March 26

I was really worried about today because I couldn't find a patient to come in, so my husband ended up coming in. Even though I already cleaned his teeth, I figured that I could pass off some PE's and take some x-rays. It went really well, I passed offmy diagnodent PE and my air powder polishing PE. They were both tricky ones, but I passed them off. Then I did 3 sealant on him which went really well. Then because we had more time left, I took a full mouth set of x-rays. They turned out awesome, no retakes. Even though I didn't get any quads from the appointment today, it was a very productive day!

March 21

Today I brought back my cousin to finish scaling her. Because we had some extra time, I passed off my removable partial cleaning PE using her retainer. I also passed off my ultrasonic instrumentation PE and I took a pano on her also. Everything went great. I felt good about everything that I accomplished. I really did a lot!

March 19

Today my patient was a teenage girl. Everything went really well. She didn't need any Bitewings, but she hasn't ever had a Pano, so I took one of those. It was my first time really taking one at the clinic, so I was a little worried, but it went well. I had to retake it once because the lead vest got in the way, but the second one turned out great. I even finished scaling her today, and didn't miss any spots. I love days like this when I feel very competent.

March 7

I was pretty anxious for today. I brought back my class II patient to start scaling his teeth, and I had to get done today too, because he can't come back anymore. I was nervous that I wouldn't finish him, so I knew I would have to really bust my butt. I finished him, but it was so hard. It wasn't hard to be fast, but his calculus was incredibly hard and it wouldn't come off no matter how hard I tried. Even my instructor could barely get it off. It took so long trying to scale forever. I finally reached a point where I just didn't care anymore, and I wanted to be done. My instructor was a big help. She encouraged me a lot and also told me that my adaptation was great because I wasn'causing any tissue trauma. I am just glad to be done with him!!

March 5

Today went great! I brought one of my cousins back in to finish scaling her teeth. It took me awhile, but it was fine. I was glad to finally get her finished, and I also passed off a lot of PE's. The one thing that I had a problem with was my posture. My instructor told me that my patient was too high, so I lowered her and it was really hard for me, and now my back and neck are killing me. I don't necessarily think that the instructors know how you should be positioned. Especially because I am taller. Anyway, I will try to focus more on my posture and patient positioning.

February 28

Today was an okay day. I was hoping to complete my patient in one appointment, but it didn't happen. My patient was a 14 year old girl, and everything went pretty well, besides the fact that people were butting me in the x-ray room, so I had to wait for 25 minutes with nothing to do. It was terrible. I did get to do a sealant on my patient, and I even passed off my PE, so that was good. But... I will have to bring her back to clean her. Bummer.

February 26

Today I had a patient that Kim gave to me. She had talked to him on the phone and asked him all the medical questions, and he said that he didn't have any problems. Then when he came in and filled out the health history he marked that he had a heart murmur. This was frustrating to me. I had to do a physicians consult, which I had never done before. everything went fine though. I only got through OD, but he is a Class II so I am glad. I was just so glad when clinic was done!

Febraury 21

Today I had my Spanish speaking patient back to start cleaning his teeth. It seemed strange to me when my instructors told me that I would probably only get one quadrant done per appointment, but now I know how hard it really is to clean a Class III patient. We started off by taking a full mouth set of x-rays. I did really well. I didn't even need any retakes. Jeff was my instructor today, which was great because he speaks Spanish. Although the son was there, it was nice to have Jeff be able to explain dental things to him. I was worried about my patient needing anesthetic, but he was tough. I am sure it hurt him. I started with my ultrasonic hand piece. It was awesome to see how they really work on patients with a lot of calculus. It was blasting all sorts of crap out of his pockets. I wasn't sure that I was getting everything, but I went back over and handscaled. My patient was bleeding like crazy. I mean, incredibly amounts of blood! I really didn't think that I had gotten everything, but I asked for a scale check anyway. Jeff was so impressed. He couldn't believe what a great job I did. I missed some places on the wisdom tooth (that I could barely see) but he didn't count that against me because he could hardly get it. I felt so good!! I am finally seeing some progress in my skills! Yeah!

February 14

Today is Valentines Day! Yeah! It was also a no-patient day. We learned how to use the ultrasonics. It was a lot of fun. I was kind of nervous to use them, but they are a lot easier than I had anticipated. The instructors say that there is less of a learning curve. They just blast calculus off the teeth. It is great! We got to practice on each other, which I didn't like because our tissue is too tight to fit the ultrasonic tip into, and I got nervous to put it into the sulcus, especially the col area. It was fun though. We also passed off the intraoral camera PE and learned how to use the Diagnodent. It was a really good day!

February 12

Today my cousin came in and was my patient. She was about 30 minutes late, so we got off to a late start. Everything went well. She is a class 1B and everything was normal. I didn't get to scaling her teeth, because she was late, so she will have to come back. Oh well!

February 7

Today I was Clinic Assistant again. I made sure to be on time (because last time I was late) and I felt a lot better about things. Everything went more smoothly because I kind of knew what I was doing. I didn't have to ask very many questions, and I had a really fun time. It is nice to be the clinic assistant, because then you get to know what goes on behind the scenes. You get a feel of how things run in the office, which I think helps me work better as a hygienist. It was a lot of fun!

February 5

Today my patient was a man that I got off the clinic resource list. I was really nervous because he is Spanish speaking, and I don't speak any Spanish whatsoever. He came with his wife, who saw Valerie, and they brought their son who could translate for them. It was an eye opening experience for me. This man had never been to the dentist before, and never had his teeth cleaned. When I looked in his mouth, I thought it looked relatively clean, the gums were just really inflamed. Little did I know what was really under the gums. This patient had never flossed before, and when I flossed his teeth, I pulled out stuff that had been there for years, and it was absolutely disgusting. He is a class III and I am so glad to have found one.

Not a great day.

Today I brought my husband in for my patient. I was excited to have him come in and meet everyone and see what I do. It started off great. My x-rays went really well they turned out perfect. I wasn't going to scale, but I had so much leftover time that my instructor incouraged me to. I was feeling flustered because my pt. was really sensitive when I probed, and he was also really sensitive when I scaled. That made me even more nervous. I was trying to go quickly, and I missed 8 places. Oh well. I eventually got them off, and I am just glad to be done.

Real Date: January 29

Today I brought my sister as my patient. She was my last resort, and she did not want to be here. Everything went well though. My x-rays turned out better than last time. Everything went a lot smoother than last time too. I was a lot quicker. Kim charted for me, which was great! I decided to use Hillary as my first patient exam, and it was great. I did awesome. I finished scaling in 35 minutes, and I didn't miss any places. I felt so great about it. It is nice to have one of those done!

Terrible day!

Today was not that good of a day. My cousin Kelsey was my patient. During the whole appointment I felt so far behind. I just felt like I was moving in slow motion. And I had to take x-rays, which I hadn't taken since last semester, so I was nervous. I ended up having to take one retake, which didn't turn out any better than the original. I was really confused during the entire clinic time, because different instructors would help me and I felt like I was all over the place. The appointment itself went okay, besides the x-ray retake, but after the appointment was when it was really bad. I guess I didn't have my x-rays approved to release the the patient, I really didn't even think to do it. So there was some confusion there, and then one of my Professors was really rude about it. I was feeling really overwhelmed, and I ended up crying like a baby in front of 2 of my instructors. They were both really nice about it, and told me not to worry. I was just so frustrated. I was so glad to go home. I don't ever want to go back.

Real Date: January 22

Today was my first day as Clinic Assistant. I was running a little bit late, and I ended up being 2 minutes late. The Office Manager lady Mrs. Campbell reprimanded me, and Holly Russell who was also CA today and who was 5 minutes late. I was kindof excited to do this, and I was really relieved that I didn't need to find a patient for today. Things went well, and I had fun. It was a nice change to be more of a receptionist. I liked to check in the patients and work with the money. It was also good to understand what goes on, so that it better helps me to be a better hygienist. I had fun!

Real Date: January 17

Last night I was freaking out because I didn't have a patient for today! I ended up bringing my little brother who is almost 12 years old. I really didn't want to bring him because he has braces, but he was my lifesaver. I was just so glad to have a patient. I didn't take any x-rays or even scale, but I got through OHI. Thinking back, I should have tried to scale, but I was just nervous about the braces. He was really great and cooperative. He even has mandibular tori like me! Anyway, it went pretty well. I am going to work on getting more patients scheduled.

First Patient Day of the Semester!

Today was our first patient day of the semester. It took a lot of coaxing to get my brother to come back in, but I don't have any other options. I wasn't really nervous until I got here at the clinic. It was just not that big of a deal to me. Everything went really well. I didn't really know exactly what to do, because today was a different appt. type because I was bringing back a pt. to scale them. But, I figured out things pretty quick, and everything went smoothly. It didn't take as long as I thought, and I didn't miss any spots. I felt good about that!

First day back!

Today was the first day back of the new semester. It was soooo nice to have a long break over Christmas. I loved being able to relax and catch up on my life outside of dental hygiene. I was also very very nervous to come back. I was sick about it. Literally, I was nauseated, and I didn't sleep the past three nights. I had to take a sleeping pill last night, and it only helped a little bit. It was fun to come back and see everyone again though. Everyone else expressed feelings of nervousness also. Today wasn't even hard though. We learned how to use our Gracey's and after we practiced on the Dexter, we got to practice on each other. It took a little bit to get oriented because it has been so long since we last scaled. Overall today went well, and I am feeling a lot better about everything. I am still really nervous about finding patients though.

Real Patient Day!

Today was our first real patient day. I was so nervous all morning. I couldn't even do anything, I just sat at my house worrying. I was just worrying about the charts and x-rays and everything.