MY FIRST REAL PATIENT

Yesterday I had my first real patient come in. My wonderful mother came in for me and was the best patietn ever. I was a little worried but soon into the appointment I felt a little better. I took some x-rays and that went very well, I didn't have to take any retakes so I was glad about that. I never did get to do any scaling but overall it was a great experience and I learned so much from it. I t was great to actually go through and do everything in order from begining to end. I made a few dumb mistakes but I was really nervous so hopefully things will get better and better. I am so glad my mom was my patient, I had a great time!

Mock Patient Day

Today we had another mock patient day, I was so nervous for some reason. Last time I did not know really what was going to happen so I had no time to worry and prepare. This time, I have been worrying all week for it. Well, it is finally over. I have to say I thought I would feel a little better after it was over. I just don't feel like I am very good today, I don't know if I just had a bad day or if I just suck at scaling. The appointment started out okay. Staci was my patient and I had to redo the HHx and I had quite a bit to write. So right off the bat I felt like I was behind everyone else. So then I took her vitals and they were great. I then began with the OD. I felt like I was going out of order with this, I really don't know if there is a certain order you are suppose to go in. Anyway then I started probing and that took my FOREVER!!! I didn't think it was going to take me that long, so once again I felt like I was behind. So then when I was finally done with that and got my OD check, I moved on to OHI, but didn't have much time so I quickly moved on to scaling. I felt like I hadn't done this in awhile so I felt out of practice and quite awkward. I hope with more practice I will feel more comfortable with everything especially scaling. I only got one quadrant done and after my scale check I missed 3 spots of calculus. That might not be very many but I felt like she didn't really have any in the first place so the only 3 spots she had calculus I missed! Oh, well, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize that this stuff takes time to get the hang of. I am glad my mom will be my first real patient, I will feel comfortable around her and hopefully I won't be as nervous. I know she will be honest with me and let me know everything that hurts her. Today wasn't the best day for me but I am going to be hopeful and think that I will eventually get better.

Another Mock Patient Day

Today I was a patient all day long, it was great. Staci was working on me today and she did awesome!! I really like having someone else work on me because it helps me to realize some of the things I need to work on and do better on. It makes me understand what it is like to be the patient and what hurts and what doesn't. I am really excited to treat my first real patient next week. I am scared but excited, I hope I will be able to see some calculus so I know what it feels like and see if I can really remove it. I am glad my mom is going to be my first patient because I will be more comfortable around someone I know. I am glad I get one more day to practice on someone and go through the entire process like they are a new patient. I am really loving this program and I am so glad that my first semester is almost over!

SO MANY PE'S

Today was kind of crazy. We had 3 PE's to pass off and that really seemed like a lot at first. When we got going it wasn't too bad. We passed off the air powder polisher, and let me tell you that was a blast to do again, NOT. My pod partner accidentally sprayed underneath my tongue and it stung really bad and then it began to bleed, it was not so fun. Anyway, we also had to pass off the sealant PE and the instrument shrpening PE. The sealant one went pretty good considering I had only placed one other sealant before in my life and that was only two days ago. The sealants really aren't as hard as I thought it might be. I think the hardest part is to keep the tooth isolated and dry the entire time. The sharpening will have to come with time and practice. It is not the easiest thing to do but it isn't the hardest either. I'm sure it will come with time and someday I will hopefully be as good as Professor Costley and be able to memorize the angles and be able to do it with my eyes closed. Well, I am glad today is over and I have 3 more PE's passed off, we only have one left!!! I can't believe it, this semseter has gone by so fast!

Air/Powder Polishing AND Sealants

Today was a busy day. We started off by using the air/powder polisher. It was way weird and awkward. I have never seen one of these things before nor have I aver had one used on me so it was quite an experience. At first we tried it out on polishing a penny. I chose a really nasty looking penny so I could really see a difference. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!! I could not believe how easily and fast it shined the penny right up. I thought "oh this won't hurt in your mouth, it doesn't hurt my fingers", well I was wrong. When Alyse started polishing my teeth it really hurt my gums. Then some got shot onto my tongue and that stung even worse. It also tasted horrible! It was not the most desirable thing I have ever been through.
Next we did sealants, I was a little worried about this at first, but then I did my very first one and I wasn't bad at all, I had a really good patient though. I was able to keep the tooth dry and etch it, then put the sealant material in, then cure it. I was pretty proud because my first sealant was a little high but other than that it was perfect.
Then after luch we had radiology, like always I had a wonderful time. We learned how to work the panoramic x-ray machine and we learned how to duplicate films. I have taken several panos before so that wasn't anything new to me, well I guess it was a different machine than I am used to so I had to learn how to work it. I did not know you could duplicate films so that was really interesting to learn how to do. I love that we get to try our best to get a good film and then we get to see what fun ways we can mess it up. I tried duplicating two films at once. The first film worked great(the one that was closest to the original film) but the second one was totally black because no light was able to reach it.
It was anther fun Monday, and now it is finally over and we only have 4 more Mondays left in the semester, YEAH!!

Patient Day

Today was another mock patient day, but I got to be the patient! I enjoyed today very much. I thought it was really nice having someone different working on me because it is nice to know that other people are at the same skill level as I am. I learned things that I can do better and hopefully I was able to help Casey out a little bit too by giving her feedback. I think it is really important to give each other feedback so we know what we are doing right and what we can work on a little more. I think clinic is so much fun and I just like to see how we are all progressing a little bit at a time. After this mock patient experience, I have to say that I feel a lot more confident about myself and my abilities. I feel like I will do just fine, I will still need a ton of help, but I am getting the hang of it.
Classes are going good. For the most part I think I am doing really well and the semester is winding down already and before I know it, it will be Christmas break and our first semester as dental hygiene students will be over. We only have like three more tests and a few more quizzes to worry about in class. Aside from the tests and quizzes in class, I really enjoy learning all this new and exciting (well exciting to me) stuff. I think if I can make it through this semester, I can do anything!!!

Mock Patient

Today we had a mock patient day. I was really scared at first but once I got going it went pretty good and I was actually having fun. It was nice to have all the clinic time just for me for once. I did not feel rushed(until at the end when we had to get our charts handed in) and I was able to get everyhing done. It was overall a really great learning experience for how clinic will be for us for the next three semesters.
Today we also learned how to do fluoride treatment. I have seen fluoride in the tray being done several times but I have never done it myself. The varnish flouoride was a whole new experience for me, I've never done this myself, seen it done, or had it done on me so I did not know what to expect. I was suprised, applying fluoride really wasn't hard at all, either way. I found another reason we should stay in the operatory with our patient the whole four minutes, my patient had a drooling mishap and had I have been watching a little closer(even though I didn't leave my op) I could have prevented her from drooling all over myself!! It was a lovely experience I thought.
Today was a great learning experience but I have to say I am so glad that on Wednesday I get to be the patient and I can just relax in the chair!

Dental Hygiene Halloween Party 2008

POLISHING!!

Today we worked on selective polishing. I am sad to know that we are not suppose to polish every patient all the time. I really enjoy polishing, I think it is really fun. It really helped that I had some dental assisting experience because I already felt like I knew what I was doing. It was a different experience doing a toothbrush polish though. I thought it was going to be way awkward and difficult to reach, but it actually wasn't bad at all and I actually enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun today. I was able to to do disclosing, selective polishing, toothbrush polishing, flossing, and scaling. I felt like today was very a productive day I was able to do a lot of different things. Scaling today was better, I felt like I actually kind of knew what I was doing, so I was way happy about that(better than monday). I was also able to pass off the intra-oral camera PE and the universal instrument PE. As I passed them off I was thinking ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!!.

And More Scaling!

We practiced more scaling today. I don't know why but I have the hardest time keeping the toe third of the instrument adapted to the tooth. I also don't roll soon enough when moving around the tooth. I am getting quite frustrated with myself because I feel like I'm never gonna get it. Prof. Costley was telling us about next semester and how we will see patients and she kind of talked us through the whole process we go through with each patient and the grading. I'm not gonna lie, that really made me nervous hearing her. I am so worried that I will not get the hang of all this and I won't be very good. I realize we are just learning this but I just feel like I am behind everyone else for some reason. I feel like everyone else is getting it and they are like pros already. I know I will eventually get it but I'm just really frustrated right now. Hopefully I will soon feel a little better and won't ber as worried to see real patients. I really enjoy this but I am hard on myself so I think that is not helping

More Scaling

Today we worked on more scaling. We used our Barnhardt for the first time on posterior teeth. It was a new and fun experience. I am always pretty nervous when working on a live person when trying a new instrument or technique. Luckily I have an awesome pod partner who lets me know what I'm doing wrong and what I can do to help. I am usually pretty comfortable when working on her. I also was able to pass off two PE's today, that always feels good to get those things passed off. I feel like I am that much closer to being done! Someday I will be done and I will feel confident with everything I do.

HALF WAY DONE!

Today we got to practice more anterior scaling. I am still scared to go under the papilla with my scaler because I am afraid I will stab my patient. I need to get brave and just do it and be careful so I can get used to it and feel more comfortable with it. This is the time to experiment and learn.
Classes are going really good and I can't believe the semester is already half over, it has just flown by. At this rate I will be a hygienist in no time!!! I am really enjoying classes and clinic. I love to learn and I love this program. I think that is why it is going by so fast because I am having so much fun and I love learning all this stuff. It also helps that we have such great faculty and staff here, they are so helpful and nice.

SCALING!!!!!!

We finally started learning how to scale today!! I was so excited to fianlly start scaling. I was kind of scared at first because they are really sharp instruments, but as I started it was really fun to see the stuff I could get off(even though it wasn't much). I actually felt pretty confident in myself. After practicing a lot with the explorer I think that helped me a lot. Some positions were really awkward and hard to keep the tip-third on the tooth at the correct angle. I wish I could have seen more calculus but my parnter has super clean teeth and I didn't really see any.
I was really excited to start scaling because that just makes me feel like I am really going to be a hygienist! I am so excited to learn all this new stuff, I can just tell that this is the profession for me.

Instrument Identification

Today we practice more OHI case studies to make sure we've got it down. We also went through all our instruments and learned why they look like they do and what we use them for. I was pretty excited because when we first got our instrument issue I was wondering what the differnce between some of them were and why we needed so many. We learned which instruments you use on the anterior, posterior, subgingivally, supragingivally, which have a toe and which have a tip. I am nervous but excited to start using the scalers. I'm excited because this is finally when we get to start actually scraping stuff off teeth. I am nervous because they are poky instruments and probably cause a lot of damage and or pain if used incorrectly. I guess that is why we practice so much so we will be confident and not nervous.
Overall I am way excited and I feel like I am a little closer to being a real hygienist than I did the first week of class. I love this program and I love all the girls in it, they are all so nice and helpfull. I am so glad we have such a fun group!!

Today we practiced more ORAL HYGIENE instruction! We actually went through the whole process up and through OHI. We started once again with HHx, which I am starting to finally feel comfortable with. My patient had taken some medication this morning so I was able to look it up in DDR and recorded that in her chart. I was able to do it just fine so I haven't forgotten, I was pretty excited about that. Anyway, then we did HHxRx and OD. I feel pretty comfortable with these because we have done them several times. Then we probed half of the lower arch and I felt pretty good about how I did. I feel like I am starting to get it and I could actually read my probe today. We then did disclosing again and OHI. I am proud to say that I already after only two days raised my PFI quite considerably. Today was kind of like a review day of almost everything we have learned thus far, it was really good because I actually felt like this is more what it's like when we have a real patient. We had a time frame and had to get all this done within that. I felt a little pressure but it went well and I was able to get it done so I am pleased.

DISCLOSING!!!

Today we used a disclosing agent to show the plaque that we missed when we brushed. I was way suprised! I thought I brushed and flossed so well, but I had a lot of places where plaque showed up. I was kind of disgusted with myself. It made sense because when we did perio assessment I had some papillary gingivitis and that is probably why because I am not flossing and brushing as well as I should. But I'll tell you what after seeing that I am going to make sure I really pay attention while I floss and brush to make sure I get those spots good. I think this is a great aid to help patients as well. If they can actually see for themselves the spots where they are missing they are more likely to try harder to reach those areas.
We also learned how to fill out the OHI portion on the treatment record. It makes a lot of sense to write down how the patient brushes, flosses, and any other aids so you can keep track of their progress. It is also very helpful when setting goals and seeing how far they have come or need to go so you can give praise for a job well done.

Dental Screening

We learned how to do a dental screening today. We learned how to diagramatically show on the patient's chart what kind of restorations they have had. There is a lot of different restorations so that means there are several different chartings we need to know how to do. I was unfortunate that my lucky pod partner has had no previous cavities, so no fillings to try and find. Well, lucky ME I was able to find my partner's FIRST CAVITY(well suspicious lesion that could possibly be a cavity). Sorry Alyse, but that was pretty exciting for me. I also was able to locate some possible hypomineralizations in a few of her teeth. I was also practicing my exploring some more and I am so excited to say that I felt like I did way better today and I am getting better! So far in this program I have been stressed, overwhelmed, and not sure of myself but I have to say that I love it and I wouldn't change it for the world. Sometimes I think why do we have to be so detailed and picky, but someday when I am practicing I am going to be a dang good hygienist because of the great training I am recieving here.

Perio assessment

Today we learned periodontal assessment and bleeding free index. Assessing the gingiva was a little harder than I thought it would be. Maybe that was because my partner has such healthy tissue that anything I saw that was a slight variation I thought might be something. It turned out some of it was a little bit of marginal and/or papillary redness, so I guess I was right but I was not so sure of myself. I need to have a little more confidence in myself, I feel like I just don't know anything and in all reality I know more than I think I do. I just need to be more confident that I know what I'm doing. And I say this everyday but, I hope that it will become easier as I practice more and become a little more experienced.

PROBING!!!!

So today in clinic we learned how to probe. I totally thought this would be a lot easier than it really was. I really have a hard time with remembering to angle the probe so it goes with the contour and shape of the tooth. And I thought that probing the buccal was hard, the lingual is like ten times worse because I am still not used to indirect vision. We only probed one quadrant, the upper right, and it tool me like half an hour. I also was struggling with reading my probe, especially through my mirror. It was difficult to see where it was. It helped when I started counting backwards from the big black mark. I was also having trouble with my mirror in my nondominant hand. I was paying so much attention to probing and not stabbing that I would cram my mirror into my partner's guns and it would hurt her. I guess I am not a very good multitasker. Hopefully after a lot of practice it will be second nature and I won't have to think about everything I am doing. I can only hope!!

Learning how to explore!

Today in clinic we started using our explorers on dexter and on each other. It was really fun to actually get in the mouth and do some hands on. It was also a little nerve racking because I was so worried about poking or stabbing my pod partner(sorry Alyse). Overall it was really fun. Alyse was a lot of help to me, while I was exploring she would not hold anything back, which I greatly appreciated. She told me everytime I poked her and evertime I did something good. It was a great learning experience and I look forward to becoming a pro!!

Getting Better in Clinic

Well, it's the middle of week four. Monday's clinic we did intra-oral assessment, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I was able to assess two of my fellow pod-mates. I read through the PE but I was not sure what some of the landmarks were. After going over it as a pod I somewhat felt like I knew what they were. One of them that I was really struggling with was the tonsillar pillars. I had no clue what these were, where they were, or what they looked like. Luckily I have a great lab partner(Alyse) who was an ideal patient. I could see her tonsillar pillars, her tonsils, her oropharynx, and uvula so clearly and now I know exaclty what and where they are.
On tuesday I went to the 2nd year clinic and I was able to observe Kristin Balls. We kind of got off to a rough start because her patient didn't show; luckily there was a couple walk-ins that needed cleanings so I was able to watch and learn. It was a great experience and I would like to go back several times becasue I learned so much. I finally got to see how all the PEs we've been learning go together and the order of things. I am really (for once) that we had this as one of our assignments, because what better way to learn than watching how it is to be done.
So Wednesday, today, in clinic we went over fulcruming with our dominant hand with an instrument. At first it was a little tricky but as I pracitced on the typodonts and on each other I think I was getting the hang of it. It also made me realize I need to practice my operator positioning some more, I got thrown off a bit. Overall it was a good time in clinic today.

Fun in Clinic

Yesterday in clinic I set a goal for myself to get to clinic on time and set up my unit and be ready to go before clinic started. I almost accomplished this goal. I was there early but the clinic was locked so I thought I couldn't go in there. So I sat out in the hall and waited for an instructor or professor to come by. Later I found out that I should know the code to punch in the door for it to unlock. Oh, well I know that for next time. I also wanted to pass of at least one PE and I did, I actually passed off two. I like to stay ahead on my PEs so I don't feel as stressed out.
I had a lot of fun in clinic today, we learned how to hold our mirror in our left hand and an instrument in the other. It was a little awkward holding the mirror in my nondominant hand but I'm sure I will get used to it with time. We also worked on fulcruming and that was a little more challenging than I thought it would be, but again all things come with time.
I am happy to report, at the end of my third week, I am feeling more comfortable with everything and I am really enjoying myself. I am so glad I have so many new friends that I can share this new and exciting experience with!!!

Two Weeks Down!!

Two weeks Down!! After two weeks of class and clinic I have 4 PEs passed off and I feel like I'm finally on top of things. Today at clinic we took vital signs. At first I was really struggling with my equipment and couldn't figure it out. I finally realized my stethescope was not turned the right way, so I couldn't hear at all. After fixing the operator error I was able to take my pod partner's blood pressure. It took awhile to get used to taking blood pressure, pulse, and respiration but after some practice I felt a lot more comfortable. We also went over treatment plan on eagle soft, at first I was a lillte nervous because I am not used to working on this or any dental program. After going through it as a class and then by myself I found it to be really quite user friendly and very simple to use.

Yesterday at clinic I was way nervous about doing the health histories. In class it wasn't too clear to me the difference between the HHx,the HHxRx, and the StatusRx. When we started going over the HHx and HHxRx in our pods it really finally started making sense to me.Then when we actually got to put it into practice by doing our pod partner's, I finally was able to grasp it a little better. I still need A LOT of practice but I am glad that I am feeling more comfortable. I am so glad that we have instructors and TAs to help us, their help is very much appreciated!!!

Today at clinic I made a goal for myself to relax and have a good time in learning and not be stressed out. Well, I did just that and I have to say that I had a great time in clinic today. That was the first time I have felt comfortable and was not overwhelmed this whole week.

It is finally the end of the second day of school. I am still overwhelmed and feel like I don't know what I am doing or how I am going to make it through this semester. I am so stressed out over everything, I need to take a chill pill and just take it one day at a time.

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I finally did it!