Real Patient Day!!

Today was a great day at clinic!! We actually got to work on a real patient.  I brought my mom in and she did really good!  I did not miss anything which was nice!  She was a really good sport about it!!!  This makes me excited for next semester its just finding those patients!!

Finishing up my patient!

Today I was able to finish my patient up! It was a great feeling.  I was proud of myself because I didnt miss anything on my scale check!  Now on monday we are are seeing real patients!  I am very excited and nervous!  I keep thinking to myself how fast this semester has gone and how next year I am going to look back at this year and think how fast it went!  Today was a great day.

Practice day!

Today I was able to work on Kierstin.  She was a good sport about it!  It as very good to get to practice and feel how it is to get into a flow!  I only missed one spot and so I felt really good about that!  I know that when I have a real patient it was be a little more nerve racking.  I am really excited to get to wednesday! 

(September 7) Health History and Meds

I totally forgot to blog about this a month ago but I am doing it now!  I remember when I learned about this how overwhelming it was to learn all of this information.  It was crazy and I never thought that I would get it but now that we are getting to the end of the semester I am starting to realize that I was freaking out for nothing.  Health history is definitely time consuming but it is also very worth it for the health and safety of my patient.  But truthfully all I kept thinking when I was learning this is please never have an unhealthy patient!  I know that is a shot in the dark because there are some unhealthy people in the world but it was worth a shot!

Patient for another Day!

Today I was a patient again and it was very relaxing.  I really liked being the patient because it is very informative.  Now next clinic I will be able to be the operator.  I am really nervous, yet excited!  It is going to be very good to be the operator so that I can get prepared for two weeks when we see our first patient.  I am really excited for this!

Patient for a Day!

Today I was Kierstins patient and it was very informative!  It was nice to be a patient first so I know what to expect for next week.  It was great to be able  to see the sequence of everything.  She did a fantastic job!  I really enjoyed being her "first" patient!

Sharpening!

Today we reviewed sharpening!  It was good that we already went over this in class so that way we were able to have more time to pass of our PEs!  I was able to pass off sealants and fluoride.  It is good to have all of these behind me now!  For the next two weeks we are going to have mock patients and then we will have a real patient.  Time is seriously plying by so fast!  I can not believe it!  Soon enough we will be working on real patients all the time and I am so nervous for it!  Not really to work on the patient but to find the patients is quite stressful to me!  The second years say that it works out though so I will have to live off faith I suppose!

sealants!

Today we learned how to put sealants on.  It was fun. Since I have assisted for a while it was really nothing new to me.  I did realize that I have been putting them on too thick though.  So that is good to know!  I learn something new everyday!  I was also able to pass off air powder polishing and selective polishing today.  It is getting down to the wire now and so I starting to feel the pressure.  It seemed like today was a little crazy!  Just making sure that everything is done and signed sometimes can get overwhelming to me.  It is all a learning curve I know.  After today I am getting a little nervous about having a real patient and how much stuff we have to get signed and done.  But then again we will have a little bit more time because we will not be switching partners!  Next week we will start seeing each other as patients!

air/powder polishing!

Today we learned how to air powder polish!  It was quite interesting.  I am hoping that I do not have to use this technique of polishing in my hygiene career!!!  We also did selective polishing which was the polishing I am used to doing!  We also used varnish on each other and I have decided that even though I know that varnish is better for my teeth I still do not like it!!  It feels so gross on my teeth actually I just want to brush my teeth right now!  I was also able to pass of my treatment plan PE which was nice to do.  It is crazy how fast this semester is going!  I am almost all done with my PEs and I feel like I have just started!  I like the feeling of getting closer to the end!!

practicing

Today we were able to practice what we needed to do.  It was pretty relaxed today which was nice! We were able to pass off dental screening and intra oral camera.  I am feeling really good now because I only have to pass off my treatment planning PE.  It is nice to be on top of it! I can't believe that I am almost done with this semester over half way done!  It is so nice to know that!  In two weeks we are able to work on each other as real patients and in three weeks we are going to have our first real patient come in!

TIme for OHI PE!

Today I was able to pass off my OHI PE and it feels so good to keep passing these PEs off!  There were so many at the beginning of the semester and now they are slimming down!!  Next time I want to pass off my intra oral camera and dental screening!  I am so excited that this semester is flying by!  Soon enough we will be seeing patients and that will be fun and stressful! 

OHI continued

Today we went through a whole appointment and it was very good for me to go through the process because I have not done that yet.  I felt really good about it!  Today I also passed off posterior scaling.  I feel so accomplished today!  Next time I am going to pass off dental screening and OHI.  I am feeling good about dental hygiene so far!

Dental Screening

Today we learned how to chart restorations and suspicious areas.  It was fun to look in my patients mouth and see all of the restorations they had.  I also passed off my anterior scaling PE and I passed which was a great thing but I still dont feel all the way confident with what I am doing!  I know it will come with time! 

DIscloing!

Today we learned oral hygiene instruction and we disclosed to show how much plaque we have in our mouths. I did not have a good plaque free index!  I really need to work on that.  I thought that I was doing a good job but obviously not! I really felt good today about instrumentation. It was like a light bulb turned on or something.  It is now starting to be fun now.  I am sure I will have another off day but at least I can look back on today and feel good about it!  Now i am excited to come wednesday, and i am not so stressed about it!

posterior scaling!

Today we learned posterior scaling and it was really fun.  I felt much better about posterior than anterior scaling. I did not cause as much tissue damage as I did last time with anterior scaling. The only thing is my mouth is tired from staying open for so long. I really can't wait until I can get to the point where I feel confident about what I am doing.  I know it will come with time but I really want to get to that point. Sometimes I get discouraged but I know I can not feel that way because I will get it.  I have to also remember that I have only practiced twice!
Soon enough I will get it!

anterior scaling!

OK so today was a big learning day for me.  We learned anterior scaling and it was a little bit hard for me to grasp.  I was completely doing it wrong at first and then when Professor Costley came over to help me she told me what was wrong.  It helped me so much and I am sure Michelle was really appreciative of it as well!  It is definitely a learning curve for me.  I can't wait until I get to the day when I can actually feel comfortable with what I am doing.  Maybe at the end of the year I will feel so much better but if only I could get to that point!

learning instruments

Today during clinic we learned all of the different instruments.  It was fun to be able to actually get them out!  On monday  we are learning anterior instrumentation and that will be fun!  I was able to pass off my probing PE and my explorer PE it is nice to know that I have those ones done!  From here on out it is going to get crazy!  Exciting and crazy!  I hope that I can keep up! 

Exploring

SO today was learned how to explore.  I feel like this PE just may be the death of me.  It was so much harder for me to do this that probing.  Weird I know.  It is a good thing that I have a week to figure it out.  It looks like my husband will be getting some probing and exploring done on him.  Lucky him!!  I feel like after having the instructors watch me that helped so much.  It is a good thing we have them or I would be causing all sorts of tissue damage.  Poor Michelle.  She did have tissue trauma today!  Well better luck next time I guess.

Probing!

Yesterday in clinic we learned probing.  I was so nervous to try it!  I wasn't even worried about getting probed on but I didn't want to hurt Heidi!  Well  the good news is I think i only hurt her a few times, well hopefully!  If I hurt her more than that then she is a good sport because she didn't say it hurt too bad.  Probing was definitely harder than I thought it would be because at first it is kind of hard to tell how hard to push.  By the end I did feel more confident in what I was doing.  I also got to wear some loupes and they helped me so much! Actually just recently I was thinking of waiting to get loupes and now I know I can't wait. This weekend is convention and I want to look at some because I feel they will make me a better hygienist.  Next time in clinic we are learning how to explore and that will be fun too.  It is all coming so fast now and it is making me nervous and excited at the same time!

intra oral exam

Today we learned how to do an intra oral exam!  It was fun and informative.  I found out that I have gingivitis and a little piece of extra tissue on the distal of #31.  I had no idea. Today I also passed off my extra oral exam and I felt really good about it.  It was also nice to get an extra oral exam because it is like a mini massage!  Hopefully I can pass off my intra oral exam next time. And hopefully I will have less gingivitis next time!

extra oral exam!

Today was a fantastic day in clinic we learned how to give an extra oral exam.  It felt so good almost like a massage!  I just kept wanting Michelle to give me an extra oral exam.  I am going to practice on all of my family now but I am afraid they will want me to keep do it because it feels so good!  Today was a productive day in clinic as well because I was able to pass of health history and vital signs YAY!  It always feels so good to pass of my PE's.  Hopefully next time i can do another PE!

vital signs

Today in clinic we learned how to take vital signs.  I have decided that blood pressure is the hardest thing for me to find!  It seems like it is hard to hear what I am supposed to hear!  I guess I will be practicing that at home on my family!  Today was also a big pass off day!  We passed off patient/operator positioning, instrument grasp, and fulcruming. It was a very good day!  Now I just have to worry about health history next time. That is going to be one I need to practice some more because it is so much info! 

fulcrum and ergonomics

Today was a fun day in clinic.  We were able to learn instrument position and how to fulcrum.  We worked on our typodont which  was a good thing because as this point I am not sure a real patient would have enjoyed me probing their mouth!  I actually am starting to feel like I am learning hygiene principles not that sterilizing and contamination control is not important because it is!  But this was more fun to me and made this clinic go by so fast!  I am just excited to keep learning more each week. 

actually working on a real person! (well kind of!)

So today in clinic we worked on each other with the air/water tip and the suctions.  I had a little mishap with the water button sticking so I pretty much gave Heidi a shower!  I am glad that is was Heidi and not a real patient!  I also contaminated all of my suction tips for the blue boa, what a day haha.  I guess it could always be worse right?!  It was fun though to be able to work with a real person instead of a typodont!  Today went really fast and it was fun!  I am excited for Wednesday!

First day using a typodont!

Today we were able to use a typodont and an air water tip to practice with our typodont.  It was really fun and i sprayed myself a lot!  It was fun to learn about the blue boa. very imformative!

First day of clinic!

Today was the first day of clinic and it was not as bad as i expected!  When I first got here I was really nervous and was not sure what to expect but after getting here and getting to know procedures and where things are I felt so much better!  It was a great first day and a great intro to dental hygiene!  I am just excited to start working on real patients!!

I did it!

I posted my first post!