BOARDS!!....Seriously??

I guess the time has come to start studying for boards. I feel like there's SSOOOO much to cover!!! I can't remember what I learned last week in class, let alone all the way back to Microbiology and Pathophysiology!! I think I'll be going to quite a few study groups and really kicking my butt in gear. I've really gotten out of the studying habit this semester so I hope I can pull it together over Christmas break.

2 More Tests

I have to take my Hygiene Final today after Clinic and then I'll just have my anesthesia exam left. I hope that goes okay! I really need to work on the calculations and start memorizing the whole book. It's gonna be a fun few months coming up.

Last Day of Clinic

Today was my last day of clinic and I was able to do 2 Class II patients and a full mouth of x-rays (which gives me 19 PA's total now) I was a little disappointed because my Class III exam patient never came back so we'll see what happens with that. But I have TONS of extra quads this semester so hopefully that will help. My mom was my afternoon patient today and it was a good experience for me. I was able to do 3 PE's.....CRA, accessory fulcrums and the Diagnodent. The Diagnodent wasn't working great but we think it's something to do with the device.

HoRRiBLe LuCk!!

I have had some horrible luck with Class 3 requirements at Weber. I've been able to get some quads at the VA but when I'm at school the patients never come back after the OD appt. My first Class 3 patient here hadn't ever had a cleaning and she was 37. I basically did a gross debridement the first appointment because there was so much deposit EVERYWHERE!! I planned on bringing her back to finish this semester, and I even re-arranged my schedule to fit her in, but she isn't going to come back until January. ARGH!! And then my next patient who was a Class 3 was 2 hours late to her first appointment so I was only able to do the radiographs and OD. She was scheduled to come back today, and even confirmed her appointment last night, but she didn't show up, and when Mr. Solomon called she was at work. WTH?? So I'm really hoping she is able to come on December 2nd or else I won't finish my Class 3 exam requirements, and that is really stressing me out!!!!!!!

Kids and Nitrous

I had two 1A's this morning and they went really smooth. One of the girls needed sealants on all of the first molars so I was able to pass off my sealant PE. I feel like I have really improved since last year with this skill. I was able to keep the teeth dry and it made it so much easier and faster for both myself and my patient. I was also able to do my nitrous PE with my afternoon patient and it worked out great. The only problem is working around the mask and hoses.

Poked

This post is really delayed, but we finally started doing injections. We started with 4 maxillary injections, the next week we did 3 mandibular injections and then the 3rd week we did all 7!! It was so much fun.....to give the shots. I was very numb the first week and I chewed part of my lip up from eating lunch.

Professor Alexander showing us how it's supposed to be done

Getting ready to poke Brooke

Giving the injection

Prof. Alexander assisting me so I got the right spot

First PE passed off

Today I passed off my first PE.....Selective Polishing. Don't congratulate me yet...it's pretty easy!! But Professor Wold had me work on holding my suction in my left hand, while holding the prophy paste, and then polishing with my right hand. It was really uncomfortable at first, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it works for me. It was really nice that I didn't have to keep stopping to suction! I have really enjoyed having Professor Wold help me and I'm kinda sad that this is her last week with us....for now. She has helped me work on the lower lingual anteriors, scale the distal of the 2nd molars, work with my suction, and helping me out with my health histories.

Mockboard found......CHECK!!

So last Thursday I had a patient come in and I was just figuring it was going to be a 1B. Well it turns out that she is my mockboard patient and possibly even my real board patient. I went through the OD and she had a couple 4's and 5's, then looking at her x-rays I could just see the calculus on all of the posterior teeth. We haven't been over the qualifications yet, but Professor Wold suggested that I hold on to her for my exams. I went through and did a calculus evaluation and there was a quite a bit present (there must have been for me to be able to detect it). She only has occlusal fillings, so that's a bonus!! I think I will be able to do a pretty good job on my exams with this patient. I am really excited that I was able to find this patient so early on in the semester, and I am really looking forward to mockboards now. I'm still a nervous wreck for the actual day, but at least I don't have to stress about finding a patient. PHEW!!!!

Women's Health Connection

Friday I got to go help at the Women's Health Connection and it was so much fun! We found a lot of women in the Ogden area that are in need of a very thorough cleaning.  It was interesting to see how many people are in need of dental care right here in our own community. It was a little hard to communicate with the women because the majority of them only spoke Spanish, but we did alright with it. Brooke and Jenny picked right up on it :) We had some main questions written out on the board so we could ask the patient about their oral health, but since we would ask them in Spanish they would answer back and for the most part we had no idea what they were saying. It was a really good learning experience and I'm glad I was able to go for at least one of the days.  

Jenny and Emily are having SO much fun!!!

Emily, Brooke and I doing a screening

Brooke and KaDee on break :)

Anesthetic

For our first anesthetic lab we got to inject LA into a chicken. It was interesting to me how little pressure you actually use when you are injecting. It seems like it takes forever, but the carpule isn't that big. We practiced aspirating with red colored water so we could see what it would like if we had a positive aspiration. I like this first picture because I look kinda scared....and I really am nervous for when we start practicing on each other :)

I feel bad for her practice partner :)

FINISHED!!!!!

So today I finished my Class III patient and finished passing off all my PE's. FINALLY!!! I feel very accomplished this semester and I'm really starting to get the hang of things....just in time to head off for summer break :( All in all, I think this semester went very well, and I'm pretty excited for our long break starting next week. I'm a little nervous for next semester just because of the requirements and being able to find the right patients, but I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

Class 3!!!!

I started on my class 3 patient today and got all done with the OD and 2 quads. I'm finishing her up next Wednesday and then I'm all done with my requirements!! I had a pretty easy time working on the mandibular anteriors. I love using my 1/2 Gracey and I was very productive with it this time. I am so excited that I was able to find a class 3 patient and I found out that it's not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

X-Rays and Screenings

I finished my x-ray requirements today and found my class 3 while doing screenings. I had my grandma come in and it turned out that she was a class 3, but we had to take x-rays to confirm it. She needed 7 PA's, Emily needed 6 and I needed 1 so it worked out perfectly. The instructors classified her as a 3 so I have her coming back on Wednesday. I'm a little nervous, but after I'm done with those 4 quads I'm all done with my requirements for this semester. YAY!!!!

Last 1A....for now

Today I saw a 4 year old and it went really good and fast!! His teeth were so clean and I only had to polish. I tried to take bitewing films but he wasn't ready for that yet so I took 2 occlusal films instead. I was finished with him in about 30 minutes so the rest of the time I was babysitting him and his little 5 month old brother while their mom was getting her teeth cleaned. It wasn't too bad but my arms are even more tired than are after cleaning a Class V!!!

Recession

My patient today had a lot of recession so I was having a hard time getting the calculus off there. I didn't want to use too much pressure and scrape the cementum off, but then I wasn't being aggresive enough. Instructor Vining taught me a few tricks with the Nevi and 135 and so now I really like using them.

Finished my CII exam

Last Wednesday I finished my Class 2 exam. It went pretty well and I'm SO glad it's over. Prof Costley was helping me at first but then she had to go to a meeting so Prof Hanson came and took her place. She was SO helpful and she taught me how to use my Gracey's and some better techniques for my other instruments. I was able to pass off 4 PE's so that means I only have 5 left and I have to do them in the next 3 weeks.

Done with sealant requirements

I was able to do 3 sealants on my patient today, so now I am done with my sealant requirements. I'm pretty close to being done with my x-rays too, I only need 3 more PA's and 1 set of BWX. My quad requirements are coming along pretty well too. I'm currently at 55 quads and I only have to have 60 for full points. But I don't have my Class 3 yet, so that's my biggest stress....

Class 2 Exam

On March 10th I had a class 2 patient so I declared it as an exam. I got done with the x-rays, OD and scaling one quad. I used my ultrasonic first and then hand scaled after. I still missed a few spots and I had a heck of a time getting them off, but Kirsten was very helpful. This was my first patient that I didn't know and I thought it went pretty well. I didn't feel too bad at getting under the gums and really going at that calculus. She was bleeding like crazy and it didn't even seem to bother her. I learned a couple new tricks and she is coming back this Wednesday so I am hoping I can get some PE's done.

Second 1B Exam

I did my second 1B exam on my cousin yesterday. I did pretty good, but the only thing I had a problem with was cleaning around the lingual bar. I also did 4 BWX and a pano to check for her wisdom teeth. I thought it was funny because I've had my brother and 2 cousins come in recently and they are all 17, and all 3 of them have to get their third molars out within the next month because they are very close to coming through. It's a good thing they have a good resource now and were able to get in and get those teeth checked :) Overall, I think the appointment went very well and I did good on my exam.

catching speed

I had another 1B today and I was able to get him completely done in 2 hours, plus pass off my ultrasonic PE, so I felt pretty good about my time utilization with him. It was actually my brother that came in and he's 17 years old. He drinks a ton of pop and eats plenty of treats so I decided to do my diet analysis project on him. He's supposed to be recording all the snacks he eats between meals for 3 days in a row. I think he's going to be very suprised at how many snacks he's eating and how long the acid is staying on his teeth.

Finishing a Class II

Monday I finished up my class 2 patient. My goal was to finish him in an hour because I only had the mandibular teeth left to scale, but things didn't go as planned. I had a really bad day with my instructor and it's a very long story, but mainly I just wasn't happy about her making me use the ultrasonic because my patient had a pacemaker, and she knew about it. Plus, I only missed 4 spots of calculus on all the mandibular teeth and I thought that was pretty good for my first class 2. And I was forced to use the ultrasonic after my scale check because of those 4 spots I missed, so I had already done most of the work manually!! She also talked to me about going to fast on a class 2, and I didn't feel like I went that fast. It took me about 25 minutes per quad, and my patient was still there over 2 hours. Overall, it was a very frustrating day!!!

Dentures with Diabetes

Last Wednesday I had my grandpa come in and he has a full upper denture plus diabetes, plus a million other health issues. It took my over an hour just to fill out the health history. He had 13 different medicines he was taking but he didn't know what each of them were for so I had to look them all up and group them together before I could write them in the chart. It was exhausting!! The denture was really easy to clean and he didn't have any stains or calculus on it so I just soaked it in the solution for the whole appointment. I did PA's on all his remaining mandibular teeth so I could check the bone levels. I also got to do the blood glucose test and that went really well. I was a little nervous about it, but he guided me through it since he's used to poking himself.

Trying the Ultrasonic

I used the ultrasonic today on the lower anteriors and it went pretty good. I was scared to try this because I haven't used it yet this semester, but my patient didn't seem to mind it and it worked pretty good. I still prefer hand scaling but I can see how beneficial it is to get off the bulk of the calculus first.

Lab Day

On Wednesday the 17th we had a lab and we got to learn how to do the blood glucose test, denture cleaning and the Diagnodent. It was such a relaxing day and it felt good not to stress about having a patient. I was a little nervous to do the blood glucose test but it worked out really good, especially since I had a diabetic and denture patient scheduled next week.

Another 1A

I was able to do my second 1A appointment today and it was really good. I was in a pickle on what size of x-rays to use. I ended up using one size 1 film on each side and it worked out perfect. I really went into depth on the OHI cause she was only brushing once a day and had a lot of plaque on her teeth. I polished first and then only scaled on the mandibular anteriors....and I didn't have any missed spots. YAY!! I was also able to do sealants on A,J & T. She was my second patient to do sealants on so I let Emily do one of them. It worked out really well and it was a great experience.

1B Exam

Brandee came in today and I did her as my exam. She hadn't been to the dentist in about 5 years and she only had 2 spots of calculus in her entire mouth. I'm glad I got to declare her as an exam, and I'm really glad that I was able to get her done quickly because she was 8 months pregnant. The only problem that I had during the appt was getting an instructor to pass off everything. We just got a new instructor in our pod this week and I wasn't too happy about it. The only thing I forgot in my chart this time was my signature at the end. I almost got a blue slip for it, but luckily I was able to come back and sign it, and the instructor took it away.

Easy Day

Today I had another 1B patient. It actually turned out to be pretty easy cause most of the teeth were crowned. I only missed a few spots of calculus, and they were all in the mandibular anterior area. Luckily I was able to get all the way done and my patient was very cooperative. It was a good day for me.

Scaling = Sleeping

So my patient on Monday was my uncle....and he was the best patient ever. He slept through 7/8 of the appointment....UNBELIEVABLE!!! He turned out to be a Class II, which was nice, but he was my first one so it was really hard for me. My instructor ended up helping me get most of the calculus off. But it was a really good experience for me to see how hard a real Class II is.

Why was I so nervous?!

My 13 year-old cousin came in today and he has braces on his maxillary teeth. I was SUPER nervous to use the air-powder polisher but it turned out that he didn't mind at all. He actually liked it better than the prophy cup polishing. Weird!! The only real trouble I had was with the x-rays. I took 4 BWX and neither one of the molars shots went back far enough. I had an instructor come and help me with the re-takes and we still ended up keeping the originals. That has happened to me with both my patients this week, so that was a little frustrating, but at least I shouldn't be marked down cause the originals turned out better. Overall, I thought the appointment went really well.

Success

My cousin came in today and I'm so upset that I didn't declare it as my IB exam. I planned on doing it, but after the OD I forgot and then it was too late. I only missed one spot of subgingival calculus TOTAL!! I was so excited when she said that I did that good...even though my patient didn't have much to begin with. I actually remembered to dry the anterior teeth this time and I was able to see the calculus so much easier. I also checked everywhere with the explorer too, which I usually don't do. And I got done with scaling in 35 minutes!!!

First No Show

Last Wednesday my patient forgot about her appointment, I called Monday and reminded her and then 15 minutes into the appt I called and she totally forgot. Luckily, Cameron was able to hurry from work so I had a patient. It actually worked out perfect cause I finished the scaling and did 15 PA's on him. I was so grateful that he was able to come, and now I know how horrible it is to have the stress of no patient.

1A Exam

On the 13th my cousins daughter came in and she was such a good patient. I did my 1A exam on her and she was so cooperative. I thought it was interesting to probe around just the permanent teeth and it sure saved a lot of time. The scaling was pretty easy and I actually ended up doing sealants on all her 1st molars. It went pretty good, I only had one sealant that I had to redo, and I actually had to have my instructor fix one spot on it after that and she even had a hard time with it. Overall I thought the appointment went really well and it was a great experience to work with a child. And best of all....I passed my exam!

Patient Complete

My brother came in today and I was very pleased about the way the appointment went. He didn't need x-rays so that saved me a little bit of time. He was a 1B and had hardly any calculus so that was nice. I scaled my first quad and when I had it checked I didn't have any missed spots. I was very excited about that! I 3 missed spots in the other 3 quads, but they were all in the same area on the mandibular anteriors. He has a lingual bar and I had a hard time getting around that, but it was good practice for me. He turned out to be a very good patient and I had a nice experience with completing a patient start to finish all in one appointment. I hope I have a lot more appointments like that :)

......Back Already

My first week of Clinic in second semester is officially over. We had a lab on Monday and then an actual patient today. My uncle John was nice enough to come in and be my experiment. I thought everything went pretty smoothly and I only have 2 quads left to scale. I was able to take 4 vertical BWX and 2 PA's so that was good practice for me. I had a hard time getting the calculus off in certain places, but luckily his teeth were pretty dang clean and it was only in the hard to reach places. Prof. Costley and our TA Sara had to help me with a lot of it, but it's gone now so that's all that matters. I had a little issue at the end because I didn't print off a walkout statement and instead took the treatment plan to the front desk. This caused a problem and John ended up paying for all his planned treatments instead of just what we got done today. In the end we got it all figured out, but I sure hope I don't make that mistake again!!!