.:.Seal.:. it baby!

Sealants Sealants Sealants!  I actually had a great time in clinic today.  We were able to learn how to place sealants on our patient, and it was my FIRST time.  And I did pretty darn good!  Prof Costley assisted me and she helped me to realize that I had missed one TINY spot in placing the sealant, and so I re-did it and was successful.  It actually was really fun to do!  We were only able to place on sealant today, but hopefully we get to place more in the future.  I passed off my selective polishing PE and the treatment plan PE on eaglesoft.  Today was grand. . . 

and HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

..sandblasting time!

Last wednesday in clinic we learned how to sandblast each others' faces off.  Okay, okay. . not really.  But that day we learned how to polish and how to perform the Air/Powder polishing procedure.  OUCH!  It hurt. . it felt like my tongue was getting sandblasted off. . and it wasn't pretty.  It was fun to be able to polish, and it was great to be able to learn how to get stain and biofilm off of our patient's teeth.  I hope that one day it will come in handy-- My patient didn't have much to remove, so I felt bad that I was blasting his enamel, but it all turned out alright, and we just have to remember that we are all learning.  Today was a great day in clinic.. and we are getting CLOSER and CLOSER to seeing our REAL patient.  YIKES!     

..Lets plan your [trick or] TREATment..

Isn't it the best feeling when you have been dreading something all weekend, and that 'thing' that you were dreading turns out pretty darn awesome?  That happened.  Today.  Just now actually!  I had been dreading clinic all weekend. . we had our [short but sweet] fall break this past friday, and the last thing I wanted to do after this long weekend was to come to school.  But clinic today was so chill!  We learned how to enter in a treatment plan for our patients today, and that was pretty easy and chill.  The rest of the time, we were able to practice whatever we wanted!  So, I passed off my OHI PE and sorta kinda worked on the intra-oral camera.  I practiced Dental Screening, and hopefully I can pass those off this coming Wednesday.  I hope this week continues to go well. . Holla!  

t.o.d.a.y.

Smooth[er] is a word that could describe today.  Yup.  Today went pretty smooth.  I felt so much more prepared to do an OD on my patient today, because Monday was thrown at me like a ton of bricks: I didn't remember a darn thing!  However. . today was better.  Did I mention that today was smooth?  Miss Jacque Lewis was my "patient" today and man do I love that sweet girl.  She seriously is the best, and is quite smooth herself.  She is one of those people that you just KNOW will not judge you or make you feel like you're this big.  And that is why today went so smooth.  I was able to practice probing [a whole arch!] today, dental charting, OHI, review HH, and fill out the treatment record with lots of cool stuff.  I felt a little more confident in myself today (that's what practice and a tiny bit of studying can do for a person..go figure) and things just went pretty smooth.  I unknowingly passed off my curet PE today (I promise...I really did), and was thanking the heavens above for that.  I seriously only practiced posterior instrumentation ONE time for about ONE minute on a real person, so I was a tad bit scared today-- but it all went smooth.  I still have a lot to learn, but little by little, I feel like I'm starting to feel like a real hygienist.  A hygienist whom could be described with adjectives like: fun, energetic, understanding, down-to-earth, kinda-sorta blind without loupes, happy. . and let us not forget--> SMOOTH.      

1, 2, 3, CHEESE! :)

Ohhhhh the joys of clinic.  Seriously.  Sunday nights I dread going to school the next day, because I know it's my loooooooong day: I know that we have to learn yet another PE, (and probably have to pass off another), we have to know what we are doing and act like professionals, and, attempt taking some incredible x-rays:  it's just exhausting!!  and.....I try to stay happy through it all.  Anyway-- Clinic today actually.....wasn't that bad!  :)  I was terrified today because I knew I had to pass of the sickle-scaler PE, and didn't have any other choice.  But that went smoothly -- Prof. Costley was very helpful and she was brave enough to circle the word Pass.   YAY!  Anyway- Today was like a "real" day, where we set up for patient treatment, and performed skills that we learned on day 1---> to basically [last week!]  I was paired up with Hailey Checketts and was excited about that.  She did great working on me, and remembered so many things!  I was so glad I got to go 2nd, because she was my example :)  So....we had to look over HH, perform extra/intra oral exams, probe a quad, get it checked, chart the patient's mouth, get signatures, disclose our patient, come up with percentages...and the list went on    and on     and on    .  But- we survived, and it was VERY helpful to put all of our skills together and to test our knowledge.  (I must admit, I have forgotten a lot of small details, but with practice, I'll hopefully master everything!)  Today was good:  no almost shedding of the tears, no wanting to rip my hair out, and for SURE a lot of laughs.  Ohhhhh snap!  Almost forgot to mention what the flip we learned today! (That shows you how busy we were...we almost FORGOT to learn how to use the intra-oral camera.)  Basically all I observed was, "Push this thing in here, then plug this into here, then push this button, then have a buddy click the mouse, and then hit save and print, and....that's about all you need to know.  It's realllly simple."  Uhhhhhh- right..  Hopefully I'll get to actually practice that skill in real life.  Someday.  But right now: i'm off to bed.  Thank the heavens above that monday is over. .Life is gooooood. 

...a baby tooth? in an adult's mouth?!

Today was quite grand.  Not in the sense of a '100 Grand' chocolate bar of course, because we all know that chocolate is to die for...(Wait-- sometimes I get so nervous for clinic days that I'd rather be dead. . but lets not go there--)  Back to the point: Today was grand in the fact that we were able to practice dental screenings, which is where we all take a lil tour in our friend's mouth, and check out/chart what they have had done.  Candice was my buddy today, and boy was her mouth exciting.  So, I start examining her mouth on the maxillary right, and decide that she has no wisdom teeth anywhere...so i X all those out of course, (since that is the rule, silly!) and then I continue moving to tooth numbers 2 and 3, and find that she has had some composite fillings, and some sealants placed.  So, of course, I chart those, (since that is the rule, silly!).  I put a big red 'S' on some of her teeth, because the TA Karen told me to. . haha jk-- but because she could just use some sealants in some places, so when we learn that skill, hopefully I can place them :)  Anyway-- i continue scanning around her mouth, and arrive at a crazy finding!  She has a BABY tooth in her ADULT HUMAN MOUTH!  So: i charted it, (since that is the rule, silly!) and it was fun to put a big fat X through number 21 on her chart.  That was about exciting as it got.  There are lots of symbols and signs and colors to use for dental charting, but just like everything else, I'm sure i'll get the hang of it :)  We had a lot of time to practice scaling today, and it was sure grand.  I finally had my AHA! moment. . and everything clicked.  I have been such a wuss to go subgingival in people's mouths, because I feel like I slip and slide....but!  Something clicked in my little mind: if I have a light grasp on my instrument, I'm able to turn the instrument in between my thumb and index with no trouble!  Which= no POKING of the poor gums.  Karen (our TA for the day), helped me figure out this simple concept.  She kept saying, "Think light thoughts, think light thoughts", and it seriously helped, as weird and creepy as that sounds.  She is a sweetheart I tell ya..  Anyway-- this blog post is l   o   n   g and boring to the rest of the world: but hey, when I become a RDH and look back at this time of life, I'll laugh and remember this GRAND ole' day. . when something inside me just clicked.  (finally)  :) 

pink 'n' purple pleasures :)

Alright people. . today was a colorful day in clinic.  We were pouring this nasty 'ole ink in our partner's mouth and turning their mouths purple and pink!  Okay okay-- it was a little more in depth than that. :)  Today we learned how to disclose and how to determine a PFI on our patient.  We poured the disclosing agent on our patient's tongues and had them swish it all around so it could contact each surface of their teeth.  Then, it would turn their mouths bright purple and pink, showing which spots contained biofilm and plaque.  We would count which surfaces had the purple/pink colors, mark it on our laminated charts, and determine how many teeth they had.  You then take all of this information to the PFI sheet and it tells you their PFI %.  It was pretty darn cool--  I had a lot of color in my interproximal spaces, and the anterior linguals: OOPS! Better pay better attention to those daggum areas!  We then had some time to work on other skills:  I still just need to be confident in myself, and practice the finger roll and maintain a strong fulcrum!  I just need to practice practice practice. . I did pass off the instrument classification today which was nice to get out of the way--PHEW!  Life is good and busy- and time ain't stoppin for no one!    

R. I. P.

Kill me. . . seriously.  Today was the WORST!!  Sorry in advance. . but this is going to be the most pessimistic post EVER.  Clinic started out fine today:  we were practicing with our curets on our typodonts, and all was going smoothly.  Then, we each had to pass off probing and exploring. . I did probing first, and it went smooth.  I got most of the measurements right, and missed a few just by 1 mm.  Done!  Then, I moved on to exploring. . . . ohhhh exploring.  It seriously took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R.  Luckily I had the most patient 'patient' and instructor. . They helped me so much.  I did the anterior teeth just fine: facial and lingual just fine.  But THEN: posteriors were my WORST nightmare.  I figured out my problem.  I am a BIG FAT WUSS!  I wasn't going into the interproximal spaces far enough-- I am too scared to hurt and poke people, that I don't do it right...which equals= STILL doing it wrong.  NOOOO!  So I had to practice and practice until at the very end of clinic, I went in..ALL the way: and FREAKING passed the PE.  Thank the heavens above!  I was so frustrated by the end of clinic today, tears ALMOST came streaming out of my poor green little eyes.  I just had to be a big girl, and swallow hard and blink lots, and everything was okay after that...Everyone has to have a bad day once in awhile, right?  Otherwise you wouldn't appreciate good days-- Phew.  I want to be done with this post.  I didn't get to practice using my curet on a real human today, so that is frustrating, but it's better to be right, than to be ahead.  Peace out.    

Scaling...eek!

Scaling wasn't an easy task today in clinic-- It was exciting to learn and to be able to get all that crap off our typodonts, but doing it in REAL life was a sure scare. . thanks, Mark, for being so patient. . :)  I need to practice "turn-turn turn" as all my instructors say to me, but other than that-- it wasn't too terrible!  (I only made Mark whince one time. . okay maybe two, I don't remember!)  I practiced probing and exploring on Mark and I felt so inadequate!  Like it was my first day all over again!  (I am blaming it on my terrible eyesight. . thanks mom and dad!)  I was practicing probing and my instructor wanted me to say out loud the numbers I was probing, however, it is mighty hard to do when you can't even SEE the lines. . OR spaces.  Yikes: I have to pass off probing and exploring this week and I need loupes. . BAD!  Hopefully the amazing instructor Hafen brings hers so I can pass with flying colors.  (...yuck- hopefully RED BLOOD isn't flying all over).  :)  Exploring shouldn't be too bad:  I mastered which "working end" to use with the excellent help from Sierra Hull: THANK YOU!!  However, doing linguals is my weakness, but hopefully I master indirect vision soon and all will be well.  Life is good: stressful: happy: sad: frustrating: sore: (from running of course):  and lots of other adjectives. . But boy am I lucky to be where I'm at!  Holla!