horrible luck with x-rays!!

At the VA today the x-ray unit was not working, so I had to move my first patient to another room to take BWX's. Then the doctor came in to do an exam and decided the left BWX wasn't acceptable, so I had to find another open room to re-take the dang x-ray!! Then to top it all off my second pt. needed a pano and BWX'S. So I took my pt to the pano room and I take the pano just fine, but the stinking sensor to take the BWX's wasn't working, so I had to move him to ANOTHER room!!! THEN... in the middle of taking the BWX's, that sensor stopped working!! My poor patient was getting so frustrated! Today was NOT my day to take x-ays! seriously....

Easy class 5

My patient this morning was so sweet! She hasn't had her teeth cleaned for 3 years, but there really wasn't any calculus. I was able to take a pano on her, which I was so excited about! 3 down 5 to go! We started the appointment out slow because she had a long HHX and she needed to be premedicated. So happy we only have to see patients this morning, now we get to do a special needs lab this afternoon. Should be fun!

VA CA

Let me just tell you, being CA at the VA is so boring!! I was falling asleep while I was charting for Kathy! oops :) It was so annoying that NOTHING was stocked in any of the ops! So for the whole morning I was stocking everything in every op. Darn those SLCC girls! Only one more CA day next semester. YAY!

VA CRAZIES!!

Let me just say today was the weirdest day EVER! My first patient in the morning was a way easy 1B, who hadn't had his teeth cleaned in 10 years! I was shocked how well he took care of his teeth. Then I saw a second patient who was CRAZY!! When I tried to bring him back he acted very childish and kept trying to run away from me. When I finally got him in my chair he became very friendly and started hitting on me, saying I just was so cute and looked like a little doll! AHH. So I start the cleaning and I'm just scaling away because he's a class 3 and he pulls out this Kermit the frog that was on his key chain and slowly starts moving it towards my face. (I have no words) Then out of no where he starts freaking out and says he needs to get his medicine or he's going to "tear" the office apart. So I try to set him up so he can get his medicine and he says, "No its ok we're almost done." (Please make up your mind) So... I grab the doctor and have him do an exam. Halfway through the exam my patient jumps out of the chair and just starts yelling saying swear word after swear word!! (I'm definitly scared now) I walk the patient up to the front and try to get him scheduled to come back with the prosthedontist and he starts yelling and swearing at the poor front desk lady. All I can do is say good luck and I left....

Mockboard from H***

I think I can honestly say this was the most stressful day of the semester!! Once I got started on the cleaning I was fine, I think I was just nervous while waiting for the instructors to make sure my patient qualified. And I got LUCKY, my patient just barely qualified, even with adding 3 teeth from another quadrant!! So I was taking my time on the cleaning and making sure I felt confident that I got all the calculus off when I noticed everyone was checking their patients out. I kept thinking to myself I still have an hour, my checkout time ends at 11:50. But then it clicked and I realized SOMEONE put the wrong checkout time on my sheet, instead of uppting 10:50, they put 11:50! Oh and don't worry, I figured this out at 10:45 and I hadn't even probed!! I seriously almost had a huge breakdown!!! But everything worked out fine, I still passed with an 85 and that's all that matters :)

DARN COLDSORE!!

I love it when my class 3 pt comes in and has a huge coldsore on her lower lip. I felt so bad because she thought I gave it to her when I cleaned half her mouth last time. I tried to explain to her that she probably had the virus laying dormant and has never presented with signs until now, but of course she speaks spanish and she most likely didn't understand me. Luckily Kailene had 2 patients come in, so I was able to do the OD on her other patient. I guess it wasn't a total waste of a day.

Crazy, Crazy Day!!

This morning I saw a way easy class 5. She had so many bridges and crowns, that I really didn't have to scale any calculus. She did have the smallest mandibular linguals though. I had the hardest time adapting my instruments because her teeth were so tinny!! I ended up finishing my patient an hour early, so I saw Kailene's extra patient. I only had about 40 minutes, so I only did the OD and of course she's ANOTHER class 5! No more class 5's please :)
My afternoon patient hasn't had her teeth cleaned for about 15 years!! Her teeth actually looked pretty good considering it's been so long. She ended up being a class 3, which I'm so excited about!! She was seriously the best patient! She let me take an FMX, which was my first one all semester. I was hoping I could scale 2 quads, but apparently I was thinking too big. I was only able to get one quad done.

Pretty easy day!

This morning I finished my class 2 patient. I realized I really need to work on using a more forceful lateral working stroke, especially where the calculus was tenacious. I used my mini graceys for the first time and I actually really liked them because my patient had tenacious calculus, but her tissues were pretty tight. This afternoon I saw a 1B, but she was a pretty hard patient for just being a 1B. I felt like it took me so long to clean her teeth and all I could think about was it shouldn't take so long to clean a 1B. Ugh!!

Day 2 at VA

I had two great experiences today. My first patient was a class 3 on his lowers. I found that I need to go more subgingival when scaling. And my second patient was on periomaintenance. I love it when I get classification that are anything but 1B's!!

Womans health connection

I was able to go to the Woman's Health Connection on Friday. It was a really humbling experience to see so many women who have never had a cleaning in their life because they don't have the resources or they can't afford it. I was able to get a few names, so I can get them into the clinic and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN their teeth!! :)

First day back in the clinic

This morning I was a little disappointed because I thought for sure my patient was going to be a class 3, but she was a class 2. Not a big deal I was just hoping for the class 3. Even though she was a class 3 doesn't mean she was easy. She had really tenacious subgingival calculus, so I was only able to finish 2 quads.
This afternoon was really relaxing. My Dad came in and he's just a 1B, so we were done way early!!

First day at the VA

Wow I think I'm still so lost on EVERYTHING!! Actually I would have to say for being my first day, it went pretty well. I was able to get one quad of a class 3 done. Which is not too shabby! But I felt like a complete idiot when the doctor couldn't pull up my patients perio chart! He was kind a jerk to me!! But all in all it was a pretty good day.

Last clinic day!

What a great way to end the semester. I saw 2 children today, so it was another stress free day! I was able to get done early, so I gathered all my instrument so I can take them home and make sure I'm not missing anything. It's just such a good feeling to know I'm done with my first!

Last day of class 3

Today was a really good day! I just had to finish the upper left quadrant, so it was a stress free day! My class 3 had been such a great experience for me. I've learned so much! It still took me over an hour to finish the last quadrant, but I didn't miss anything! YAY Just one more clinic day left!

Today I was supposed to see 2 class 1a's, but one of the kids ended up being a 1B. So I still need to find one more class 1a before the end of the semester, which is only one more week. But I was able to finish my last sealant requirement today! So overall a good and productive day.

Class 3 day 2

Today I was able to scale 2 quads. It took me forever, but at least I'm getting closer to getting my patient done. Toward the end my hand was shaking because I was using so much force to try and get the calculus off. I think I just over worked my arm. One more quad to go!!

Another Class 3

I found another class 3! She smoked for 22 years and hasn't had a cleaning for about 10 years. I scaled one quad and her calculus is sooo tenacious. I was pulling as hard as I could and it would not come off. My arm hurt so bad after just one quad. I ended up giving my other class 3 to Tiauna because she still needed 3 quads of a class 3.

Good but CRAZY day

I got my class 3 patient today!! My patient hasn't had a cleaning for at least 7 years and her calculus was so tenacious!! I didn't even get 1 quad done, so hopefully I can finish her on Monday. I'm kind of nervous though because my patient on Wednesday hasn't had a cleaning in 10 years, so I'm sure she'll also be a class 3. I just hope I have enough time to finish everyone!!

I Hate Patients that flake on me!!

My patient that was supposed to come in was so weird! I left many messages and she never called me back. Then I had Mr. Salamon call and she kept hanging up on him! Weird! And then she called me and hung up on me when I answered. Luckily I was able to find another patient, but once again he was a 1B. I don't need anymore 1B's! My patient hasn't had a cleaning for 3 years and he had so much sheet calculus! I HATE sheet calculus!

x-rays for second years

Today we didn't have class so I decided to take x-rays for the second years because I'm way behind on my x-ray requirement! It ended up being a really good idea because I was able to get 2 sets of Bwx's and 6 Pa's.

Another class 2

For some reason it's so easy for me to find class 2 people. With today's patient I'm over on my requirements, which I guess isn't a bad thing. I just wish I could find a class 3 patient!! And for some reason I have the worst luck with my patients not wanting x-rays! SUCK!

Denise

Today was such a fun day! My Aunt who lives out of state was my patient today! It was so nice to be able to relax and just have fun when cleaning teeth. The only bad thing was she didn't want x-rays, but it was worth it because we had fun! My aunt drinks a lot of tea so she had generalized black staining on her linguals. It was a good experience to learn how to get it off.

Class 2

Today was pretty easy, but once again I didn't take x-rays because my patient didn't want them... I really don't think I will meet my x-ray requirements! Even though my patient was a class 2, he was easy because pretty much all his teeth were crowned so it didn't take too long to clean him. But I'm seeing his wife next week, so hopefully I can take x-rays on her.

UDA

I had a lot of fun at UDA because I was able to spend the day with my mom. I enjoyed going to the classes and talking to the different vendors. I bought some loupes while I was there, which I'm really excited about!! I can't wait to try them out.

Easy 1B

I'm completely done with my 1B's but I still needed to schedule a patient. I was disapointed because my patient didn't want x-rays and I only have 4 sets of BWX's. It's going to be close... But it was another easy day, I got done with my patient an hour early, which was really nice because I was able to take my time on charting.

Great day

Today Riley's grandpa came in and he was such a good patient for me! I was able to do my blood glucose and denture PE on him and he as a class 2 on his lowers. His dentures were so easy to clean because they didn't have any calculus on them. I need to get faster because it still took me like an hour just to scale his lowers.

1B exam

I had a scheduling confusion, but after we worked it out today went really good. My patient was 7 months pregnant, so it was a great experience to work on someone who's pregnant. She takes really good care of her teeth, so she was a really easy patient. I did my exam on her and I didn't miss anything and I got done like an hour early!! YAY :) Finally something goes right this week!

Class 2 appt. 2

Today was a really relaxing day, I was able to take my time and just focus on what I was doing. I was able to have my patient do my caries control intervention assignment. That will be such a relief to have that done and out of the way. I learned what "meth" mouth possible looks like today. Jeff thinks my patient has meth mouth, which would be so sad if it is true.

What a mix up!!

So I started the day off doing TA today. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but next time I need to make sure I'm 15 minutes early not 10 minutes. I was drilled like 5 times for being 5 minutes late. Then clinic came around and the family I had set up didn't bring their kid and failed to let me know until they walked into the door. I feel so bad because Emily had to look for a patient. But my patient actually ended up going pretty good. I was able to finish him and I did my 1B exam. YAY!!
I just need to stop stressing out. I feel like I'm a frantic mess when I'm in clinic because I'm always rushed on time. I can't wait until I feel like I know what the heck I'm doing....

Crazy day!!

Today I saw a 1A patient and a 1B patient and I finished both of them!! YAY! I even did two sealants on the 1A, so I was able to pass off my sealant PE and meet one of my sealant requirements. I also declared my 1A patient as an exam. I was able to accomplish a lot today!!

Another flakey patient

Today my patient called and left me a message 20 minutes before their appointment and canceled on me. It actually ended up being a pretty good day because I found a patient to come in and he ended up being a class 2. He is a really hard patient to work on because he has a lot of ramped decay and a ton of calculus. I was able to get one quadrant done of scaling and I only missed one area, which I was really happy with. I was able to declare him as my exam patient so one less thing to worry about.

My Cousin

Today I saw my cousin, which was fun because I was able to catch up on things. She was a really easy 1B patient, so it was such a relief to be able to take my time and still be able to finish her in one appointment. I am SOOO mad because I decided I wanted her to be my exam patient at the OD check, but I didn't know you actually had to tell the instructor, "I'm doing and exam." I made sure I circled exam after the OD, so I'm so frustrated.

Patient cancelled a few hours before appt.

Such a frustrating day. I called my patient to remind them of their appt. and they called the Dental Clinic at 4 and canceled on me! Luckily my patient I had scheduled for the following week was able to come in. Why can't patients be more responsible?? They want me to call them back and reschedule them, but I'm a little hesitant because I don't want the same thing to happen again. So the patient that did come in was a hard 1B, it was really good practice, but I seriously missed so many spots because he had so much subgingival calculus.

Day 2 with Dad

Today went so much better! I was able to scale the full mouth, polish and fluoride. YAY! That is a huge accomplishment for me. I learned I definitely need to have a routine for scaling, I felt like I was all over the place and I could've saved some time if I had a routine. So I'm going to work on that.

Finished my Mom

My Mom came in Monday so I could finish scaling the UR and LR. It went so good! I was able to finish and I passed two PE's off and I was still able to get done early. It definitely helps that she had like no calculus.

First Patient of Spring Semester......

Wow where do I begin.... I feel like nothing went right today. I started with a FMX and ended up having to do 4 retakes!!! That took forever! Then I had problems printing the Tx plan. So all I was able to finish was the OD. I'm really sad I didn't get to scaling. I feel like it shouldn't take 3 hours to take x-rays and perio chart. VERY BUMBED!!