FINALLY DONE!!!!

Today in clinic I finally got my requirements done! I was so worried that my patient was not going to show up because I tried calling him the day before several times and his phone number would not work. I was not able to get ahold of him to remind him so I was worried sick. This morning I was so relieved when the CA called over the intercom and said my patient was there. I shouted for joy. I then was able to start scaling away. I got a scale check on the first quad and I did miss a few spots. After those were finished I moved on to the lower quads. It was a great experience because I have never seen so much calculus. There was a ton! It extended subgingivally and it turned dark green/black under the gingiva. It was really cool to be able to just pop it all right off. I did miss several spots on tne lower anteriors but I know for a fact that I got a TON off. I was really proud of myself. It was a long appointment partly because my patient was kind of mean and ornery and was not into small talk at all. He was there for business only no talking. He also started coughing evertime I tried to use the ultrasonic sclaer so I had to stop using that and only use my hand scalers. That made me realize how valuable the ultrasonic is to me. It helps tremendously! Well, anyway I was able to get him done and not a moment too soon. I think my patient was about to leave whether I was finished or not because he said "I can't take much more of laying like this". Like I said, he was an not a very pleasant person. Well I am finally done and that is all that matters. I have been waiting for summer break for a long time, I am finally free for a few months!

Almost there

Today I just had a class 1B come in just so I could get my quad numbers up. My patient was a 21 year old and didn't have much calculus.I still used the entire appointment to finish him. I am not very fast still. I think I overscale, I spend too much time on easy patients. I need to start being more confident in myself and start getting a little faster with each patient. I was super excited to get done and have three more quads to add to my numbers. Now I only have my class 3 patient to finish on wednesday then I will finally be finished with my clinic requirements! HOORAY!!

Closer and Closer Everyday

Today I had a patient that was two quads of a class 3. I was so excited when I found out he showed up for the appointment. I have had no luck with class 3's, I have had 2 patient's that were class 3's cancell on me two times each!!! I was worried that I would never get my class 3 completed. After today, I am one step closer, I now have two quads done. My patient today was so good, he just sat there the entire time, listening to his i-pod and he didn't complain one bit. He was awesome. Now all I have left to complete for my requirements is two more quads of a 3, and I have that patient scheduled for the last day of clinic(YIKES!!!!) I hope he shows up, if not I will be screwed!! Anyway, I am not out of the woods yet, I still have two PE's to pass off and several projects and and tests left in the semester. I hope I make it, if I do it will be a miracle!

Eight Quads done today!

I had me niece and nephew come in today and it was really fun. I really enjoyed talking to them about taking care of their teeth. I was able to take bitewings on my niece Baylee, who is 6. I had the hardest time getting the bitewing tabs to stick to the x-ray packet. I tried and tried and tried several bitewing tabs but they would not stay stuck long enough to have her bite down! I finally got creative and stuck two edge-eeze on there and that held it down good. So, if you ever have this same problem with size 1 film, just cover it with edge-eeze and it works like a charm. After Baylee, I saw my nephew Mavrik. He is 4 years old and is super cute. He was so good to sit in the chair with his mouth open for a long time. I was suprised because he actually had some calculus buid-up on his lower anteriors and his sister didn't and she is almost three years older than he is. That jsut goes to show that some people really build up calculus and onther not so much. Overall it was a great, fun experience and I had a good time, not to mention I got eight quads done today!!!

Another Class 2

SO, today was pretty productive I guess. First of all my patient cancelled on me but I least it was 3 hours before the appointment began. I was able to get another patient in and all was well. My patient was a class 2 so I was able to get all 4 quads scaled in one appointment. I did a screening on him last week so I alreaday had the entire OD done which was so helpful. All I had to do before scaling was do some OHI and then I went to town. I used the ultrasonic scaler first then went throuhg with my hand scalers and finished. I was very glad to get him done because that is one more patient down. I am still in need of a class 3 patient so I am still going to stress and worry until I have that done.

Not a good week

This week was NOT good. First of all on Monday my patient did not show up. I finally called her and she said she had to cancell but she " didn't have my phone number". Right! Anyway so I was frantically calling anyone I could think of to come in but no one would answer their phone. When I was about to give up hope, my sister's roommate called me back and she just happen to be done with class and still on campus. I told her my predicament and she so willingly came in to my rescue. I was so thrilled, she let me take a pano and a set of BWX, which I was in desperate need of. So after starting an hour late, it turned out to be an okay day. She was only a 1B but that was okay with me because I still need to get my quad numbers up. Anyway so then comes Wednesday clinic. I was excited because I knew my patient was going to be there because I was bringing him in myself. My patient was my brother-in-law, he is Tongan, was a class 2 and, he has never had his teeth cleaned before. I got started on him and it was taking me forever to get just one quad done. And then when I was done with that, I got a scale check and I missed a ton of spots!! I was really frustrated. As you can imagine, his calculus was very tenacious and very hard to get off. It was a good experience for me I guess but I was really upset at the end of clinic because I only got three quads done. I felt so bad that he now has to come back and take another day off of work. I am also upset because now that is another clinic day that I needed for my other patients to get all of my requirements done. I am really feeling the pressure now, I am crying a lot lately because I feel like I am not going to be able to fulfill all my requirements(especially my class 3). I am going to be so glad when this semester is over, but then I have two more to worry about!! I hope that someday I can look back on this and laugh because right now I am stressed to the max and I don't think Ican take anymore or last much longer!!!!

Frist Class 3

Today I had a patient come in and I am so excoted because he had 2 quads of a class 3! You jnow you are a dental hygiene student when that excites you!!! Anyway, today went well. I was able to take a set of bitewings, get through the OD and get one quad scaled! I am feeling more comfortable with everything. I still need a lot of work on scaling, I know as soon as I get into this class three in the really heavily calculus areas I will probably feel like I don't know what I am doing. I got some more expereince on the ultrasonic scaler today. I was able to really see it work well, and I am excited to see it used on more calulus. I am still stressed about meeting all of my requirements but one way or another I am sure everything will fall into place (I hope!!) and it will soon all be over!