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!

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.

Good 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!

MOCK BOARD?!?!

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!

Darah!

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!

Dawn

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!!!

Mommy!

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....