Last day of clinic

Today was the last day of clinic. We rotated through different stations in groups. One was learing about the emergency kit that we have in the clinic, one was learning from Mr. Solomon about CA duties, and one was learning the PSA module. It was a pretty relaxed day. I feel like I have learned alot this semester. I am really enjoying the program. I am looking forward to the break for the holidays and I do feel very nervous about having to find people to come into the clinic next semester. Hopefully all will go well this next semester.

My First Patient

Today was our first day with a real patient. I had my brother Chris come in. I was supprised at how long I was waiting for an OD check before I could move on. This was kind of frustrating becuase I didn't even get to scaling. I did do a full mouth prode, extra and intra oral examination, did a treatment plan, and took x-rays and the rest of the time I was waiting. When I took X-rays one of the developers was not working so professor Mcconahay developed my films for me. She was developing all the conventional films. That made me nervous because if I needed retakes I would have to reset up everything. (Usually you don't have the patient leave the x-ray room until you know that they don't need retakes.) But alas I was lucky and my x-rays camne out wonderfully. I hope waiting for OD checks will take less time next semester.

Cold Sores

Today Jenny was supposed to be my patient but she has a cold sore and we are not able to treat patients with cold sores because it provides a potential mode of transportation to spread the disease. So I got to clean one of the TA's (Shaylee) teeth. It was good because she was able to give me a lot of feedback and suggestions that were very helpful. I was glad to have the experience.

I'm the patient again

I was Jenny story's patient today. She did a very good job and only poked me like once. So my full mouth cleaning is now complete. I am glad that they had us do these patient/operator days.

My Turn

Today in Clinic it was my turn to be the clinitian and Kirsten was my patient. I think that it was a very good learning experience to have the whole time in clinic as the clinitian. I was amazed however at howmuch time charting takes. Kirsten had a very clean mouth which made scaling easy. I cleaned two quads and had time to also place a sealant. It was a good day.

Patient Day

I also forgot about Monday in my last post so here it is. On Monday we were paired up with someone to simulate a real patient day one person was the clinitian and the other was the patient. I was a patient for Kirsten. She did an amazing job. I was really gald that I was put with her. On Wdnesday (our next clinic day) we have to switch. I hope that I can do as good of a job on her as she did on me. She didn't hurt me at all I was proud of her she has picked up things well.

Catching up

So I keep forgetting to write in this blog. Sometimes I feel like the hygiene department requiring us to blog is kind of a waste of time. It seems more of a nusance than benificial to me. Anyhow to get back on track I Forgot to write about last Wednesday and this last Monday. Last Wednesday we learned how to sharpen instruments manually. It's not much fun. I think I would rather use a machine. we also had to pass off our air powder polisher PE. I really hate that thing in my mouth. Its like a salty sandblaster. It was not much fun. Especially because you cannot use it on procelin or composite restorations. I got paired up with someone who had like four crowns and a buch of composites so I had to find a place in her mouth that I could use it to demonstrate how to use it. I ended up doing it on her anterior teeth and then just using water to demonstrate the angles I would use on her posterior teeth. since I could not air powder polish her restorations.

Seal me

So last week on Wednesday I stayed after clinic so that Kelsey could learn sealing teeth on me since she was going to be gone on Wednesday. On Monday the rest of us learned to perform sealants. I did not have very many teeth left to seal because I had had them as a child so the only ones remaining were the ones that the sealants had worn off. I do have to say though that the etching that they use to prep the tooth tastes really gross.

Party

So I have missed a few entries. On October 30th we had a hygiene Halloween party. I dressed up as a burn victim and I brought Aiden. He was a little fireman. We one a prize in the costume contest too. It was fun.

Things looking up

On Monday this week I passed off the PE that I had failed the previous Wednesday along with the other PE's that were due. We learned to use the ultrasonic scaler on Monday as well. Things are looking up.

Bad Day

Today was rough. I had two process evaluations that were due. I was running short on time because we were charting the student's mouth who we were working on and the person I was paired up with had a ton of fillings that I had to chart. So running short on time I was rushed for time to practice for my universal scaling PE. After practicing for like 2-3 minutes I tried to pass it off and did a horrible job. So now I get a point deduction and have to try to pass it off again within a week. That stresses me because I don't think I'll have very much time to practice on Monday and so I will have to try to pass it off again without much practice next Wednesday because Monday and Wednesday are our only clinic days. I feel frustrated because they tell us that were going to have a practice day and then we spend 3/4 of the day filling out paperwork and charting and are left with very little practice time. I don't need to practice my charting and paperwork skills. I need to practice scaling and probing and I have not been given enough time to do so. I can practice charting at home too if I needed to but I can't practice all of the other skills because I don't have the equipment and it is illegal because it would be considered practicing without a license. I don't see why they are wasting out time with paperwork and not letting us practice.

Practice Day

Today we learned about the intra oral camera, but for the most part it was a practice day. That meant that we had a binch of time to practice whatever skills we wanted. I feel like I have learned and forgotten so much at the same time. Before we sould practicte we had to complete a health history for the student we were partnered up with. it has been so long since we learned health history that I felt like I was having a hard time remembering what went where and how I was supposed to phrase things. My student partner was way paranoid for me to go in her mouth with certain instruments which was somewhat disappointing because it made me more tense and I felt like it made my practice go much less smoothly. But overall I'm still doing good.

Fluoride is Amazing

I was just reading in chapter 33 of Clinical practices of the Dental Hygienist 10th edition by Ester M. Wilkins and found out that not only will fluoride make your teeth harder and help prevent cavities but "pre-eruptive fluoride also results in the development of shallower occlusal grooves, reducing the rick of fissure carries." I thought that was pretty awesome.

Charting Galore

Today we had radiology off because the Monday group had missed labor day so we were ahead of them, and in order to get us back together again we got a day off. In clinic we learned how to chart existing restorations and problem areas. The best part however was that today I passed off three PE's. Yeah!!! That means that I am ahead and don't have to stress as much about running out of time for PE's next week.

Disclose Me

So today in clinic we learned how to give our patients disclosing agents and do a plaque free index. Everyone had their teeth stained purple/blue. It was actually really cool to be able to see where all of the plaque was at. It also showed you where you needed to focus more on brushing.

Let the Scaling Begin

This week has been good but rough. On Monday we started anterior scaling on each other. That was very intimidating. I am really scared to try and pass off my probe PE today because I have not been able to practice probing that much. Radiology has been good but today I had to retake some films because the scan x films were messed up so the images came out really retarded. But I am still plugging along and doing my best.

Probe Me

Today in clinic we probed each other for the first time. I don't think I am very good at it yet. I poked my pod partner Kelsey too hard quite a few times. But at the same time I got poked quite a bit as well. To be honest my gums feel a little soar tonight. Hopefully we all get better at it really quick.

UDHA

It took me almost a week to get on here and write about UDHA but here I am. It was a really cool experience I thought the CE classes were really interesting. One lady teaching a CE class said that the benifits of flossing daily could potentially add six years on to your life. I thought that was really cool. It was fun to look at al the vendors tables too. I think I would really like to get some loupes but I am not sure how I can afford them.

Habla Espanol?

This week was really great. Monday was Labor Day. So it cut down on clinic time which sort of sucked, but on Wednesday we took full mouth PA's on the dexters and then took digital bitewings. In clinic we learned about taking patient health histories. The absolute best part of the week though was on Thursday when I participated in oral cancer screenings at a women's health fair facilitated by Ogden Clinic. Most of the patients we saw did not speak English. For anything complicated that we had to communicate to them we had to have a translator. Much of the routine things such as: open your mouth, close your mouth, and stick out your tongue I learned quite quickly. I was surprised at the condition of some of the ladies teeth. I think many of them have not had access to proper dental care. One lady had a tooth that was half rotted away. Another had such severe periodontal disease on her lower anterior incisors that one had already fallen out and the other two were so loose they could fall out any time. I also had never realized that so many people still had their wisdom teeth. It was really cool to get in the patients mouths with an explorer and search for decay. Many of the 2nd year students were using the oral cancer screenings as a means of gathering potential patients. I had a really good time and hope to be able to participate in it next year as well.

Chair Positions

Today I had both radiology and clinic. In radiology we learned how to take bitewings and PA's on the dexters. It was fun. In Clinic we learned about chair positions and practiced them on our typhodonts. It made me even more excited to start working on patients. I also passed off the PPE PE today n clinic. I am really enjoying the program and having a lot of fun.

Today in clinic we went over cleaning the dental chair in preparation for a patient and cleaning up the chair when the patients visit is done. We also sat our clinic partner in our chair and used the water syringe and suction on them. At the end of clinic I passed off my first PE on the Eaglesoft program. Overall, clinic was a lot of fun today.

First Day of Radiology

Today was my first day of radiology lab. I got bit by the dexter when trying to put my film in his mouth. At least the dexters mouths don't snap shut extremely hard. In clinic today we learned about PPE, setting up/cleaning the chairs, and then we also were given an opportunity to use the air water syringe and the large and small suction.

First Day of Clinic

Yesterday was our first day of clinic. All in all I feel like things went pretty well. We put our stuff in our drawers and learned the basics of using the eaglesoft software. Today was my first day of regular classes. I think that head and neck anatomy is going to be a lot of fun. The teacher seems really cool and I was glad to see that he is a male hygienist; that made me feel like I can succeed in this career.

Poor Man Walking

I forgot to mention that along with orientation I also had to fork up $2180.25 for instruments and $155.00 for CPR certification/book and SADHA dues on top of buying books for my classes. I am now officially broke.

Orientation

Today was orientation for the dental hygiene program. To be honest I feel brian fried and slightly overwhelmed. But that seems to be the norm for the start of every semester for me. I am excited to start learning hygiene skills and put those skills into practice.