Which class are they?

Today was another good clinic day. Two in a row! Maybe that's a good sign. Prof. M. really helped me learn some more on finding calculus, what it feels like, and how to instrument better to get it off. It was very very helpful. I want to get back in ther and work on some more patients right now just to get the practice. The only frustrating thing today was that my patient had been classified as a 1B at her OD check, but today because of the subgingival calculus my intructor said she should be a class II on the entire mandibular arch. This is good because I need class II requirements fulfilled, but things just get confusing because everyone is different in their opinions of classifications. Well, I'm sure it will work out the I'll get all my requirements done, but I'm really starting to get nervous because I really need class II's and III's. I've got to get working harder on finding some. I passed off 2 more PE's today!

Good day... bad day... good day.... bad day.... etc.

It seems to be a cycle. I have a bad day in clinic, and then the next day is good, and so on. I was able to finish a patient's cleaning whom I had previously started, and then also do her 4 yr. old son from start to finish. It's nice to accomplish two people in one session. It made me feel like I got a lot done. The four year old was very gaggy, but I still got xrays, and he also had calculus all around his mandibular anteriors, but I still got him completed even with doing his mother's cleaning. Some days I think it's OK to be proud of myself. :) If I never had those days, life would be a real let down. I also passed off more PE's, so I'm keeping up on my goal of getting those done. My new goal for today is to work on being quicker at writing up my chart. I find myself thinking too hard about what to write for OHI and stuff, so I get behind in charting.

Diabetic patient

I learned a lot today! I'm one who naturally trusts others, and even though it's a good thing to trust your patient, I learned I still need to question a little more thoroughly. My patient told me the she had called her doctor and gotten the antibiotic premed, she also told me that her diabetes has been doing good lately. Well, not so true. When she got to the clinic she had not taken her antibiotic becuase she claimed her Dr. says she could take it after, and she also had a blood glucose level of 284! I spent the entire time running around trying to figure out what we could even do for her. I had to get a physicians consult just so that she could see that he wanted her to take the "pre"med BEFORE the appt. I also had to let her know that we probably couldn't treat her with her blood sugar that high. Well, we were able to at least take some xrays, so I got more of my requirements done for that, but I hope she can get things together a bit so that I can even treat her. A new goal for me is even when I think I have been thorough enough I need to evaluate everything again so that I don't waste so much time in clinic. Today was the MOST frustrating day I have had yet. Sometimes things like this just happen, but I can still be frustrated, right?

Valentines/ultrasonic day

So excited that we learned the ultrasonic. It's a great instrument and much less effortless. We worked on the dexters and then on each other. None of us have calculus to clean, but I was able to get some orthodontic glue off of Holly's teeth. It has been there for a long time, and none of us have been able to get it off with our hand instruments, but it came off so easily with the ultrasonic. I'm excited to use it more! I need to go over the PE so that I'm prepared to pass it off here pretty soon. Another YEAH! becuase I passed off more PE's today also.

Tabacco patient

Today I had my first patient who uses tobacco. He smokes and previously has used chew. He had some pathologies, but still only classified as one quad of a class II and the rest 1B. I thought he would possibly be a class II patient for me. OH well, I'll eventually find one. His calculus was very tenacious, and he wasn't the most cooperative patient. I felt frustrated again today because I had to wait a while for my checks and so I only got One quad cleaned. He was frustrated too because he had been here for so long, even though I had told him how long it would take. Hopefully at his return appointment I'll be better and quicker.

Better Day

Feb. 7 was a much better day. I saw my sister as a patient and used her as my 1B exam. I was able to do everything in the one clinic period, and I even got done a little early. It made me feel much better. On the days that I don't get much done I feel so frustrated, like I'm not good at this. I know it just takes practice. I even got some PE's passed off. YEAH!

only OD checks

I fell so frustrated when I only get OD done in one day. My patient was 30min late today so I could have probably gotten half mouth scaled, but I didn't. I feel bad because she acted a little funny that I didn't get her cleaned at all. I hate how much we have to do, I don't feel like I'll ever get any on my PEs done. I need to look through them today and just set a goal to get a few accomplished next time. It's very hard because we don't have much time to even get the patient clean, let alone worry about PE's. I'm pretty frustrated today. Hopefully Wednesday will be better.