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.