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.