actually be practicing this stuff for real!

REAL Clinic

Today we actually got to do some REAL stuff! We were practicing with our fulcrums and actually in a patient's (fellow student) mouth! It was really a lot of fun. I am starting to really feel good about clinic. I feel like I am learning and progressing. I love to pass off my PE's. I feel such a sense of accomplishment. It's becoming a really fun class! I also practiced taking Vitals on some students and I am getting much better! It's fun to be doing stuff and actually be getting good. We also did an extra oral exam where we felt the nodes and sinus' of our fellow students head and neck area. It thought it was going to be kind of weird, but it wasn't too bad.

Taking Vitals

Today's clinic session was practicing taking Vital signs on our pod partners. It was very hard at first. I practiced first on Shalyce and I couldn't even find her pulse let alone do any other vital signs! But after practicing a few times on Staci and Tandem, I think that I am starting to figure it all out. Professor Costley came over to help us because we were clearly having problems trying to find out what to listen for. She did a BP reading on me and found out that my BP was high and told me that I'd have to get a physicians consult to be treated in the clinic. I've never had high BP before, but I'll just do the paperwork to cover all my bases. I think that after a little practice I'll be able to get better at taking vitals. I am also LOVING the girls in my pod. We have such a blast and are helping eachother to learn what we are to be doing. It's been fun!

Retrospect

At the end of this week in the Hygiene program I am feeling a lot more confident about what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel like I know my professors and they know who I am. I know a little more what each one expects and what things I should be doing/learning. It is still crazy to me that I am in the dental Hygiene program! I feel like I've been working toward this for so long...it's not possible that it's here. I look forward to new knowledge and information. I am on my way to a career!

We had clinic yesterday and it was a blast! I am really getting to know the other girls in my class and I feel like I am comfortable with the professors/instructors/ and TA's. We learned about how to conduce a Health History and it was fascinating to see what is supposed to be done and compare it to what has been done for me in dental offices in the past. I've never had anyone be so in-depth about a HH interview, but I can see the reasons that it would be helpful. I hope that I can get it down and become quick at it so I can use it in practice.

PE's

As we all filed into our pods to get started on a new clinic day last wednesday my pod was a little nervous. We had been practicing our PE's and were hoping to be able to pass one off that day. The first one is always hard because we don't know exactly what will be expected of us. But the 4 of us did our PE that day and luckily Prof. Costley said we did fine, so then we felt a little more excited and did another one that day. As I am going along so far in hygiene school, I'm realizing that I was more nervous that I needed to be. It hasn't been that hard yet and I am enjoying my instructors, professors, and classmates.

First clinic session

On Monday last week I had my first class in clinic. It was fun to get to know everyone. We did a get-to-know you game and the first question we had to answer was about your first kiss. Well, I've never had one and most of the girls couldn't believe that was even possible....oh well. Well, that lead to me telling them about Justin in Wisconsin....that opened a can of worms. Anyway, it was fun to get to know the instructors/professor better and to see them in action. I am glad that I have experience in the dental field, I think it will really help me as I am working in the clinic.
September 1, 2008 5:23 PM