Clinical and Written boards

Friday March 19 was the clinical board exam. This is the big and very expensive one! I was choosing Justin to be my patient and I had a back-up patient come just in case Justin didn't qualify. At 7:30 I could enter the clinic so Justin and I went up and I got all of my paperwork done and walked him up with fingers crossed to see if he quailfied. After a nerve wrecking 45 minute wait he came back to me with a blue paper that meant that my 1st submission passed and I could get to work cleaning. (If your patient has to go to another submission it's a -4 points and even worse and more devastating if your patient is rejected alltogether and you need to submit another patient). So with 2.5 hours to clean, check, clean, chart, clean, and check-out Justin I got to work. It was a scary situation but I felt so blessed to have Justin there because not only did he speak english but he made it so calm and relaxing for me. We chatted, sang, swayed to the music and he was cracking jokes! It was really a fun and wonderful experience! I felt like I had done the best I could and after checking over and over again I decided to check him in and call it a day. He was back with the examiners for another 40 minutes and I just waited and waited. He had no idea if I missed spots, but he said that they all seemed pretty pleased. I feel really good about it.

Monday the 22nd was the national written exam. It's 200 multiple choice questons and 150 questions that went along with case studies. I got to the testing center and checked in. The center only allows 8 people in their site at at time. We check in with ID and a magical vein reader thing to identify us when we left for any breaks. We couldn't have anything on our wrists (like bracelets, watches, etc..) or anything in our pockets. NO CHAPSTICK!!! UG!! Well, I started my test at 8 and by 10:30 I was done with the multiple choice/guess. It was really mostly a guess for me-they were super hard questions!!! Well, this was my big 1 hour break for lunch, but I wasn't hungry yet. So I went potty, stretched and went back in for more torture. I figured that all that was left wat 150 questions and they were case studies so they'd be easier. WRONG!!! They took me forever! By 11:30-12:00 I was cold, hungry, and exhausted! Not to mention I felt so stupid because I didn't know any of the answers! Well, I trucked right along and kept on guessing my answers. By 2pm I was finished and I was so tired and wanted to smash the computer! It had been 6 hours of testing! KILL ME!!! I was frazzled and tired! I went out to the car and started for home. I did a few little chores and made some phone calls to patients and then I crashed on the couch for a little nappy. Man that was a hard test!

I should get my results in about 2 weeks so we'll just cross our fingers on both tests and hope that the Lord continues to bless me.

Anesthesia Board

Well, today was the start of the board exams. We had a written exam in the morning. We had 55 questions and 60 minutes to complete them. I felt SO confident in my knowledge of anesthesia but when I opened the test booklet and started the test I knew NONE of the answers! It was such a HARD test! I wasn't ready for that! They gave us about an hour while they graded them and then we could check our envelope with our results in it. If we didn't pass the written we couldn't do the clinical exam later that day. I fully expected not to pass because the exam was SO hard! I got my envelope and went to a corner and peeked inside. I PASSED!!! I am SO blessed! Whew! So now I could do the clinical exam.

My mom was my patient for the clinical exam (what a sweetie for letting me give her shots!!) When it was my turn the called me in and I went to set up. Then I brought my mom back. The first shot went perfect! The second one had a little blood enter the cartridge (which means I was in a blood vessel-not particularly dangerous) but this is a bad thing to have happen in an exam. Luckily my friend Staci had done her exam before and had the exact thing happen. She talked her way throught it (to the examiners) and she passed! So I thought I'd try it too. When the examiners left to discuss what they thought I looked at my mom and said "I could have just failed for what I just did!" SCARY! So the examiners came back and told me I could release my patient and clean up. Then I had to wait for the envelope again. I waited and waited. I walked over to check and my envelope was there. EEKS! So I peaked in and I PASSED! I got the "purple success memo"! HOORAY!!! Another hard thing done! Now on to tomorrow for the clinical exam. YIKES!

Crazy day

Well, today was very hectic! Staci had her previous mockboard patient that needed to be finished and I happened to need 2 exam Quads of a Class II so I said that I'd see her so Staci could schedule her class III patient. Well since she was only 2 quads I scheduled a patient at 9:30 also. Well, as of 9:10 I had no patients and couldn't get a hold of either one! Well, at 9:15 my 1st patient came. Her ride didn't come so she took the bus to get here! Talk about dedication! So I got her numb and told her I'd start, but becuase I had a patient coming in 15 minutes I probably couldn't finishe her today. At 9:30 I had finished her UL quad and told her that if my patient didn't come that was scheduled that I'd finish her. So I went to the other op and set up for my next patient so I didn't have to excuse my first one. Well, by 9:45 my 2nd patient wasn't there so I got my 1st patient numb and finished her up. So I got 2 exam quads and my LA PE done!! Great morning!
The afternoon was also crazy! 3 months ago I had scheduled a patient to come back for a recall appt but I couldn't get a hold of him. So I assumed that he wasn't coming. I also was seeing 1 quad of Alisha's Class IV patient for her. So I seated my Class IV patient (who spoke chinese only!) and the told me that my recall patient was here. OOPS!!! Well, luckily Staci's patient hadn't come so we worked it out so she'd see him. Staci's patient that no-showed was a class III so she was really bummed. Well, my patient she saw for me was a class III. I finished my quad of Class IV in an hour and Staci only needed 2 Quads of class III so she asked if I could finish him and get 2 Quads also! It was nuts!

Justin's BDAY!

Justin turned 30 today!! I made him biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then I was off to school. Justin went to the temple to do initatories for some family names. Then he had a lunch meeting at work. After his meeting he came to school and brought me some beautiful flowers! What a surprise! He is the best!!!
In the evening my family came over and we had appetizers for dinner. We had pizza dip, taco dip, little weanies, apples and dip, bacon cheese spread, and the list goes on and on! I took a picture so you could really appreciate just how awesome it was!

Then it was time to open presents. He got some money, gift certificates to Arby's and Subway (his favorites), a game for the Wii, a green snowboard jacket and the best present of all was Lemon pies! He LOVES lemon pies!



Dessert was lemon cupcakes stuffed with lemon pudding and topped with homemade lemon frosting. They were delicious!

LA Mockboard, IB patient, mid-semseter conf.

This morning we had our LA mockboard. It went very well. Marilyn was my patient and she was AWESOME!!! Her mouth was so easy to see the landmarks and she was the best patient ever! I did great, but the window on my syringe wasn't totally up so I failed the IA injection. Boo. But my technique was right on and that is what is really the most important.
This afternoon I saw a IB. It was easy and super fast. At least I have confidence that I'll be fine doing cleanings in a hour in a dental office when the time comes.

I also had my mid semester conf today and I found out that I need 2 more class III patients and 1 Class IV. I am just wondering if they exist and will ever want to come see me before the end of the semester. We'll see.

Mockboards part III

Well, today was our last mockboard exam. I had my spanish patient back to finish his mouth. I got to do 6 injections on him because he needs to be numb for the cleaning. He said he could still feel it, but I think that he was feeling the pressure and not pain. But it went well. He was a class III/IV patient. It was a good experience but I am really glad to be done with him! He was kind of a high maintainance patient. I passed and I think I'll be ready for the board coming in about a month. EEKS!

Mockboards

Today was mockboards. I tried to get my patient numb 2 times, but he just wasn't numb!! So Kami came over and got him numb and he was VERY numb. I cleaned my little heart out, but I still missed 3 spots. I learned so much and worked so hard! It was a good experience. He also asked me if I would tutor him in math so he could pass his math exam to get in the army. So the following saturday I am going to do that. crazy life....

Simulation Day

Today was our simulation day where we try to see as many patients as we can in one day. I had a very hard patient this morning. It's been about 30+ years since he was in to see a hygienist (or maybe even a dentist) and he is REALLY afraid of needles. Well, his mouth hurt so badly that I was able to get xrays but I couldn't even probe. The bone loss on his xrays said that he should have 8-10mm pockets upon probing, but I could hardly even get a 2 before he cried out in pain. But he WOULD NOT let me get him numb. So at the end of his appt after explaining everything and how important it was for him to finish his cleaning, he told me that will not come back in. He just won't. And that's that.....
Well, after him in the am, I saw his girlfriend (the reason he even came it) and took 1/2 a full mouth on her. She is my board patient.

In the afternoon I saw an easy 1B patient and got her done in just over an hour. Then my Class IV patient came in and I cleaned 1 quad. I learned SO much! I got out my curved ultrasonic instruments and just went to town! It was a blast!!!! What a great day!

Class IV and Pedo

Today I saw a patient this morning who ended up being a class IV!!! He only has enough teeth for 3 quads, but he is an awesome patient!!! The only downside is that he doesn't want/need anesthetic. But he has a wide open mouth and just sits and lets me work as hard as I need to! LOVE IT!!
In the afternoon I had my last week's patient's 10-year-old daughter. She was really nervous about everything, but after some talking and showing we got through the appointment.

Learning opportunity and MOCK BOARD PATIENT!

This morning my patient was much like my hubby in that he was in a lot of dental pain and hasdn't seen a dentist for about 10 years. He had lost a lot of his teeth (mostly molars) but he was 3 quads of a class III! YAY! He was so sweet! I cleaned him and scheduled him back for a 3 month recall appt after boards. He also wanted his 10-year-old daughter to come in to help prevent what he is going through.
My pm patient ended up being my MOCKBOARD patient! He let me do anesthesia on him (he has a hard time with tooth pain).

Sealants, 1B, and pain in my bottom!

Today we are back in clinic and I feel it! I had a patient this morning that was just here for sealants. He was 4! Usually we don't seal the primary (baby) teeth but he had such large grooves and a family history of caries that the parents wanted them sealed. Well, he did amazing for a 4-year-old but it was just too hard to keep open, dry and successful. We only had one not work, but he did great! I also cleaned the dad's teeth. Easy easy 1B!
The afternoon pt was from Dr. Daines office where Cami works! Crazy! She needed PS& RP and 3 spots of Arestin placed. It went well and wasn't too hard but she was having a hard time and was excited to be done.