First Patient!

Today is our first patient day. It went pretty well, I felt like I new everything that I was supposed to do, but it really sucked because I had to wait for instructor checks and so I didn't even get to scaling at all. I am venting because I am really frustrated about it. I had everything down and ready to go, but the girls in my pod are so quick that they all got into their OD checks just before me and so I had to wait, which put me way behind. I'm really pretty bugged about it, but Erik was a sport to come and stay for as long as he had to, just to get xrays. Well now that I'm done venting I'll be fine with it, and know better for next time that I want to get my OD check ASAP. The semester is almost done!!!!

Mock patient day

I forgot to blog on Wednesday, but Wednesday and today were mock patient days. So on Wed. I had Kim for my patient and it went pretty well. I was nervous because I wasn't sure exactly how all of the ordering went. I was so glad to have that mock day though because now I feel way more comfortable having my first patient come. Today I was Kim's patient and now I just got everything else reviewed one more time. Wednesday Erik is coming to be my first patient, so I hope it all goes smoothly. Later!

emergencies

quick, short blog today. We learned about emergency situations and procedures here in the clinic. It was good to go through different situations. We also were able to pass off our sealant PE's. Next time is our mock patient. I need to go over stuff and make sure I know all the procedures and orders.

Sealants

I was so glad to do sealants today. It was great to do a little more and do something that I already know how to do. Holly had a lot of teeth to be sealed, so we all got some practice. We also went crazy and passed off all our PE's up until now. We definitely are the power pod because our instructors said they never have to tell this pod what to do, we just have a plan and go for it. I also had Jalene do some desensitizing stuff on my maxillary 1st molars that have been so sensitive. It seems to be working so far. I have a ton of gunk on my teeth from the varnish though. Yuck! But hopefully it will help my teeth not to be so sensitive anymore. I really need to go over the sealant PE so that I know it well to pass off next time.

Air powder polishing

We learned the air poweder polishing today. First we cleaned pennies, and it's amazing how clean you can get them with it. It was scary to practice on each other because it's sprays so hard and so much stuff. I totally gagged Holly by spraying it too much into her throat. I felt bad, but it was also pretty funny. We were all laughing. Celeste and Joni were having a great time with it. Celeste has the best laugh it makes me laugh even more. We cleaned jewlery with the polisher too. I need to remember to wear my wedding ring next time to polish. We have fun and laugh a lot in our pod. We were talking today about how everyone looks at us like we shouldn't be laughing in clinic, but it sure would be boring if we didn't. We still get our work done and are up on all of our PE's. So why not laugh as we're working. It makes it so much better. I'm excited to start sealants next time!

Instrument Sharpening

I was nervous about learning to sharpen our instruments, but it was a lot easier than I thought. I was afraid I was going to ruin my instruments. It's kind of a pain to do, but not too hard. So anyway that's kind of boring and that's how today was, nothing too exciting. I passed off my polishing PE and fluoride PE so at least I feel like I got some stuff done. We're also trying to study for our radiology test while we're working today because all of us are going to take it right after clinic. So wish me luck.

Fluoride Treatments

Today we did fluoride treatments on each other. This was a super fast and easy thing to learn and to do, so the rest of the time we spent practicing our scaling. We were even able to pass off our universal intrumentation PE's. I guess our pod finishes too quickly most days and so we were told that we had to work until a certain time today. It kind of bugs because then we don't even get out of there on time. By the time we clean up our intruments and units it's way past time to go. I was a little bugged because I had made plans to pick up Tyler according to when class is supposed to be out. Anyway, I just don't think there's a problem with us finishing early or on time if we are doing a good job and learning everything. I think the reason that we get done earlier than the other pods is because we really sit down and get to work each day. This is just my little gripe for the day. I gotta go!

Polishing

Today was fun. We have an awesome pod, we just always joke around and have fun, but we also really keep up on everything and get stuff done well. We learned how to polish today which was super easy since I've been polishing for so long anyway. We have good instructors too who help out a lot and are great at answering questions. Well I'm a little behind so I gotta run.