Last Day of Fall Clinic

I am finally starting to roll with the punches when a pt. cancels. Don't worry it only took me a full year of panic when calling to confirm to get to this point. There have been a couple of time when I have rolled up in a ball in the corner and made Todd start calling random people for me. So once again another pt. cancels and I had the opportunity to experience the pt. list for the first time. I feel lucky I have never had to use it before. It ended up being a great experience.
My morning started out with yet another class III pt. And I am proud to say that I finished her whole mouth plus x-rays in one apt! I didn't want her to have to wait until January to get her finished so I booked it the whole time. Still struggling with classifications but working on it.
My goal for next semester is real world application. I am going to ask my instructor to help me know what to walk the pt. out as at every apt. so that in a real dental office I know more of what I am doing. I understand the concept between the different codes but have a hard time knowing which one to use.
The afternoon last minute patient was awesome. She was a 1B and the most pleasant person ever. She let me and Brooke pass off the Velscope on her and I got a conventional pano. It was a relaxing and perfect way to end my fall clinic schedule.
Now if only we could skip all of our tests and go straight to Christmas Break....

Lab Day!

Today started well. I had a super nice class III lady this morning. She asked so so many questions. I felt like I was taking an oral quiz on how to explain everything I have learned in the last year and a half. It is so fun to have a pt. that actually cares about what you have to tell them. She was a golden pt. She had been a nurse for 20 years and was so interested in all the physiological aspects of what we do. It was quite exciting. Loved it. Passed off the last of my fall PE's, Hooray. I also had a great learning experience with her as well. All of her mandibular molars were crowns with 7mm pockets. I learned how to really scale around crowns so much better than I have ever been able to. Dr. Hanson taught me a new way to have the suction so that it is manageable for me and the pt. and how to sit to ultrasonic in a more ergonomic position.
It was quite relaxing knowing that we had a lab in the afternoon. I got to go home for lunch and stroll in last minute before lab started. So nice. In the lab we went over the Velscope, reviewed disaster protocol, transferring wheelchair pts to the dental chair, desensitizing agents, and played with little hotdogs that turned into people in the wet lab. It was actually a really interesting and fun lab. I loved the Velscope. Other than having the older version that weighs a million pounds and costs a small fortune it was pretty amazing. I hope we get to use it a lot in the future. Heather got to be the demo girl in my group. She made the most amazing paraplegic, it was quite impressive.

Extra-oral and accessory fulcrums

The Velscope was pretty sweet

We are so stylish

Always love the socks

Feeling the love?

Sam considering if this is really worth 5 PAs....

Marianne is a pro

I broke my hotdog!

Our efforts to stay focused failed. We ended up with hotdog people instead.

File magic

Today was a pretty easy day at the VA for me. I had the most talkative V in the morning. I am going to miss having three hour apts. in private practice. I would have been sad to have to rush him out because of a time limit. It is fun to get to know the pts there. They have had such interesting lives and I really enjoyed talking to him the whole morning.
The afternoon was fun as well. My pt. was a young guy that had a wisdom tooth hole that never sealed up. He had a few 4-5mm pseudo pockets from inflammation but then right behind #18 you could actually see the hole. It was a little bizarre. It was a 9mm pocket and was the only place he had radiographic calculus. Prof. Bossenberger really helped me. I experimented with my files and graceys and then she came over and helped me modify my tech to be more effective. I love the files, they fit so much deeper and are magical. Love love love them. Also am slowly learning to appreciate the graceys more. Using an oblique stroke with the graceys on the distal of 18 was the only way I could have possibly got any of that calculus. Also I learned the big difference between aggressive root planing. Because of time constraints I did the best I could and then we scheduled him back to have it numbed and aggressively cleaned. It was a nice learning day with a yummy lunch. (Biaggios=two thumbs way up)

Finally some 1As!

So Heather was incredibly generous and let me see her two adorable cousins so I could meet my 1A requirements. They were so cute and well behaved. It was a breeze to clean them after some of the uncooperative kids from the Children's Health Connection. Got some sealants done and finished fast. It was a great morning. They were cracking me up the whole time. Then for the afternoon I had Todd come in...this time as the pt. and not the translator. It was good that he came in cause he had a cavity too! Todd has had one cavity in the whole time we have known each other, and that was after never flossing and not going to the dentist for 6 years. Lately we have been going through an orange juice phase and it shows. He had two incipient caries, guess what that means....fl varnish every night! Bet he will love that. It really drove home for me why we give diet suggestions as a dental hygienist.

Relaxing day

After a slight scramble and panic last night the day turned out quite well. Bless Todd for putting up with all my crazy. When two patients cancelled last night it was Todd that saved my tush and called a bunch of pts while I had a little tantrum in the corner. Then he once again came and translated for me. Want to know the secret to getting class III pts... know Spanish...or have a very generous husband that does and is willing to come sit and watch me clean teeth for 4 hours every single Tuesday. He should have made Dental Hygiene his career because he logged more clinic hours than I have.

Today was fun. Had a Spanish 1B in the morning. I am learning a lot about sensitivity and how to play detective to get to the bottom of what is causing it. Then I saw my mom in the afternoon. So relaxing, I like her. She has the cleanest teeth I have seen all semester. Love it, I might get used to this easy pt. thing after all.