I learned what a pain it is to do a physicians consult. I had a pt. with high blood pressure that was deaf. It was hard to communicate just through writing things down. I was just having a hard time understanding who the Dr. was that I needed to contact and then I found out that the pt. was taking medications that had not been written on the health history that were important for me to know. I didn't get to see this pt. today. I know this was not a good appointment for me or the patient. Things were just a little confusing.

Sensitivity

Today I had a good 1B patient. The patient had some sensitive areas on the distal of teeth #2 and #16. I put Varnish on them to see if that would help with desensitizing. There was a tiny bit of recession on the distal of those teeth, but no where else. My instructor said that what might have caused that would be impacted third molars because my patient had the third molars taken out and didn't have recession anywhere else. I just had never thought that that would cause sensitivity.

Third molars

Today, I took two full mouth x-rays on patients with all of their wisdom teeth.  On the first patient I didn't really think I needed to get all the way back to the third molar on the PA, but I retook it to see if I could get it back there.  I took eight molar x-rays ( on two patients)  and it is possible to see all three molars on a PA!  It just takes a little effort to get the film where you need it to be.  

Remembering how to sharpen

I learned today that one month off will make me have to recall things like sharpening my instruments. I was trying to sharpen one instrument and it just didn't feel right and I couldn't think of how to make it feel okay. Finally, I switched my instrument to the other hand and I was able to get the job done. Little things can make a big difference.

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.