Class IV...check!

I really enjoyed finishing my class IV patient today.  I finished her UR and LR quads, and really felt a lot more confident working on her this time vs. last week.  I felt quicker, more effective, and not as scared to work with wiggly teeth :)  The upper right quad was more difficult because her recession was SO severe, that it was painful for her to have the ultrasonic used on her.  So I had to scale her whole upper right quad by just hand scaling, but it was a very good experience for me.  I really took my time scaling, and getting the right technique down, while also focusing on the margins of her bridge, etc.  I only missed one spot on the distal of 8 and 6 today, spots where I was confusing calculus with the margins of her bridge.  It was a good learning experience- and Professor Alexander said that if I would have used my mini graceys on the anteriors of this patient, I wouldn't have missed them.  Next time I will remember when these are necessary!  I am so glad that I did a lot better scale job than last week-- makes me feel like my skills are improving, and I can do a good job on these difficult patients.  She was a Spanish speaking patient, so it was hard for me to give thorough OHI, but I hope she presents with healthier tissues at her next recall appt. in a few months.  Fun day in clinic today!

Kids. Kids. Kids.

Have I mentioned that we have been seeing a ZILLION kids at Midtown lately?  It has been a great experience for me as I have looked into MULTIPLE mouths with mixed dentition. . something I have previously not felt comfortable looking at/working with/charting.  What a great experience.  It has been a learning experience taking x-rays on children, cleaning them, educating them, etc.  It has been fun- and I have a zillion and a half quads of 1A's.  YAY! 

Class IV. 4. Four.

Today was so fun. . I had a patient scheduled this morning whom I found off the resource list, and I had no idea what I had coming!  She had some missing teeth, a bridge, and a LOT. LOT of recession.  Those roots were a showin' and a movin'.  I took 4 BWX on her, and her bone loss was extreme, with a decent amount of radiographic calculus, and an abscess shown between furcations.  I continued to do her OD and her probe depths were deep, but would have been a WHOLE lot deeper if she didn't have such large amounts of recession. . some of her recession areas were 6-9 mm!  Instructor B came over and said. . severe perio!  It was a fun experience.  She had generalized mobility, and some class 1 and 2 furcations.  It was fun stuff.  I scaled 2 quads today, and missed more spots than I wanted to, but was actually glad for the experience.  If I wouldn't have missed very many, I would have questioned my instructor a little bit :)  Because we aren't required to see many class IV patients, I wanted to really know what I was scaling, and missing spots will only allow me to be prepared for next time and give me a better understanding of what to expect with these types of patients.  It was a great experience, especially working with those furcations!  She was a sweet patient.  I can't wait to finish her soon!

Theeeeeen.  I had a patient in the afternoon who I hoped so badly would qualify for mock boards because he hadn't seen a dentist or got a cleaning in SEVEN years.  Wah- wah.  Nope.  He was a 1B.  I was like, how does this happen?  Haha- I guess good home care, right?  Dang.  That's okay- I don't want to wish upon people bad oral health :)  I just need a mock board pt-- but I'm not stressing.  Anyway- I did 4 BWX on him and did a full OD and scaled all 4 of his quads and didn't miss any spots, so I can't complain.  At least I had a patient in my chair. . that's all I can hope for.  Today was a good day.  I'm hoping for more exciting days in clinic, and that I can continue improving my skillzzzzz.

Midtown: beautiful!

Midtown is such a beautiful clinic and I know that I will enjoy working here for the rest of the semester.  It is SO fun to be able to feel like i'm just "going to work" every Wednesday.  Our instructor is very nice, and I hope to learn a lot from her experiences.  I love how there is no pressure here at passing off PE's, missing spots, etc etc etc.  It's a stress-free environment and I will love it!  And it's nice to not have to worry about scheduling patients and having "no-shows".  Phew!  Maybe I will hope for some of those this semester so I can sit back and relax. . just kidding.  I really do hope I can get my requirements done.  It will be a great learning experience and challenge my abilities.

Back at it again. .

So. . it's my first day back, blogging about clinic.  I missed the first(ish) weeks of blogging, so I'll start now!  Today I saw a Class III patient, and boy was she tough!  That probe was droppin' DEEP. . it made me sweat buckets!  She had a lot of infection, and a huge abscess to work around, and her tissues flopped left and right (which, wasn't exactly terrible in my case, because it allowed me to see absolutely EVERYTHING on those roots of hers.  Unfortunate for her, easy for me!)  I was able to scale 2 quads and only missed one spot.  I feel good where I'm at in this stage of clinic.  I feel like somehow summer made me a better hygienist clinically.  How?  I'm not sure-- cuz I know I didn't pick up a dang instrument the entire summer to practice.  :)  I just feel a lot more confident in myself and not worried about what the patient is thinking throughout the whole appointment.  I feel like my skills have improved, I am scaling more effectively and more efficiently, and I have loved seeing strangers every clinic session.  It allows me to get out of my comfort zone and strive to give my patients a good experience at the appointment.  2nd year. . here I come!  So excited to be back at it again!