Well, it is now the end of the semester! When looking back on my improvement from last semester to this semester, I ROCK! Every patient wasn't perfect, but in general I am able to clean quickly and effectively. I'd still like to be faster, but I think that my progress is good and I'll be ready to work in an office by the end of the year!
Today was another great day!!! I only had patients in the morning and had to take off the afternoon. Blessed day! My hubby was my 8am patient to finish up my PE's for the semester and to see if he qualified for the boards and HE DID! The only crux is that he need his wisdom teeth pulled and several teeth restored so if they even touch/remove his calculus....then he might not qualify anymore. Boo...
We'll see!
My second patient of the day was a class V recall from 4 months ago. I got him done in 1 hour! GO ME!
My second patient of the day was a class V recall from 4 months ago. I got him done in 1 hour! GO ME!! Kami suggested that I use Arestin in one area of his mouth that wasn't healing, but he'd had periochip placed a while ago by a student and it made him dizzy so he was very aprehensive about using any medicines. I explained that Aresin wasn't the same medicine as periochip, but he still didn't really want it. He asked if he stepped up his homecare over the next 4 months to see if he can improve it on his own. He said that if the pocket didn't improve he'd let me place Arestin. Silly guy!
Today was our lab day. The most exciting thing about today was that I had to take off the afternoon (because I came in on a Thursday). We we got through the lab and then I got to go home while everyone else had to stay!! HA HA HA!
We used the Velscope on Meagan and she had a FLAMING RED SPOT (it looked like lava) in her tonsils! It was SWEET to see it!
This morning my patient thought that her appt was at 9, so when I called her at 8:15 she said she'd be in at 9. Well, at 9:10 she got here and I was super stressed to get her done. But I was super blessed and got her all done and I was only 10 minutes after checkout! She was 4 quads of Class II exam!
My afternoon patient was a patient that Shalyce needed me to see for her. He was a Sweetie! He was 4 Quads of a Class V. I got him done SO fast! I am super excited that I am improving on my time management! YAY me!!!
I was a little nervous about my first patient b/c we'd had some bad past experiences, but he ended up being a very nice patient. 4 Quads of a 1B.
My next patient was another 4 quads of a 1B. She was a very nice lady. Nothing super exciting to report.
Surprise, Surprise......MY PATIENT CANCELLED! Both of them for the day! I am SO lucky at never having my patient show up for their appointments! Shalyce gave me one of her patients this morning (she had a mom and son scheduled). She gave me the mom and took the 12-year old and called another class V patient to come in (she's amazing). Well, as it turns out the lady I saw was the mother of my fill-in patient last week. WHAT A DOLL! She was darling!
Today was fun! We did a lab this morning and we learned blood glucose, caries risk assessment, perio files, slimline curved ultrasonics, sonic scalers, piezo scalers, accessory fulcrums, subgingival irrigation, medicament, and oraquix. WHEW! Lots of learning, but now we can do all of those PE's!
This afternoon I had a patient scheduled and when she got here she asked the front desk if they needed her insurance card and then I got blamed for telling her that we took her ins! SO UNFAIR!! So I went out to talk to her and she said that the person who took down her info a few weeks ago told her that we took her ins. So she said she'd reschedule with another office that does accept her insurance because she didn't want to pay for something that she can get for free. I totally understand. So I scrambled around to find another patient, and I did. YAY!
SUCCESS!!!!! I survived my first mockboard day. Not only did I survive-I ROCKED IT!!! I am super excited! It was awful though. I just wanted to die. His calculus was so tenacious and I was sure that I missed every spot! I gave him 2 injections and I was so nervous (he was my first patient-not student-to give injections on) and I was shaking like there was an earthquake in my arm! What the heck?! And he wasn't even very numb. BOO! But oh well, I did it. So I took the 2 hours and worked my little heart out. He asked me if I was going to pull his teeth out I was working so hard. I've never had calculus like that. Man my whole body hurts. But I had him checked and i only had 1 teeny tiny error!!! WAHOO! My overall score was 94/100!!! I ROCK!!! I know that today was too perfect so I expect that my other mockboards will be awful....we'll see. All I know is that I survived and today is over! HORAY!!!
You'll never guess what classification my patient was this morning?! You guess it, a Class V! Shocker huh? I have a LOT to be grateful for because we actually had professors in clinic today-REAL LIVE PROFESSORS! (They've been gone for accreditation) Kami Hanson was our pod instructor-love her! She gave me 3 Q of a V and 1 Q of a III because she had TONS of calculus on her lower anteriors. She was a fine patient, but isn't too fond of the suction so she keeps a cup of spit next to her and spits occasionally. GROSS! Oh well. Atleast she came.
In the afternoon I had expected to have 2 class V patients and each patient only had 2 quads. So I bring back my first patient and he ends up being 2 quads of a class III! WHAT?! So I overheard Abby say that her patient didn't come (well, both of them-sad) so I told her that she could totally see my other patient since there was NO way I'd be able finish my class III and see her.
So, this class III patient was AMAZING! He was the sweetest man ever! He kept telling me what a great job I was doing, and that he felt so excited to be having all of this attention and having his teeth cleaned. What a cutie! Well, this was calculus like I'd never before seen/felt so I had Prof. Alexander come over and help me. We got out and used the gracey's, mini-gracey's and curved ultrasonics. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I was shocked at what I was able to do and the way I had to access the pockets to get the deposits. It was amazing! I just couldn't even believe it. It was the best learning experience I had all semester! And he was just a sweetheart the whole time!!! What an exhausting day!
I Love my hubby! He came in today and let me do a FMX on him. He wasn't very compliant (he was being so silly and spinning around in the chair and wouldn't open etc, ectc...) but we didn't have any retakes. I cleaned 1 Quad but his LR Quad qualified for the BOARD! I hope I can save him for myself! That would be SWEET!!!
My 2nd patient was pretty cool. She had piercings in many places and lots of recession/boneloss from a lip ring adj to #24 & 25. Only 4 Quads of 1B but a good patient!
Oh man! If I get another class V I'll scream!!! Both of my patients today were class V's but I SWEAR that they were too hard to be a class V! AND they both had the HHX from Hell!! UG! TONS of medical problems and medications. UG! My AM patient was so chatty and I could have finished sooner but she wouldn't stop talking! My PM patient was ONLY Spanish-speaking....I mean ONLY SPANISH-SPEAKING! She didn't even understand me telling her my name! UG! And she had already cancelled on me and shown up on the wrong day, but I was forced to see her. SO DUMB! So after a horendous time getting her HHX done (thanks to Midtown for having such great medical records) I started and finished! But alas....yet another class V. I'm just glad I got them done and I'll NEVER reschedule her EVER! Let her go away! FOREVER!!! I made it through and I'm super sore. UG!
WHAT? So, I found out today that I am actually supposed to be working on getting a patient for our mockboards! Who knew? Well, the 10 or so student that already have them! Oh man! Just one more thing to stress about!
Other that that, today turned out to be ok. My Spanish-speaking patient didn't show up (surprise!-not)so I was waiting around for Mr. S to call her to see if she was eventually going to show up or not and she said that she woke up sick and didn't know how to use the phone to call me. DUMB! So Mr. S said that there was a patient who wanted to be seen if anyone could-YAY! So I had him start a HHX and didn't seat him until 9:15!!! CRAP! But the coincidence is that he was there to babysit Kelsie's patient's 6 month old girl. Well, as it turns out, Kelsie is now in the unit next to me so they were right next door! PERFECT! Well, he had radiographic calculus like I've never seen!!! It was amazing! So, I wanted to take a FMX, but he seemed to be in a hurry so we just did 4 BWX and I started. He was 2 quads of a Class II and 2 quads of a class III! YAY! I only had time for 1 quad but both he and his sister (Kelsie's patient) are coming back next week.
My afternoon patient spoke English!! I was able to talk to her!! Oh, and she had a HUGE ROCK on her finger. She is 23 and her middle diamond alone was 1.25 karats! I could see it from across the clinic! Sheesh! Anyway, she was cool, I got 4 BWX and cleaned her whole mouth. Pretty soft calculus (it's only been 1 year since her last cleaning) but her gums bled like CRAZY! SO we talked all about gingivitis and how she needs to use a power TB and Listerine. It was a good but VERY tiring day!
Today was our first day back to clinic and I think I got a little of everything today! My first patient was M.... who came into the clinic to make an appt and a 1st year lead her back to the wet lab where Shalyce and I were sitting and so I scheduled her. She spoke some english-enough that we could communicate pretty well. She came with her caravan of 2 kids-which she wanted to come back with her. Luckily for me (unluckily for them) Abby and Kelsie didn't have success with the am patients and it wasn't too crowded having 4 people in my operatory. She told me she hadn't been in for 10 years (I did a little happy dance-the happy tooth dance as Prof A calls it) and asked if we could do a FMX!! Well, she agreed and I was off to set up the x-ray room. I set up the 18 x-ray plates and went to get my patient. As I went to put a film in her mouth she pops out a lower partial denture! Oh man! So I decided I should probably check to see what other teeth she had. Well, she had 4 upper teeth and only 9 lower! So, needless to say my dreams of a FMX were shattered!! But I got 6 PA's and then it was off to clean. She was only 2 quads of a class V, but I got her done and got to clean her partial for her. Her kids were pretty funny people and the little boy never stopped talking!! It was a good appt.
My 2nd patient was an older gentleman that ended up knowing my gramps! He was sweet! He was really patient with me and just let me go to town on his teeth. His appt felt forever long-but he was a little trooper and hilarious!! I got him all done today and he was 2 quads of a class II and 2 quads of a class V. It was a pretty productive day.
So I'm back in the swing of things here at the WSU dental hygiene clinic. Tuesday is my WSU clinic days. On Tuesday we just sat around and talked, reviewed, did a little practicing, and then sharpened some instruments. It was a long day and I just wanted to be seeing patients again instead of having lab....which is a good sign I guess.....
I was able to get some patients scheduled today so the stress level is down just a little.....here we go again....FOR THE LAST TIME!!!
So, here are some fun pics just to finish out our wonderful first year of dental hygiene school. I had a blast and I just love all you gals! CONGRATS to the graduates!!! 
Today was a very close call. My patient called me this morning at 8 and told me that she couldnt' find someone to watch her kids so she wasn't coming (in broken english/spanish). I told her to bring her kids in and I'd get her done really fast. She didn't like that idea so she called her neighbor and asked her to watch her kids while she came, but she could only come at 2pm. NOT GOOD! This was my last quad of a class III. So, I got really anxious when she wasn't here and wasn't here and so I started to ask other students if I could bum a quad off of their patient. To make matters worse, I couldn't find her chart. She was just in last week!!! So I had to have her fill out another HHX and do all that crap again-except I wasn't going to do another green sheet-I didn't have time!!! So, I got her LL quad done and I had 20ish minutes until check out, but I told her that if she brushed 2xday and flossed then she could wait until September to get her upper quads done-it just wasn't worth rushing and not being able to teach her any OHI. So I did OHI and sent her on her way. It turned out to be a good day, but it was really scary and stressful. Oh, and it was grannie hair day in clinic-so I had two buns all slicked up and looked like I was 12, but it was for the sake of the cause-Nat's idea. Love her!
Today was my last Class 1A patient. I was hoping that she would need sealants, but she didn't. Oh well. I took a pano on her (finished that requirement!) and cleaned her teeth. She had the most saliva, was the gaggiest, and most wiggly tongue of anyone ever! I'm glad I didn't have to attempt to do x-rays or sealants. I finally got her all clean-LOTS OF PLAQUE and sent her off to mom.
Today was my Class III patient! I only needed 2 more quads and she ended up being 2 of a Class II and 2 of a Class III. I also took a FMX on her to finish up my requirments on that-and she also needed one. Well, she spoke broken english-mostly spanish-UG! Well, I had finished up with her x-rays and she told me that she needed to go pick up her daughter from school! So I had no choice but to let her do that. So I waited around and ended up only finishing one quad of a Class III. So I have to bring her back-which she was not happy about! Also I had to rely on Pam to explain perio to her and that she needed to get her wisdom teeth ext and come back. UG! I wish I spoke Spanish----strike that---I wish that those who live in AMERICA spoke ENGLISH!!!
Today was a marathon day!!!! I forgot that Denver had asked me to see a patient today that only needed sealants, but I had already scheduled Raquel to come back and I was doing a sealant for Chrissie!!! So I got the sealants done on Sarah (she gets the best patient ever award!) by 9:15 and by 9:30 I had Raquel back. While I waited for a signature on her HHX I did Chrissie's sealant. Then I finished Raquel and I pretty much ruled the whole world! ROCK ON ME!
Today was a crazy day! My patient came and was a talker!!! She had TONS to say and we only got 2 quads of her done! But that was ok with me because I didn't really need her anyway. Shalyce needed a patient for monday so I asked Chrissie if she'd come back and Shalyce could finish her and I'd do a sealant.
I was really nervous for today because my patient had called me a few times and told me that she would only come in to a 2nd year student. So after lots of confusion between me and Emily and Mr. Solomon I told her that I had an opening to see her, otherwise she'd go on the list to wait for a 2nd year to be available. So, she decided to come in, and I was super nervous! Well, she ended up being 2 quads of a Class II and 2 quads of a class III!!! I was really excited about that, but she wasn't happy about that fact that she might have to come back. So Instructor Vining came over and saved me by explaining the etiology of perio and that she was going to get one of the best cleanings she had ever gotten for a great deal and that she better be ok with coming back next week because that was the only option. After that she told me to take as long as I needed. That was nice. She ended up begina really nice lady!
Natalie totally saved my behind today!!!! She found me the 2 class IA patients I needed! Sarah was 5 and such a doll!!! She did a great job and besides not being too excited about getting fluoride, it was a wonderful appointment. Ryan was my next patient and he was 9. He needed no sealants and only 2 xrays. But he was also a good little patient. I really enjoy doing class IA's for the most part.
Today I was able to see Alberto again. It was a good appointment! He was another class II, which I don't need, but we had a good time. He asked me if it would be ok if he came in everymorning so I could clean his teeth. It went pretty smooth and I think that he is one of the only people that has actually listened to my with OHI. His OH condition had improved TONS from the previous week! YAY!
Today i saw the nicest patient! He was supposed to be a class V-and I assumed he'd be a class IB and then I was going to hurry so that I could see a child patient that Natalie had found for me. Well, he ended up being a class II, which I didn't need! I feel badly because I can't just tell him that I don't need him and pass him on to someone that does because that would be unprofessional. So I asked Jess if she could see my little patient and I'd just finish cleaning Bob. It was a good day and he was an amazing patient! Oh, and today was the first time that I found 6 and 7mm pockets!!! It was amazing how the probe literally just drops into those pockets. It was FUN day!
UG!!! Today was a nightmare!!! My patient called me at 7am and told me she was having terrbile back pain and counldn't come in!! She was my class III and denture patient!!!! I WAS LIVID!!! And she was my patient for next monday too! So, I got on the phone and had some people that knew spanish talk for me and at around 9:30 FINALLY I had a patient come in (Alberto). He needed x-rays and he was a class II at 16 years-old!!! Well, I just got through the OD and he'll be coming back next week. I'm just glad I got to see a patient!!!
Today I finished up my patient that is a drummer in a band. It was a really easy cleaning and we got done pretty fast and it went smooth. Not much to say......
I saw Celina today. She was a wonderful patient! She understood all that we did and was great! I got some x-rays done on her and she was a class II for me!!! YAY!!! I am getting faster with my patients!!! Although she was a class II I got her done in ONE appointment WITH taking x-rays!!! *mini party for me!!*
Today was a doosy!!! I saw Nick who was an 11-your-old and I was crossing my fingers that he would be a 1A because I needed some of those....however, he was a 1B. But he had braces so that was a fun experinence to clean someone with braces. I was kind of trying to see if I could see 2 patients on the same day, and so I say Caroyl later on that day. I chose for her to come in because she only had aobut 10 teeth and a full upper denture. She came in with her husband (full upper and lower denture) and I gave all of these dentures away to other students because I didn't have time to see them and because I have another patient coming in with 2 partials next week. It was fun and super easy to clean Caryol's mouth. All in all a good day, but I was WAY behind.
March 2, 2009
DARAH!! Oh man I love my lil buddy! She came in today and got her teeth all clean. (Not that they were even dirty) I was SO excited because it was the first time I got to finish a patient in ONE APPOINTMENT!! (Mini party for me!!!) She was an easy 1B and it was a fantastic appointment!
February 25, 2009
Today I finally finished up Chad. Man he was fun to work on. I'll miss having my buddy come in. I was grateful for him coming in. And he was my exam patient for a class II!!! YAY!!! I learned that calculus is really tenacious sometimes and that class II patients for sure take more time that I thought they would. 3 appts later.....
Februaru 18, 2009:
Today was a blast! My patient is a drummer in a band (and a pretty big flirt!) We had fun chatting and all that good stuff, but it took me forever to do his appointment! I was a little frustrated about that! I got to take a pano on him, but that put me behind so I had to have him come back for two little quads! He's a 1B for crying out loud! But it was a great day anyway!
Man today was a doozy! My patient today was one of my previous patient's mom's from Tooele. She was coming SO far so I scheduled so I could stay all day and hopefully finish her. Well, I wasn't sure if she needed a full mouth set of x-rays and since she spoke broken english but mostly spanish I was a little apprehsive about explaining it to her. So Kim said that I could do the OD first and then decide about what type and how many to take. When Kim came to check the OD she said that she was a perfect board patient!! So, I got ahold of Emily Stapp to come check so I could know what I was going to scale today. Instructor Vining came over to talk to my patient in spanish about being a board patient on another day and taking a full-mouth. It was great b/c I didn't have to explain!!! (What a cop-out!!). So I took the FMX and excused her for lunch. When we came back I was told that I should do the left side so Emily could do the RS for boards. Well, she had some seriously tenacious caculus!!! I got the LL quad done and had like 6 mistakes. (Boo) So I tried to fix it, but coudldn't get it! So Kim came to help me. I started to ultrasonic on the UL quad and time was getting thin. I asked Kim if she could just finish so that my patient didn't have to drive all the way back for one stupid quad. So Kim just finished for me. I had Instructor Vining come do the OHI and I didn't even get to do fluoride! What a mess! So after a FULL day in clinic I only got 1 quad of a class II. It was all-in-all a good day!
Today's appointment went pretty well. I was able to pass off 3 PE's with the help of the amazing Emily!!! I really wanted to get Chad done today, but guess what?! Class II patients are really hard!!! I had like 5 mistakes on my first scale check (both upper quads)! I was So upset! After waiting for an insructor to come over it was already way late and I knew that I would have to bring him back yet again. Another complication is that he has class from 12-12:50 so he doesn't get here until 1. So maybe I might have been able to get him done if he had been here by 12:30. But anyway, he's the coolest and was able to come back in a few weeks. My only problem now is being able to feel calculus. She finds these mistakes and I can't find them for the life of me!!! And Chad was bleeding like CRAZY so I was constantly afraid that I was hurting him. It was more of a challenging appointment, but we lived through it.
Today I had Dawn come in. She is such a great patient! She had practically NO calculus and besides her gums bleeding like crazy it was a great appointment. I am getting a lot faster. Besides waiting for the instructors I think that I just might be able to start getting patients done in one appointment. It went great!!!
My mom came in today. I wasn't going to ask her to come in because she has insurance and she just went in late November/early December. Well, she said that her teeth were feeling dirty and wanted to come. So we didn't take any x-rays and she had NO calculus. I declared her an exam patient and I got all 4 quads done and 1 PE. It was a pretty successful day all-in-all. I feel like I'm getting that hang of it....kind of....
My patient for today cancelled last night at 9 pm. I was SO mad! SO called Angie and asked her if she could come in today. She said she'd love to! YAY! So I got to start right in on scaling. I wanted to start on the Lower Linguals (where the MAJOR calculus was) but I couldn't get an instructor to come over, so I just started on the upper anteriors. When Prof. Costley came over I passed off my ultrsonic PE and my explorer PE. It was a blast! I LOVE blasting off all of that calculus....I think that hygienists are sick in the head maybe a little bit....Anyway, so I also feel like I'b being a little more careful than I need to be....I take WAY too much time just being cautious, but for now I feel like that's ok. It went well today. I'm super excited to have another patient done! YAY! Now home to my baby!
So I saw my first patient today that I didn't know!!! EEKS!!! I was SUPER scared! She was a really nice 19 year-old. The x-rays went perfect and the OD and OHI took a little longer than planned. She had TONS of calculus on her Lower anterior linguals! It was a SOLID WALL of CALCULUS! It was a blast!!! I used the ultrasonic for the first time today. I was SO scared that I'd take off all her gums and the cement for her lingual bar. I kept looking around for an instructor but there were none to be seen!!! So I just acted like I was a big girl and a long-time dental hygienist and went at it. It was fun! It took longer than I thought it would to blast off the calculus but it was fun! I only finished the LL quad, but MAN was it fun!
So today I saw Cami. I had done one quad of scaling on her last semester for our real patient day, so I just had to finish the other 3 quads. It went pretty smooth. I was way nervous and took my sweet time scaling, but she had NOTHING! I wish I had just gone a little faster, but I didn't have any mistakes on my scaling with all that time and thoroughness. She was a fantastic patient. Wednesday I'm seeing a patient I've never met before...SCARY!!!
Well, it was real patient day....for REAL! From now on it is time to see real patients! Dawn came in today and was my wonderful patient! I had her health history done so we got started right away on x-rays. No retakes (LOVE the phospher plates!!!) It took me WAY too long to do the probing, but my OD check went ok. (Emily is the TA-love her!) I didn't get to scale yet, but now all the stuff is done. It was a great day. Lots of people had struggles with the x-rays today....first day back. It was a great day!
