Real Patient Day!

I thought yesterday went really well. I didn't get as much done as I was hoping, but I'm beginning to feel more comfortable. It was nice having a chance to see what it's like to work on someone else. I'm really excited for next semester and to have more of my family and friends come in! I feel like I've learned a lot and I'm excited to start practicing those skills more.

Oops

Well, I just hit enter for some strange reason so my last post only has my title on it. Oops! This week was great! It was so nice having another practice day. It was a lot of fun even though I'm still really slow. I've decided I need to give myself more time at the end to polish, floss, fluoride and fill out the paper work. It seems like the time goes by so fast! I'm really excited for monday (REAL PATIENT DAY), but I'm also a little bit nervous. My brother in law is going to come in, so I'll see how it goes. I can't believe classes are almost over!

Wow!

Catch up day

It was so nice to be able to catch up on everything on thursday! We were able to complete all three of our PE's we had to do, so that was really good! I'm so glad we have next week for mock patient days again! We'll see how it goes. It's hard to believe this semester is almost over! It's flown by.

Sealants

Yesterday in clinic we learned how to use the air powder polisher and also how to do sealants. It was weird using the air powder polisher because I had no idea if I was even doing it right. It's hard to know when you can't really see a difference. I'm sure someday I'll get to use it on someone who really needs it. Then it will all make sense. It was a lot of fun doing the sealants! I definitely need to practice, because eventhough I tried to be careful I still put way too much material on the teeth. I'm excited to try again tomorrow!

My Turn!

Yesterday was crazy, but it was fun. It was my turn to be the operator all day in clinic. I was really looking forward to it, but I was also a little bit nervous. I felt like things went pretty well. I was able to get in a lot of practice, so that was good. It's crazy how fast you can get behind though. I thought I was right on schedule towards the end and the next thing I knew I was supposed to be done with charting and I had just started. It's weird to think we're going to be working on patients soon. I definitely need more practice, but it's coming.

Mock Patient Day

Today was great! I was the patient, so I just got to relax and didn't worry about a thing. Julie did great! I'm really excited for wednesday when I get to be the operator! I'm sure it will be crazy, but it will be really good for me.

Polishing/Oral Cancer

Yesterday we learned how to polish. It was fun to be able to disclose and then polish, brush, floss, and disclose again to see how we did. Now I know what areas I need to pay more attention to. I was also able to go to the oral cancer screening at the Weber County fair grounds. There were quite a few people who came while I was there, so it was fun. It was nice to have so many people show up because that way we were able to stay busy and the time went by faster than it did when we did it in the Union Building. It's been a good experience, and I feel like I've been able to learn a little bit more by participating in the screenings.

Practice!

I love practice days! We were able to practice scaling both anterior and posterior teeth today. I think it really helped a lot! It's always kind of weird at first trying to remember everything we learned last week, but it was nice having a chance to practice again so close to when we learned how to scale. That gives me less time to forget what I've learned. I'm still kind of uncomfortable, but I guess that's normal. I think I'll take my instruments home this weekend and practice on Jason. :) Hopefully that will help!

Posterior Teeth

Today we learned how to scale the posterior teeth! It was a little bit harder than the anterior teeth, but I'm sure I'll get it. It's so much easier working on eachother than it is working on dexter because we don't have all the gross stuff all over our teeth. I guess I should get used to that though since I'll eventually be seeing more difficult patients. It's nice being able to practice and learn on someone with smooth teeth though. :) I also got to pass off two PEs today! Yea! Clinic was a lot of fun today!

More Scaling! :)

Yestderday we were able to practice scaling the anterior teeth again! It was great to have another day to practice! I think it really helped and I'm feeling more confortable now. Tomorrow we'll be scaling the posterior teeth. I wonder what that will be like. I'm sure it will be a little bit harder, but hopefully not too bad. :) It's been fun!

Scaling!!!

Today was so much fun! We learned how to scale the anterior teeth. It was kind of tricky trying to remember everything we're supposed to do, but it was fun. I just need to remember to roll more and make sure I use my wrist/arm when I'm scaling instead of my fingers to move the instruments. It's so much fun to be learning this stuff. I love it! I can't wait to practice more. I was also able to help out at the oral cancer screening today. That was a lot of fun when we had people in there to examine. It was nice being able to put what we've learned to use outside of clinic.

Instruments

Yesterday wasn't near as busy as last Thursday. We were able to go over all the different instruments we have, which was cool. I remember wondering why there was a need for so many different kinds of scalers and curets, but it's all making sense now. It's neat finally starting to understand the purpose of each instrument. I'm excited to start using them!

What a day!

Yesterday was a really good experience. We were able to practice a lot of different things, but it also made me realize how much practice I really need. It took so long to get everything done! It will be great when I can actually probe at a decent speed. :) I can't wait for that day! We're going to start learning how to scale soon! :) I'm so excited! It's fun learning new things, but I'm realizing it's harder than it looks. I know it won't always be this time consuming and someday these skills we've been practing will feel natural...someday. :)

PFI

I think most of us were probably surprised when we found out how low our PFI's were, I know I was. It was really interesting using the disclosing agent to see where our plaque is. I thought I did a pretty good job taking care of my teeth, but they looked gross! I guess there's always room for improvement. It was really nice having some extra time yesterday to practice exploring. I only had time to practice on the anterior teeth, but it didn't feel as foreign this time, so that's a good sign. :)

Charting

Today we got to look at eachother's teeth and chart all of the restorations and anything else we found on their teeth. Meagan was really easy, so I was able to finish pretty quick. It was really good to be able to go over how to chart things before we started on our own. Everything is a lot more clear now and I think I'm starting to remember how to chart a lot better. I was also able to pass off two PEs! :) That's always nice. Today went really well.

Hot day

Wow, yesterday was hot!!! I'm so glad we didn't have to wear our lab jackets! Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit cooler. I thought it was really good to be able to do so much on eachother yesterday. Usually we only practice one thing, which is great because I definitely need time to only focus on one thing at a time, but it was nice to be able to put some of the things we've been learning together. I felt more comfortable probing yesterday, even though it was still kind of weird. I just need to practice. :)

Probing

Today we learned how to probe! Woo Hoo! :) It was a lot of fun! I was nervous though because I didn't want to poke through Meagans attached tissue. She said I didn't hurt her too much, so that's good. Actually, if anything, I think I was a little bit too soft in a lot of spots...until I was trying to get into the col area...then I pushed a little bit harder than I should have sometimes because I think I was expecting to get a deeper measurement there. Overall I think it went really well, especially for my first time. :)

Exploring

Yesterday we learned how to use explorers. I have to admit I was a little nervous to have someone learning how to use an explorer in my mouth, but Meagan did a really good job. I was a little nervous to be practicing on someone too. I tried to be really careful, so hopefully I didn't hurt her too bad. It was fun though, very time consuming, but fun. I felt so lost some of the time, but I guess just like with everything else, this will take practice and time. I'm excited to see how probing goes tomorrow!

Fulcrum

Yesterday in clinc we learned how to fulcrum. It was a lot trickier than I thought it was going to be. I thought I understood things pretty good during the demonstration and when I looked at the book, but I learned it's a whole nother story when you sit down and try to actually do it. I'm glad we had so much time to practice on dexter and on eachother. Radiology was cool yesterday because we got to process our films in the daylight processor and also in the other bigger manual processor. I haven't dipped films very much, so it was fun to do that. I'm glad that's not how we have to process our films all the time though. It's weird that another week is almost over. It's been flying by. I'm really looking forward to next week being overwith. It will be nice having the first few tests out of the way. :)

Intra Oral Exam

Yesterday was so much fun! I loved learning about how to do an intra oral exam! It was so cool to look around and be able to find the different structures. I never knew there was so much detail in there. It was really neat to be able to learn more. I just hope when I do find something abnormal in someone's mouth I'll be able to recognize it and know what it is. I'm sure the first time that happens I'll be a little bit surprised, but excited (As long as it's nothing too serious.) that I can see some of the different things we've been talking about in real life. Some of the pictures we saw today in class did gross me out. I'm not looking forward to that part of it. I wonder if I'll eventually get used to seeing some of the different conditions so that it won't be so discusting??? I guess I'll see.

Indirect vision/extra oral exam

Clinic was great today! I passed off two more PE's and I'm done early so I get to blog. :) Today we learned how to use our mouth mirrors. It made it nice that we'd already gone over the seating possitions for seeing different teeth in the mouth so that I wasn't learning that for the first time today too. It was fun to get in there and look around and see how things work. It's amazing how much a mirror can help. Now I just need to keep practicing using it. I realized that indirect vision gets a little bit tricky. We also learned how to give extra oral exams today. I think it was a little bit more fun receiveing it than giving it. :) How many people get to go to school to get a massage? It was fun, and it's nice that these things are new to everyone so we can help eachother out. I can't wait for next week!

Vitals

Yesterday was a lot of fun! We learned how to take pulse, respiration, and BP. I decided it would be a good idea to bring my blood pressure cuff and stethescope home so I could practice on my husband. Lucky him! :) I didn't have any major problems yesterday, but I did struggle a little bit with taking the BP. I guess practice makes perfect. I was also able to pass off two more PE's! :) I've really been enjoying clinic each week. Today in anatomy we started looking at all the anterior teeth. I learned some things I never knew before about each one and different ways to distinguish them. Hopefully I can remember how to tell the mandibular incisors apart for the test next week. :)

Fun Day

I had a lot of fun today! I was able to pass off my first two PEs. :) I knew I had to do one, but the second was a bonus. It wasn't that bad until my mind went completely blank... luckily it all ended up working out just fine. Hopefully that won't happen too much. :) The radiology lab was fun today too. I'd never taken vertical or digital bitewings before, so that was interesting. I love it when we do the hands on stuff!

PE

Clinic went really well yesterday. I only wish I would have been able to pass off a PE. I was planning on it, but then I wasn't sure which one I should pass off and class was over by the time I felt confident with the one I decided to do. I guess I should have just done the PPE one since it's due first. Oh well...I guess I'll do it next week. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone! You guys are awesome!

First two days!

So far I think things have been going pretty good. I haven't had any major problems other than trying to find a place to park. (That was a pain!) I'll just have to leave home a little bit earlier. So far class has been great! I haven't really felt overwhelmed, so that's a plus...we'll see how long that lasts. My goal for Monday was to enjoy it and not worry about what the rest of the semester might be like. That sounds like a simple goal, but I think it's appropriate for day one. I didn't want to start the semester stressed out. Everything went really well and I was able to achieved my goal. I'm excited for clinic tomorrow!

New post

I don't know what I'm doing!

Hygiene Orientation

Today is orientation!!! I've been really excited and kind of nervous about starting the Hygiene program. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's been fun to find out more info and get to know everyone.