LAST CLINIC DAY!

Today I finished my clinic career as a student at Weber State University. I can't believe I'm done. Those 2 years flew. Yet at sometimes they seemed to drag. I have learned a lot from this program, and I have improved leaps and bounds from where I was last year in clinic to where I am now, and a (almost) registered dental hygienist. After today I will never have to have anyone check my work or watch me give injections. It is all on me to make sure those mouths that I clean are spotless, and the patient is numb. It is liberating. I am so ready to graduate and move onto the next chapter in my life.  I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am today, and I hope that employment comes sooner than later so I can start my professional career.  Thanks to everyone who got me through these past 2 years, and thanks to all the girls who were right there along side me going through the exact same thing I went through and feeling the exact way I felt, and understanding completely. And thank you to Marianne for all the dental related jokes, that only we would get. :) Happy Graduation everyone!

Hardest Class IV EVVVV-ERRRR!

Holy moly. That pt I cleaned of Marianne's today was ridiculous. I have never worked so hard on one quad in my entire life, and when I was done I knew there was calculus on some of those teeth. It was literally like trying to remove cement off of root surfaces. This mouth has never been cleaned in this lifetime and the mobility makes it even more difficult. You've got to hold those babies in there while scaling. I didn't feel as bad that I missed so much because Marilyn had a heck of a time removing what she could, and she even couldn't remove it all. That is when you say: REFERRAL! PERIODONTIST! I learned a lot from that one quad. 1: sharp instruments are a must 2: use the right and left ultrasonic tips 3: mini's on this pt would help because she didn't have any recession. 4: perio files! 5: prayer 6: a towel to wipe the sweat off your face. That was a doosey!!

3/22/12

My board pt came in to clinic today so I could finish up his treatment. It didn't occur to me until today that I had my board patient, in my chair, with instructors around, that I could have them check the quad I cleaned last week to see if I missed anything....I was excited and way nervous at the same time. I couldn't decide if I wanted to have Jenn check, I didn't know if I wanted to know, or if I just wanted to wait until I got the results from WREB. I had her check. I just needed to know. When she started exploring my stomach dropped, and was nervous. And then when she finished checking she didn't even say anything! I had to ask her a couple of minutes later how I did. She could only feel one tiny piece of burnished calculus! WAHOO. Relief. IT was a relief because last Saturday, cleaning his quad was so difficult. I thought I had missed so many spots because of the tenacious calculus, and because he bled so bad that it made it difficult to see. It was great to know that I didn't fail. I just hope the examiners felt the same way last week.  Sidenote: when I finished his treatment today I got a chance to really look at his tissues today from the previous areas that had been cleaned, and they looked phenomenal! They hardly bled at all when explored! They were firmer, pinker, healthier. It is such a confirmation when you see before and after of what the pt's mouth looks like, and know that what you did for them was something great and beneficial for them, their mouth, and their overall health.

CLINICAL BOARD: Hygiene

Today was my hygiene clinical board....I was calm...yet nerves everywhere. Does that even make sense? I was prepared for what I had to do. I had confidence in myself, but I was still nervous because this was a pretty important board to pass. I think the one of the worst parts about the day was waiting to see if he qualified. Waiting for him to walk through sterilization, into the clinic with a  blue paper saying my submission was accepted. And he was! Phew, one huge step down! The next 2 hours were the fasted 2 hours in my life. I was the last one to submit my patient for check out in my pod. Marianne and Heather M. flew through theirs. I had mini freak out moments throughout mine because his calculus was really tenacious, and every time I went back in with my explorer I could still feel the dang calculus! I was thinking to myself, that I really hope I can get this off, and I don't leave anything there and nothing burnished. When I had 15 minutes left I had to just stop the scaling and to the recession and probing depths. I couldn't go back in with the explorer after that because he bled soooo much that if that explorer got close to that quad it would take me another 5 minutes to clean it back up, so it didn't look like a blood bath went on in his mouth. I just had to have faith that what I did was the best I could do, I couldn't have done any more than what I did. I did my best....I just hope my best was enough. He came back pretty fast after check out, so hopefully that is a good sign. I went home today, and when I saw Evan and he came over to give me hug because it was all finally over, I just started to cry. I had a lot of emotion running through me. Emotions of the last 3 months combined. It all just pooled over, when I finally knew it was all over. I didn't have another board, all I can do now is wait to see if I passed. It was a relief.

CLINICAL BOARD: L.A.

Today I took the local anesthesia board.....I PASSED!!! And I am soooo happy that I didn't have to pay $120 dollars to retake it. The first thing Evan said to me after we picked up the cashiers check yesterday was, "You better not fail" ha ha. Of course that was in a loving, no pressure way :)

I was kind of a little flustered before I took my exam because right before that I was McCall's backup patient, and when they called my candidate number to go and set up I wasn't there. I was in the clinic getting poked.  But luckily I asked one of the examiners if they called my name and if they did can I hurry and set up right after McCall was done. That wasn't a problem.  They were really good about that. But I was still a little flustered because everyone else was set up and ready to go when I finally got my patient back into the clinic and started to set up. Kind of not what I wanted things to go before I took this board. But Hailey helped take things off of my mind so I wasn't so flustered. My board went so smoothly. Not one thing went wrong. No osseous contact, no positive aspirations, they didn't ask to see the opposite side, my technique was spot on. The only thing was I shook like a freaking leaf! I couldn't stop it. It was like I was calm in my head when the examiners came over, but my hand wouldn't stop shaking. It was ridiculous. But I passed and that is all that matters! Now I get to inject my board patient on Saturday without anyone looking over my shoulder. Happy day, better live it up, because that will be the last time that will happen until after I graduate.

Last clinic before boards...

Today is the last day before I take my last two boards. This is the clinical portion and I feel like I am prepared. Nervous, but prepared.  I was able to see a class III today thanks to Brooke, so it was good to have one last practice with a more difficult patient before next Saturday.  So Thank you Brooke. I finally met my 1A requirement today...wahoo.  Back to clinicals next week....I feel like the skills I have developed will be good enough to pass both of the boards. And all of the mockboards we have had, has prepared me even more for knowing what will happen on the days of the boards.  I will definitely be more calm, because it will be at Weber, and we have run through the steps so much, I think I've got it. It helps too that I have seen my board pt at my last mockboard and I passed, so that gives me hope that I can efficiently remove his calculus.  I will say however that I am quite bugged that I had to pay $45 dollars to rent an ultrasonic unit that I use every week in clinic. I understand that we needed to rent them, but $45 dollars?! That is a rip-off.

MockBoard #3

Mockboards are finally over! Happy to not have to find another mockboard pt again. That chapter in my life is over. This was a good experience though because the pt I worked on was the pt I am using for my boards in March. I am seriously blessed to be able to have the chance to work on him before the board, especially in the mockboard environment I worked in.  The good news too is that I passed! There is hope yet for me passing in March! Fingers and toes are still crossed for a good day that day.  All 4 quads of my pt qualified so I used one for myself for mockboards and one for Kristie for mockboards, leaving me 2 quads for boards, just in case I have to pull extra teeth into my submission. Pretty sure I will only need one quad because he has enough calculus in every quad. But it is good to have a back up just in case something bizarro happens.  So glad I found this particular patient for my boards. He rocks.