Pt. Cancellations

I have had a frusterating afternoon. I had a pt. lined up and had called the night before to confirm (remind) an appointment for the next afternoon and the pt. said okay. Then ten minutes after the pt. was suppose to be here I called to see if the pt. was coming and again the pt. told me they'd be here. I called back after thrity minutes and the pt. said they would not be able to make it. So I spent thirty minutes finding another patient. The pt. that I had just called to come in last minute no showed too. I just don't understand why people can't just tell the truth that they can't make it in the first place. It's so frusterating. So I haven't really been able to do anything this afternoon. My instruments are sharp though.

11-06-08

I had my first 1A patient this semester. I thought it was so fun. She was two and she was very cooperative. I think having a patient that young it is very important to have the mom or gaurdian be present for OHI. The pt. had a little bit of decalcification on the mesial of E and F. I didn't even really know that at age two that would even be a problem. I learned to look for teeth that are close together. If they do have teeth that are close together make sure that they (guardian and pt.) know to floss. Also, look for plaque and decalcification. It surprised me to see decalcification.

lab

Today I really learned that it's really important to know the HHX. It would be so scary to have something happen to a patient and then on top of it not really know the HHX. This experience also made me want to really ask the office that I am going to work in if they have an epi pen and an oxygen tank that you can move. I also think it would be a good idea to have some time set aside every six months or so to talk about emergencies and cpr in an actual office.

10-30-08

Today in clinic I did a caries assessment and I thought it was very useful to explain to the pt.  I was able to talk about caries related to saliva flow and PH.  I was also able to talk about eating habits.  It was a nice OH tool to get started in a good direction to help the pt. open their eyes and understand things in a way that might not otherwise have been used.

Mock Boards

Well, I felt like I learned a lot from mock boards. I am so glad we went through the process of the paperwork and everything. I made some mistakes that costed me at the end. I ended up with a 74 instead of at least a 75 for passing. I would feel so bad if I failed by one point. I wrote insignificant findings down on my intra and extra oral exam. I won't do that again. I also didn't take x-rays. My patient was late and it made me feel a little hurried. I still got done, but in a shorter amount of time than everyone else got that had their patients there on time. I will remember to have my x-rays taken before so I don't have to worry about it. I don't think its a bad idea to tell the patient to be there a little early so you don't have to worry.

Mock Boards

Well, I would have failed boards by 1 point. That would be so discouraging. I am so glad we have mock boards to walk us through the process. I made some small mistakes that I won't on the real boards. I wrote in insignificant information when I was filling out the extra and intra oral exam. I also will take x-rays next time. My patient was late and that got me a little anxious. I just didn't have time to take x-rays that day. I also had never seen the pt. before, so I was a little nervous about the whole thing anyway. I learned a lot mock board day. I don't want my pt. for real boards being late. I think I will tell the pt. to be there early so I won't have to worry. I didn't really know if I would pay my patient, but I am starting to think it's a good idea to pay them if they're there on time, then hopefully I wouldn't have to worry.

10-28-08

Today at the VA I had a patient that just could not get numb. I gave ten injections on the maxilla and the pt. was still complaining of sensitive teeth. I thought it was a good experience to give so many of the injections. I gave the PSA and MSA on both sides. I also gave lots of infiltrations. I felt like I knew what I was doing after the last infiltration injection. I think that it's confusing how we say we did an ASA, but really we did an infiltration instead of the real ASA or infraorbital. I had a very productive day today and I feel good about it.

VA Last day in Sept.

I was very pleased with today. I thought that it went smoothly and I was able to get things done and not feel hurried. I learned to be more relaxed and going with what has to be done.

10-2-08

I had a class 4 come in today. He was here last week too. I only got one quad done, but I only missed one spot. I have definately learned to use the orange ultrasonic on hard patients first. It was much better than last time.

Today I had a class 4 patient and it was hard. I started off ultrasonicing, but I was using the wrong insert. Always start with the hardest and strongest insert if the patient is hard.

9/18/08

Today I learned to give all the information to the patient for OHI and then give them what they should know to give them the best results at home, like flossing one time a day and brush two times a day and make them realize that they can be the ones to keep their teeth clean. Then leave it to them to try to make a goal.

VA 9/16/08

I learned an important thing today with scaling. I was getting so frusterated and I just didn't understand what was going on with my patient. I was scaling and ultrasonicing and I was never getting done. Well, I learned that some patients will never be done. I only got two quads of a class 2. The patient was a heavy smoker and had a hairy tongue which was interesting. The hygienist at the VA finished the patient and also reassured me that this patient wouldn't be done and in 3 months the patient will be back with the same stuff.

9/11/08

Today went very well for me.  I passed off my selective polishing PE and got complimented on what a good job I did.  It feels great to get a compliment from an instructor.  

Clinic sept 4

Today in clinic I got caught up in trying to do more than I could and I didn't get finished and I got very discouraged.  I was thinking I had more time, but it turns out I was wrong.  Don't forget when the patient needs to be out of the clinic.

4/14/08

Today I cleaned a childs teeth. He was five and so easy. His teeth looked really good. I thought that my time was okay too. I am done early!

4/9/08

Today I was CA. It went very well. I think being a CA is not stressful. I like the no stress day.

4/2/08

Today I cleaned a 1B. I already have the paperwork back and I did good. It is really nice for a change to have an easy easy patient. I got my sealant requirements completed. It is so nice to have that done and be able to work on other requirements.

3/31/08

I cleaned by little sisters teeth and I feel like it went very well. I got a lot of requirements done and she wasn't too bad to clean. I was very grateful to have her come in because my patient cancelled on the last minute. It's frusterating to have patients cancel.

3/26/08

Today I was a little frusterated because I was expecting to clean a 1B and it ended up to be a 2. I missed a lot of spots and had to go back and rescale. I learned not to expect anything when I am scaling, I just need to scale and make sure it's good.

Denture patient

Today went very well. It was a good experience to see a denture patient and it wasn't hard to clean the denture. The teeth that he did have were a little difficult to clean because he had some overhangs and hard grooves in the teeth, but I did a good job at cleaning them anyway.

Class 2 test

My patient had braces and it was harder to work around/with. I was a little nervous for the scale check, but I did alright. I spent a little more time cleaning and checking than normal. I felt like I did okay.

3/5/08

I have had a good patient day, but I am very frusterated with the front office. A week ago my patient was a child and she was getting her teeth cleaned with her brother so I walked her out, but I told the office staff that the mom will pay for her with her brother when her brother comes out. Well, it ended up she only paid for the brother and the front office didn't put two and two together even though I told them. Anyways, I got a note in my box saying I was in charge of the bill. So I called the mom and hopefully she will come in and pay for the bill. I thought that I was good to go when I explained the situation to the front office, but I guess when I have a patient that is scheduled with another family member I will have to make sure the front office does their job.

2/20/08

Today was a little frusterating. My patient has had a lot of work done on her mouth. She has 3 quads of a class 2 and it seems like it will be hard. She has braces. I haven't started scaling. ( She talks a lot.) It will be interesting to see what happens next time she comes in and how well I do will the cleaning.

2/25/08

I was a little nervous about the HHX and filling out medications for an older patient, but it wasn't too bad. I feel like I did okay. I feel like I need to be faster at looking up meds and then don't forget to get the page #. I feel like today went well, I finished the patient today.

2/27/08

I felt like today went very well. My patient was 14 and had very good OH. It was nice because I used her as an exam and I didn't miss any areas, which helped with my self-esteem. I still need to work on time.

3/3/08

I was a little dissapointed today because I thought my patient was going to be a class 2. The patient had the bone loss for a class 2, but not the calculus. The patient only had 1 quad of a class 2 and the rest we classified as a class 5. I will start and finish scaling next time.

2/13/08

Today we had lab in clinic and we learned more about ultrasonics. I really needed to go over how to use the diagnodent, so that part of lab was very useful. We also went over insurance codes and we talked about the diagnodent and removable prothethis. It was helpful to go over a few things and get things straightened out in my head.

2/12/08

I felt like for the patient I had, I was in too much of a hurry to get done. I wanted to get all the quads completed at this one appointment, but I was too hurried. I missed more spots than I like to and I didn't get done. I need to be more thorough and worry about time less.

2/6/08

Today I did a class 1B and I got all the way through cleaning four quads! It took me a while, like 45 min, but I only had one spot I missed. I was happy about that. I shouldn't get too frusterated with my time, but I worry about it all the time. I really want to be good and fast already.

2/4/08

I worked on a patient who was a class 3. It was okay, but I realized that my ultrasonic helps a lot. It takes longer to do all four quads.

x-rays, 1/28/08

Today my patient didn't want x-rays, even though he needed them. It was a little frusterating. I have had two patients already who have refused x-rays even when I tell them that they would benefit from them.

1/30/08

The ultrasonic scaler works very well on mandibular anterior lingual teeth on tenacious calculus. I did have to go over and hand scale, but it was much easier.

Class 2

I learned that a class two takes more hand strength. I need to work on that. I was told that the patient had tenacious calculus which is harder for me to get off. I will use the ultrasonic next time he comes back.

First Patient Spring Semester

Today actually went better than I thouhgt it would. I scaled three quadrants in 1 hour and 15 min. I think I took a lot of time because last time I did one quad I had to go back to redo a lot of spots so I was nervous about that this time. I didn't have to go back and scale any spots, so my time was okay. I think that I will get better with the time as I become more confident. At least for now I will work on my skills and hopefully get faster.

Second Semester

It was a good day to have a good reminder of how things are and get things ready hopefully for Wed for my patient (Brent). I think it will be a very busy semester in the clinic. I am hoping to become faster and get really comfortable with things.