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.