Lab day.....

Today (Feb. 15) we didn't see patients we learned new skills! I was excited to have a days off of sorts and learn some new things. We learned about cleaning removable appliances, using the Diagnodent and taking blood glucose. These are just a few new things that we can use to better educate and know our patients. I was excited to learn about the Diagnodent because in the office I used to work at the hygienist is required to use it often. I figure this will most likely be the case in many practices. I also took my own blood glucose and was pleased to see that I was within normal range!

Finishing up another 1B

Today (Feb 13) I saw my neighbor to finish her treatment. She was so kind and I was excited to finish her because the second appointments are always my favorite. I get to just do what I love to do which is clean teeth. I don't have to worry about x-rays or all the paperwork. I had done her lower anterior's at the last visit so I had to finish the lower and so the complete upper. I knew I could do this in one appointment. I also prepared to do some PE's. I did my universal instrumentation, selective polishing and peer calculus review. I felt so accomplished to get all of these done. I also didn't miss any spots on the cleaning so today was a very good day! Now next visit I know I am going to have to take x-rays so I am hoping I can do better and not have any retakes! Lets keep our fingers crossed!!!

Another day another patient

Today (Feb.8) I saw Jared's cousin. It was a little awkward because we are not that close only Christmas and Thanksgiving kind of family. As we went in and went over her medical history she had some items that I could tell she was embarrassed about but I was able to calm her and make her feel comfortable. I was very please with my progress about this. I took 4 BWX and a PA. Unfortunately I had to retake both a premolar BWX and the PA. I swear I can;s get the x-rays perfect. It is so frustrating. The right premolar shot I didn't get the distal of the canine, I tend to do this so this is something I am really going to work on during the next week of patients. The PA was not low enough but instructor Caldwell came in and gave me some tips in getting it lower, like putting the sticky tab higher on the sensor so she can bite down sooner. This seemed to help. I was able to complete my ultrasonic PE, which was exciting to get to use it on a real patient. I haven't used it since we practiced on the typodont. I really LOVED it!! I can't wait to use it on a patient with a lot of calculus. The fun thing about this patient was that she had some calculus buildup on the lower anterior's and I could watch it fly off as I worked!!

Finished another 1B

My patient from a few weeks ago returned today (Feb. 3). She was a pretty easy patient and I had to finish 3 quads. The second visit is always my favorite because I don't have to worry about doing all of the paperwork I can just get in the mouth and clean. She was a good candidate for sealants because she only has had one filling and her molars are unsealed. So I was able to pass off that PE and also my sharpening PE. It feels good to be getting my requirements passed off. I missed NO spots during her cleaning!! WAHOOO!! I really concentrated on my distal technique and I really think it paid off.

Finished up another patient today!

I had a returning patient today (Feb. 1). I had seen her a few weeks ago and she was not the easiest patient so I was not that excited to see her again. I didn't get to cleaning her last time so I wanted to get all 4 quads done today. I started by doing the LR and I missed a spot on the the distal of 25. Haefen was my instructor and I passed off my anterior scaling PE with her. I was excited to get one more PE done! She said I had really good technique but needed to apply more pressure and also making sure to adapt more. I finished cleaning the rest of her mouth which I was so excited about!! All 4 quads!! I missed another 3 spots. One on the straight of the anterior's which irritated me since you could see it! The other two were on the distal of 12 and 13. I need to really work on my distal technique since that is where I am missing spots. I am going to concentrate on this during my next appointment.

Working on technique!

Today (Jan. 30th), I had another neighbor as my patient. She had mandibular tori which was the first time I had seen this clinically. I had a bit of a hard time with her x-rays since the placement was different due to her tori. I did have to take a retake. :( I am still working on x-rays and am hoping I can start to see improvement soon. Vining was my instructor and he was so kind to come and sit with me and help improve my technique. He taught me some valuable techniques for the LA's using the Nevi. After my patient left Vining pulled me aside and told me that I am too timid and need to just get in there and clean! I am worried about hurting the patient and that holds me back. Vining made a good point though, he said that school is when you can be a little rough and once you get the technique then you can refine it. I am going to take these words to heart and work on my technique and try to put the fear of hurting them aside for a bit.

I remembered why I wanted to be a hygienist today!!

Today (Jan. 25) I felt like I had a bit of a breakthrough. This semester I have had a hard time in clinic and was beginning to wonder what the hell I was doing all of this for. Today i remembered! My patient was my neighbor and she was just great! I did BWX on her and had to retake the premolar shot on the left side since it didn't show the Distal of the canine. I also had some overlapping issues on the right molar shot but didn't have to retake it since it showed in the premolar shot. I really need more practice with x-rays. I swear they are going to be the death of me! Anyway I was able to get through the OD and clean a quad which made me so happy to achieve this small goal. I am progressing even i it is just little bits at a time!!

My first no show

Today (Jan. 23rd) I had a patient scheduled off of the list at the clinic. I scheduled her back in December and told her I would call to remind her in January. When I called the night before her number was disconnected. I figured she probably was not going to come but the hard thing is I couldn't put someone else in her place in case she did show up. After waiting about 20 mins for her to show I ran to my son's daycare and picked him up so he could be my patient. I was a little nervous because he is only 2 and I thought he would behave but you never know!! He did!! He was such a good kid! I tried BWX on him but he gagged so I took occlusal PA's. I forgot to change back the pano setting so the development on them was a little off but it still worked. First time I didn't have to retake!! YAY!! All in all in turned out to be a pretty good day! Goal for next time is to continue to improve on x-rays.