Real Patient Day...

Well, Monday was our first real patient day. I was pretty nervous even though it was just my mom. I spent most of the time taking x-rays and developing them and going over her vitals and HHX. I am just glad its over!! I never even got to disclosing her teeth. I hope that in January when I see my dad as my first patient next semester it will go by much smoother. My goal with my dad is to not take as long on the HHX and to take a deep breath and not get so frustrated in the x-ray rooms. I just felt so rushed the entire time and I hope I can calm myself down and have things go smoother next time. I did pass the experience which is the most important thing. And my instructor said I did well and was very thorough in my OD.

Last practice day...

Today we had our last mock patient day, which also means our last practice day. Next week we have our real patient day!! My mom is going to be brave and be my first patient. On Monday when we had our mock patient day which I failed, let me explain.... On our patient experience we are graded on a number of things, HHX, charting, scaling, patient safety, and other stuff. Well, I got all fours (which is the highest score you can get) on everything except on the patient safety I got a 0, the reason is I forgot to give my patient glasses. So because I forgot to have them wear glasses I failed the whole experience. On the bright side it doesn't really count because it was just a practice, had it been a real patient I would have failed. A think that is a little ridiculous but oh well. Now I will never forget to have my patients wear their glasses!!

Another Frustrating day...

Today was another stress filled day. I arrived to clinic late because I was originally supposed to be the patient for mock patient day, but Miriam called me early this morning and asked if I could switch so that she could take her baby in to get the H1N1 vaccine. As soon as I got to clinic I set up as fast as I could and waited for Miriam. The H1N1 vaccine took longer then she thought so I didn't get to start on her until an hour after clinic began. It all worked out ok in the end, I felt a little rushed at the last part of clinic due to the fact that I need to rush off and get the vaccine as well. So I have now been vaccinated.... No Swine flu for me!!

Mock Patient Day #1 as Operator

Today I was the operator for the entire clinic day. It was a lot of work and it was exhausting. But I passed my patient experience which is good. My goal is to get more comfortable with scaling especially with the anterior teeth.

Mock Patient Day #1

Today we did our mock patient day to help prepare us for our real patient day on the 23rd. I was the patient for today and Emily was my hygienist. I am so glad I was paired with her she did so great! She didn't hurt me even a little. Although she thinks she did, even after I promised her she never did. I hope I will do just as well as she did on me when I work on her on Wednesday... Fingers crossed!!

Last practice day...

Today was our last day of normal clinic. Starting next week we will be having our mock patient day. I am nervous to see how I do with everything especially paper work. Today we also passed off our air/powder polisher PE which sucked. I hate the air/powder polisher it tastes so gross. This week I have to study for my anatomy exam which I will probably take on Friday. I can't believe the semester is almost over.

Sealants

Today we did our first sealants. I will admit that I was terrified for this one but I think I did alright. I think I passed off my selective polishing PE, but we will see. Wednesday is our last "Normal Clinic" day.... Then it will be mock pt day and then patients all the time!!! AHHH!

Happy Halloween!!

Yesterday we had our Halloween party, and it was hilarious! I had so much fun! The 2nd year girls are so nice and so funny!! I hope it will be just as fun next year. Well, this next week is our last week of regular clinic. Starting on the ninth we have our "mock patient" days and then our "real patient" day on the 23rd...yikes!! I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!!

Salt everywhere!!

Today we practiced our Air powder polisher.... Its not hard to use but it sucks having it done on you. The powder has salt in it and it gets everywhere and tastes awful. We are getting closer and closer to our real patient day. Only 3 more weeks!! We have a guest speaker from Oral B coming tomorrow... and I have my 2nd year observation tomorrow as well. Wish me Luck!!

Time to relax....Yeah Right!!

Well I made it through all the exams. I passed them all which is all that matters to me. Today in Clinic we learned the Ultrasonic... Scary!! I hope that will get easier. We had our Practical exam in Radiology clinic today as well and I feel pretty good about it. We have our Radiology exam this week and another exam in Anatomy, so again... Wish me luck!!

Full day in clinic

Today we kept busy in clinic. We did almost a whole first appointment. We also had to pass off our universal scaling instrument. Next week I will be doing my 2nd yr evaluation. The rest of this week is full of exams... Wish me luck!!

Just another frustrating day

Today we had another practice day which I love having. I also had to pass of the PE I was dreading the most...anterior scaling! I know I am getting better at it, but I still feel like I am struggling alot and it is so frustrating!! I passed which is good but I still wish I could feel more confident than I do.

Practice Day

Today we finally had a slow enough day that we had time to practice everything we have learned. I was able to practice my anterior scaling which was good, but I still am struggling with it! I hope I will get it right by next week when I have to pass it off!!

Purple mouths

Today we used disclosing agents on each other to show how much plaque we all have. I was surprised that I didn't have more...but apparently I am doing well with my flossing technique. I can't believe that we only have six weeks until we see a "real patient"!!

It's been over a week since my last post and we have done a ton of stuff since then! I have past off my Probing PE and my Explorer PE and we did our first attempt at scaling both anterior and posterior teeth!! I am feeling better with the probing and exploring, but the anterior scaling is still so frustrating! The posterior scaling isn't so bad, right now anyway. We are going to be having four exams within the next three weeks....AHHH! Wish me luck!

Monday we practiced exploring on each other. I feel that it is so hard to fulcrum with the explorer. I hope it will start to get easier. Today we passed off PE's and I am so relieved that I am now cought up with my PE's. We had our first exam in Anatomy and I did very well. I am feeling pretty good with most of the classes now except for our Friday classes. Those classes I still am pretty confused with most of what is going on. I am getting excited for the end of the semister already, when we get to have a "real patient" come in. Until my next post...

PROBING!!!! Today we actually practiced probing on each other!! It was very scary making that first probe measurement. My pod partner said I did good, but who knows maybe she is just being nice. My pod partner did a great job on me, she was so nervous but she did awesome!! On Monday we will start using an explorer on each other! I hope I do well on that too!

Well, the convention was fun I guess. I got to know some of the girls a little better which was nice. Some of the tables were interesting, and I had fun trying on loopes. I know which ones I think I might get. The radiology exam was long...but I did pretty good, I passed! The exam I stressed over the most was the Dental Hygiene exam. I did well on that one too. I could have done better I think but all I really care about is that I passed. Now I just have to study for tomorrows quiz in Dental Hygiene and for the Anatomy exam. So really the stress never goes away. You stress over one exam just to finish that and stress all over again for another exam!!! On top of all that I am sick with a nasty cold. I am trying so hard not to get my poor pod partner sick, with her new baby at home. Well, fingers crossed that I keep on doing well on my exams and wish me luck on the next ones!!

We had part of our first head and neck anatomy exam yesterday, it was a little harder than I anticipated, for the next part I should probably step up my studying a bit. We have our first Radiology exam on Thursday, and I have to admit that I am pretty nervous for this exam. There is so much information in just reading a film! We also have our first Dental Hygiene exam this weekend....AHH! What a stressful week!! I am extremelly nervous for the Dental Hygiene exam, I hope that our review on Thursday will be very helpful. Friday we are going into Park City for the UDHA Convention, I am excited to be able to go to this convention and I hope it will be fun and that I will learn something new.

It is now week four... Time flies when your going insane!! I am finally starting to get into the flow of things, it is still a bit overwhelming. Everyone in my class seems to be really nice and easy to get along with and work with. Class work is a bit frustrating at times but things are starting to come together. We just finished our HHX (health history) case study with our groups, which was really crazy! I think and hope that my group did awesome on it. Well until next time!
Wish me luck on my exams this week!!