[I] was the patient today. .

Today was mock patient day for miss Jac, and boy did she do superb!  It was so stinkin' relaxing to sit in the chair and do absolutely nothing.  My jaw did get a wee bit tired, but it was so fun to be able to relax in clinic.  I learned a lot about what it is like to be a patient for a "student", and it will make me have a lot more sympathy for my patients.  Today was great:  and I'm excited to start seeing real patients...real soon :)

Mock pt. day #2!

Last wednesday I was able to finish the rest of the appointment on miss Jac.  I scaled the UL and LL quads, which were very difficult for me, and polished, flossed, and applied fluoride varnish to her pearly whites :)  It was a very successful day and my scale check went great. . passed with flying colors :)  I cannot believe that the semester is winding down. . we see a real patient in ONE week from today.  Yikes!  But i'm super excited. . life is great, and I can't wait for the big break.

{Mock}in' rockin' patient day!

Today was for real.  In other words, we had our real "mock patient day".  Boy was it a treat!  I was so so nervous this weekend thinking that I would actually have to probe an ENTIRE mouth and have to pick up my SCALERS and attempt to scale 2 quads in clinic the next week.  I could hardly sleep last night because I was so excited/nervous/scared/happy!  I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one who was shakin' in their boots when we arrived at clinic.  We were able to work with pod 2, and I chose sweet little Jacque Lewis to be my partner.. again.  :)  She is such a sweetheart and is always so helpful and encouraging.  She is a great partner, and anyone is lucky to work with her.  So....first we started off "obtaining" (per say) our patient from the waiting room, and seating them.  We went over HHx, OD, dental screening, disclosing, probing an entire mouth, and i actually scaled 2, yes TWO quadrants.  It was a miracle.  I have been so nervous about scaling, because I feel like we haven't had a lot of time to "grasp" the concept, however. . after scaling today and "passing" my scale check, I felt like I had conquered the world.  Holla!!  It boosted my confidence about 100 notches above usual, and it was a very successful day.  I actually left clinic thinking, "That was so fun!"  Lets be honest, that hasn't happened in a long time.  I am actually starting to feel like I know what I'm doing!  I really do deserve to be here!  I really will become a hygienist one day!  ....love days like this-- they make me....thankful :)

feelin' a little dull?

Last week in clinic. . we learned how to sharpen our instruments.  Nothing too extremely hard, but very important in practicing hygiene.  Our instruments weren't dull (come on now, we've scaled about 4 times total this semester), but it was still great to learn how we'd go about sharpening our instruments when the time comes.  Sharpening is super important to be able to fully remove the calculus, and to speed up the appointment time.  If you try to work with dull instruments, it could take you an extremely long time, and you are more likely to burnish calculus and not fully remove it from our patient's mouth.  We also learned how to "walkout" our patient. . which was stress-free also.  This semester is winding down. . eek!  Hygiene rocks my socks off!