Real Patient Day

Today was awesome! I was able to work on my fiance and gain a great learning experience with real patient care.  Today went fairly smooth with no bumps.  I even was able to scale and check off and entire quad! Yay for that!  Evan was a great patient, and such a good sport to sit there for hours.  I took xrays today and I didn't need to take any retakes! That is a bonus in itself for sure.  Charting went super well, and I didn't need to fix anything. I worked with instructor Allen. She is the best. So reassuring and makes you feel like you are doing well. This was a great experience.

Group Effort

MeChel: Clinic today was OK... I murdered Sam's gums, but what the hey!
Sam: I'm glad MeChel survivded my braces, the ultrasonic helped in places.
McCall: I had a piece of calculus and was mad, but after Stephanie picked it off, I was glad!
Kristie: I poked Tanya once really hard, so she went running to the Boulevard.
Tanya: Kristie poked me pretty well... geez I hope it doesn't swell.
Heather: No need to freak, it was just a gleek!
Marianne: 25% PFI on Monday, 75% TODAY!

Whitnee: The ultra sonic scaler is so stellar!!
Marcy: I bled like hell, isn't that swell.

Last Mock Day

Today was pretty good if I do say so myself. I finished MeChel's entire Tx!...and I was the first one done.  Pretty cool. I still took forever to scale though, so that pace needs to be picked up. It seriously is going to take a lot of practice to be able to be at the pace needed in a general practice after I graduate.  I was able to use the ultrasonic scaler today for the very first time.  It feels kinda awkward in my hand, and it is a lot more difficult than I thought, but that is how this entire semester has gone...everything is harder than what you think.  But I'll be ok, I just need to practice...but my practice will be on real patients this time and not students...yikes.  I finished and passed off my LAST PE of the semester! WOOT WOOT! I didn't think that day would come with that huge stack we had to tackle.  My motivation is starting to deplete....good thing the semester is almost over...I just have to get through a few more weeks...just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....I get to work on Evan on the 22nd...I am pretty excited about that. He will be a great first legit patient.  I hope all goes well. Have a good weekend everyone....Sam

I'm becoming more legit..... :)

Today, and Wednesday I get to be the operator all week, working on the lovely MeChel Berrett.  She is a good little patient, and very patient with the full mouth probing I had to tackle today! I would like to become quicker at that...and the sooner the bett-er por favor.  This mock patient week is really a good lead in to when I get to work on Evan on the 22nd. I get one more chance to cement a little bit more of the routine I need to follow.  For some reason I was a little nervous today. Maybe because the end is near of all the student practicing, and the real deal is literally right around the corner...I did really well though, and was able to get one quad finished and checked off! So Wednesday, I will only have to focus on 3 quads and the remainder of the Tx....Pretty cool I think...and it is also reassuring to know that I am moving at a pretty good pace, and not at a glacial one.  Glacial = bad.  I am still a little confused on phasing Tx and knowing what to phase when, without knowing how far I am going to get in the appt.  Also, the whole PFI/BFI and how many surfaces to count...is it 4 or is it 6?! Do we go off the clinic manual which says 4, or what instructors are saying, 6????  Massive confusion.  I am just going to be consistent and stick with 4....It's what the clinic manual says people!  But hopefully the final say will come soon on that behalf. Alright people I am off to bed....Monday's are soooooo long.  See you all and your lovely faces tomorrow!....P.S. I love that Christmas music is playing! It's getting me excited...wahoo :) ....Sam

Carved Soap!

Marilyn is amazing.  She carved a bar of soap into a tooth for everyone it clinic, to practice angulation when scaling. My tooth is awesome!  Today was a pretty fun day. It was Instructor Hafen's birthday so she brought cookies, I passed of 3 PE's and I learned the ultrasonic scaler. I still am not a fan of the ap polisher, and am SO glad that one is done and over with.  fl2 is fun to apply.  Foam fl is still my favorite, even though it isn't the most effective.  Next week is mock pt day. It's me and MeChel for the next 2 weeks. Me first then her.....I am excited! Everything is coming to an end and the real deal is so close!  And BONUS I only have two more PE's to pass off! HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!  Today in Rad lab we get to take bwx on each other so I look forward...my phone is ringing so off I go....See ya Monday...Sam

Pure Chaos

Today was a good day...super busy...and now looking back at it in retrospect, it was a pretty chaotic one in clinic.  I mean, we only passed off one PE, but we did a lot of stuff in what seems a short amount of time.  rc polish, tb, tp, df, fl varnish, ap polish, charting, sealants, tx planning, and all of that x's 2. Madness. I did love the sealant part of the day though. I haven't ever placed a sealant in my life, and as it turns out, I am actually pretty legit.  Prof. Costley checked mine to make sure they were done...I'm holding my breath this entire time...but she actually said they were "beautiful" and she was kinda pleasantly shocked when I told her these 3 sealants on McCall were the first 3 sealants I have ever done.  She was actually impressed. That made me feel so great. Prof. Costley passed off my sel polish PE today as well...my first one EVER with her. I liked it. She just let me do my thing, and giving great pointers as I went along.  It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

Today has been the longest day ever. It's never ending, and it's almost 10pm and I am STILL going at the never ending pile of studying....keep in mind I haven't stopped since 7:30 this morning! I need some sleep. Good thing I get to school tomorrow at 7:30 so I can review all the muscles before the quiz.  bleh...make it stop! ha ha jk, but seriously so much.  Peace out everyone, my pillow is calling...Sam

Prophy....I am NOTa fan of the Air Powder Prophy....

So I got my salty abrasive facial I always wanted today....ha ha ok, seriously, that air powder polisher is no bueno. My poor tongue had some abrasions on it after that one.  I am super glad I went first to get it over with.  I worked on Heather T right after. My face is still caked with gritty salt. Gross. I did however get a fl tx which was great, because of my braces, I don't want to have any areas of demineralization when I get them off.  I learned that my rheostat is SOOO touchy. I feel and look like a retard, because if I just breath on it the RPM's shoot up to 50. Ridiculous. I must acquire a  lighter, constant touch when I polish my patients.  The Dental Screening PE we passed off today was good and sort-of confusing at the same time.  Some of the things weren't in the clinic manual, so I had to search and ask for the answers to the other ones. Tricky.  Now off to lunch and lab...I hear the movie we are watching today is so exciting...wink wink.  Have a good weekend everyone....and a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!...Sam

Instructor Allen

Today was really fun...I wish we had Instructor Allen everyday in clinic, and not just radiology.  She seriously rocks. She makes you so excited about what you're doing and learning that it honestly makes you so much more excited to get into private practice and start tailoring your knowledge into what your patient needs to know and understand for them.  Awesome.  I worked on the lovely Heather T. today. We had a good time. OHI PE was really beneficial for me to start figuring out techniques to put things in laymans term for a patient. Instructor Allen was a huge help with that. I think taking Costley's test last friday helped a ton with putting periodontal disease and caries into the big picture, and really understanding what you are articulating. Now I need to study the dental screening PE...that one is a little more difficult...Off to stats...peace out...Sam

The First Run Throuh

So today I was the clinician all day! I went from start to finish with Kristie as my patient.  It was a good review and refresher for sure. It was nice to have the practice and put things in sequence of how they need to be done, and then charting at the end.  Let me tell you charting is IN DEPTH.  You think you have everything written correctly and in the right place, to then find when you have your instructor check that you have some mistakes and you could have written a little more info here, a little more info there.  It was a great learning experience.  Passed off 3 PE's today. Great fun, and I learned how to treatment plan sealants, and use the intra oral camera.  Now off to lunch and lab.  STUDY this weekend for Costley's class! takin' it Saturday....wish me luck!...Sam

Practice Makes Perfect...for Kristie :)

So today was all about practicing from start to finish...vitals to scaling...I was the patient all day today, never the clinician.  Pretty dang relaxing if I do say so myself. Wednesday will be my day to work on Kristie.  I think I lucked out getting Kristie...We had such a great time today! Laughing and joking and helping each other out on techniques and sequence.  It was pretty fun. We definitely work well together. And BONUS she actually attempted to work on my lower arch where my dreaded braces are.  She is the first one to try.  Everyone else that has worked on me has been too scared to try, because you have to adjust to those gold bulky brackets. It really is so annoying to have them in my mouth. I feel bad for anyone that works on me, so I automatically come with a disclaimer when I sit in their chair. Ha ha.  I think that everyone should try on them, because at some point we will all run across a patient with braces, and getting the practice here, while in school, I think is awesome...Kristie agrees :)  I didn't have to pass off any PE's today due to the fact that Kristie's hands were in my mouth all afternoon. I get to do it all on Wednesday.
Until Wednesday friends....Peace out...Sam
P.S....I HATE disclosing agents and braces! = No bueno! ha ha

Charting...

Today was a pretty fun and low-key day. We learned how to chart properly when we are working with our patients...charting on the laminated sheet with blue and/or red markers, noting the different restorations, sealants, suspicious lesions that we could find in our clinic partner's mouth. I worked with Tanya today...I haven't worked with her yet in clinic so it was pretty sweet to have somebody different in my chair...AND bonus she is a lefty, so I experienced a change in the typically usual right-handed clinician. Pretty fun, and way backwards to me :)

I passed off 2 PE's today, and only one was due, so I am ahead again in clinic...so now I only have one to pass off on Monday, which I should have just done it today, because it is basically the same as the anterior instrumentation PE, with the adaptation and angulation. Oh well...I guess I will just get to practice again on Monday, which practice is always fantastic when you get to have time to do it in clinic...

We are disclosing next week again...bleh, stupid braces...I am making sure they are spotless before I walk into clinic on Monday, there will not be a repeat of this Monday ha ha...Well it's a short day today!! No rad lab! wahoo...now off to study...peace out friends...Sam

Disclosing and Braces are NOT friends.

Holy freaking crap....Braces are THE hardest things to keep clean! It's seriously terrible...so mush plaque around the brackets that I spend forever each day trying to keep clean. I think once I get these puppies off, I am disclosing again so I can see the REAL PFI that I have. ha ha seriously. Instructor H is bringing me an ortho tb next week...That rocks.

Passed off Explorer PE today...I was shaking like a leaf with Instructor Demmings...Yikes. I thought I was pretty good at exploring, but I have come to find out I need some more practice.  Go figure, it was just the opposite with my probe. Now off to stats and then to homework..Please bless I stay motivated and on top of things with all these tests coming up! Prayers are welcomed :)...Sam

So apparently I can probe...well.

I was SO scared for passing off today's probe PE...like literally I was almost in tears last night practicing, thinking I was completely horrible and probing, and that I was doing it all wrong...So when I asked Marilyn to help me with it, before I passed it off with instructor Hemsley, I was so surprised that she said I had nothing to worry about, that I was a pro! ha ha oh my heck I guess I can probe...I need to still practice the Lingual posteriors though...that indirect vision is SO dang tricky.

We learned how to use our universal scalers today...which was pretty fun and scary all at the same time. Just like Monday and the anterior scaler. I got to work on MeChel today...I love her, we were totally nervous together, but we did well on scaling and we passed our PE's...we basically rock :)

 Now I am off to Rad lab...hope that goes fast today...my feet always hurt by the end of day. Have a good weekend! I will, because I am going to THRILLER!! Highlight of my year. Seriously.  ...Sam

Happy Sickle Scaling Monday!

Today was one of the scariest days and one of the coolest days of clinic thus far...Seriously so fun and frightening all at the same time.  We worked with our Nebraska's today scaling the anterior facial and lingual teeth...Thank goodness for the time we got to work on our typodonts before we jumped into each others mouths ha ha....I think every single one of us was shaking in our boots for our turn as the clinician...You could hear all the instructors saying "just loosen it up, relax, shake it out, your so tense" ha ha oh my crap we were so afraid of killing each other's gums. But honestly once you got past the initial shock and excitement of being in someones actual mouth, I became progressively better and better with my positioning, fulcrum pivoting, and wrist movement.  Loved it.

Wednesday will be another scary day...Universal....PLUS passing of the probe PE...eeek.  Here we go, deep breaths!...Tanya is sick today, so I have no friend to go to stats with tonight...I seriously hope she gets feeling better soon so she can come back to clinic and not get overwhelmingly behind. She'll be fine, she is a smart girl. So until Wednesday....enjoy the rain :)....Sam

One Step forward...One step back...

So today was basically all about practicing exploring and probing...My brain had to take a step back to remember what I learned on Monday, and the proper way I need to position my instrument into the col...i should practice a little more. I hate feeling like a retard ha ha...Megan helped A LOT today with helping me visualizing the placement of the probe as I did the walking stroke from distal to mesial...SO much better...but I still need to practice. Oi. Hopefully I can borrow some instruments from work for the weekend so I can practice, and not have to bring my instruments from clinic home.

We learned all about  our scalers today...sickle and curet...oh boy that PE I am going to need to study. Those instruments are complex in so many ways, and not just the shape of the functional end. :) I am so hunger right now, my stomach was going nuts as I was being Whitnee's patient...I am glad I am going to lunch now before rad lab.  See ya Monday!...Sam

Exploring with the Explorer

So today rocked. I loved it.  A little bleeding for everyone, but sooo much fun. I think the best part was slipping that explorer right into the col and watching the working end completely disappear. Awesome.  Char helped out a lot a lot.  Grateful that she is back!

Passed two more PE's off today..YES...kinda sad the extra oral one is done though, because I loved the mini massages i got.  I hope Wednesday goes as good as today. I seriously loved today...I really can't say that enough! ha ha.

Now I am off to lunch/dinner with Tanya before our stats class (bleh) tonight. Mondays are so long in that respect...I am so not a fan of night classes...OH by the way my HHx group got 40/40 on our charting assignment! SO happy and relieved we did it right! That completely added to this good day. Until Wednesday...See ya...Sam

Today I think I shall go SUBgingivally!

Oh my...we busted out the probes today and were able to probe inside a REAL persons mouth! Pretty sweet actually :) We started working on our typodonts first, and practiced our skills on marshmallows and candy corn. ha ha it was pretty funny if you think about it.

I was so much better with my fulcruming today, and I don't know why. It is like something clicked in my little brain, and I was just doing it..I was amazed, but I can still do better...at least I know I am not a complete idiot like I felt like on Monday. I was able to spend a lot of time working on Madi, and figuring out probe placement, and how to use the walking stroke and find the col with the right probe angle...kinda difficult, definitely not second nature....must practice over the weekend.  I practiced with Marilyn's loupes which was SUPER exciting, cool, and the teeth were SO much easier to see. I need to buy some.

Hallelujah to passing of another PE...this one wasn't difficult at all (vitals).  It is such a good feeling to pass a PE because it gives you some boost of confidence that I am learning and retaining the information to a competent level....Radiology was rough today, not gonna lie...My radiographs were pretty dang good, but that dang scan-x was giving me some issues, that took me forever to work out...Thankfully I got...And I actually did better on scan-x than on shick...go figure ha ha.  Now off to do homework, and relax my brain for a second...PS Glee rocks my world!...Sam

Oh Monday's...you are so so so long...

Monday's are so long, and so hectic, and the start of realization of how overwhelming the week is going to be..."It's just another Manic Monday"...Amen to that. 

I survived last week, so that is a good sign. I didn't think I was going to make it with all of those huge tests we had to take...but fortunately I did extremely well on all my tests! Phew! 

Today in Clinic we learned more about how to fulcrum, but this time with the mirror and the perio probe as our "scaler".  Kinda overwhelming and confusing, that one.  But I will get it...eventually. At least I passed my HHx PE which I am so glad is over...that one was extreme.  I feel a little freaked out though, because even though I am completely caught up on my PE's, I feel like I am drowning, because for every one that I pass off, we learn two new ones...SO much...but it's ok, it's doable, and will work out. 

Tanya and I worked on Anatomy and identifying the posterior teeth. We made some headway...now it is 10pm and I am about to attempt to study the rest of the information for the test tomorrow morning....This whole study thing never ends...I swear I am constantly going, going, going all day, and I. NEVER. stop. Ha ha it is kinda ridiculous if you think about it, but it is the nature of the beast and I just need to keep moving....or in the words of Dori: "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" ha oh man it's late, I need to study then try to get some sleep..See ya all later...Sam

massage day...

So today we worked extra/intra orally! It was a lot of fun to be able to work in an actual mouth again.  Marcy and Madi were the lucky ones today. We learned and applied what we know about extra oral screenings and finding any lumps/bumps/tenderness that isn't the norm.  It was pretty much like a short massage when we got around to palpating the temporalis and traps. I could have fallen asleep it felt so good. :) 
We also learned how to use our mirrors and the proper fulcruming techniques when w are looking intra orally.  Pretty cool, but tricky because it is so dang hard to see the posteriors at some angle positions.  But it is pretty cool how to illuminate the teeth with the mirror indirectly so you can add light to areas where the normal dental light doesn't really reach.  I need to practice that one.

No PE's passed off today dangit...definitely not enough time to do them. HHx is a. lot. of information to know.  I need to practice that one more this week and weekend....oh did I mention how overwhelmed I am right now?? Well I am SUPER overwhelmed and the main cause of it is Costley's test on Saturday/Monday...There is literally not enough time to study and know every little detail, and retain it.  Hopefully when I take it I can feel more relaxed and not wound up about it. Just know that I did everything that I could do, and what I get, is what I get.  So overwhelmed.

Off to Radiology, then studying...go figure :) ...Sam

Vitals Monday

So today has been another packed, yet laid back, day in the world of clinic and PE's....We learned all about our Vitals and the proper way we need to take them on a patient.  The trickiest part of it is all trying to count their pulse while monitoring their respirations at the same time, so they don't adjust the way they breath as if they were to know I was watcning for it. Tricky, but do-able.  I practiced on Marcy and Tori today, and passed off my patient/operator/light positioning PE today with the sub instructor, Instructor Snow. She was pretty good to work with, she seemed a little rusty in the way things are supposed to be run around the clinic, but she figured it out eventually and was great. I hope that Instructor Chaffe and her premie baby are going to ok. That is such a scary thing for anybody to go through, having your child born 3 months early, only weighing ounces.  I know all of our prayers are with her, her baby boy and her family.

So Wednesday hopefully I can pass of the HHx, but I need to study that one just as hard as I did the patient postioning one....LOTs of info to know on the HHx.  This week is going to be crazy, so many tests coming up and the UDHA conference on Friday. Ahhhhh is all I have to say about this week and possibly next week....just one day at a time I need to keep on reminding myself...Off to pod wrap...see ya Wednesday....Sam

Oh the joys of Health Histories....HHx and HHx/Rx...

Lets just hope I don't get a patient that has 50 medications they are taking, because if they do, their hhx is going to take for-ev-er. But I guess on the other hand I will know a lot of medications. ha ha. So as you can see, today we worked on our first Health Histories, and Marcy was my lucky patient. I even took her BP, Pulse and Respiration readings. Pretty cool for the first time. Lauren the TA was a big help.

Coming into clinic today I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of studying and reviewing and reading I need to do this week in all of my other classes. There is A LOT this week that needs to be done, so I can be ready for the tests this week and next week.  I feel bad for my social life right now, because it is seriously being hindered even more this week! ha ha.  But now clinic is over, a new PE learned and a PE passed off, I feel like I accomplished something today, and I just have to keep that motivation going for the rest of the day and week...I. Can. Do. This.

Now back to Health Histories, I think the key to this one is practice practice practice, and to know the clinic manual...that will be key! Now I am off the lunch and radiology lab. Hopefully I can pick up the proper techniques in Rad, so I can do well on the test this week, and that I feel more comfortable in the bisecting technique...which by the way, for some reason, scares me...ha, I guess I just don't really get it in my head, and the only way I am going to really know how to do it, is by clinical practice...or baptism by fire I guess :)  Welp, wish me luck, and have a great week!! ...Sam

Positioning...and all that goes with it...

Holy crap...information overload today! I feel like I grasped almost all that we went over today in clinic with positioning our chairs and body correctly when working on our patients...8 o'clock to 12 o'clock...There is A LOT of  information to remember with anterior teeth, posterior teeth, chin up, chin down, look away, look towards, and the toughest thing for me right now is towards and away! I have to make sure I study study and study before I pass that PE off, because if I don't I know I will be in trouble for sure!  Tori and I decided to take home gloves and a mirror and explorer, along with our anatomy typodont so we can practice all of that on it and a family member. Hopefully that will help...we have a long weekend to get it memorized!...which by the way I am SO so so excited for a long weekend, and no class or clinic on Monday. I need the break to organize myself again.  So God Bless Labor Day. ha ha. :)

I Passed off two more PE's today which is fabulous, and thanks to Instructor Hafen for staying late with some of us to finish passing our break down PE so we would be ready for next weeks new information.

Now I am off for a quick lunch before this long day continues to my Radiology lab...oh Wednesdays are long days. At least it is interesting. :)  I \haven't been as overwhelmed this week with classes and everything, so I think that goes to show that it really does get a little better after the first week.  So have a great holiday weekend everyone and I will see you Tuesday... Don't forget about our presentations! See ya...Sam

Suction time....Poor Marcy :)

So today we learned two PE's...set up and break down...lots of information to take in for sure.  I hope I can remember everything along with the PPE PE we have to pass off today (which I am doing in 5 minutes)...

After that we had our first patient....one of my fellow hygiene students...Miss Marcy. We learned how to suction and use our air water syringe on a real live patient.  Good experience. I felt bad because when I used the HVE I kept on suctioning her poor cheek and occasional tounge ha ha. It was kinda hilarious though because when we both had the opportunity to suction each other with the HVE we started laughing and basically started drowning ourselves while laying down...priceless moment! ...The Blue Boa is still pretty cool though.

I think I am professional or semi professional now with my suctioning skills, but I look forward to mastering the skill with each time I practice it.  Practice makes perfect right?...I need and want to be perfect :)

Ok so I just passed off my second PE! I feel like I am on a roll and ahead of the game when it comes to the PE's...probably the only thing in the program right now I have a complete handle on ha ha. It's a good feeling.  Two more new ones to pass off, so hopefully I can do one or both on Wednesday.  Until Wednesday I am going to study, study, study and study some more! ...Sam

The Blue Boa....

So today in clinic was actually really fun, because we got to start working on our typodont with the air/water syringe and suctions...learning all the best techniques when using them...pretty cool. It felt good to actually started working on the roles of a hygienist, and not just going over protocols, and clinic attire. ha ha.  We met our TA's which was awesome, they were so so helpful, and then we met Instructors Demsley and Hafen. I worked with Hafen today and she is really great.  It just so  happens that I went to school with her son Trevin, and it's good to have another familiar face in clinic :)

After we worked with our suctions for a while, we were able to meet the inventor of the Blue Boa, who in fact graduated from the program a while back.  I think the Blue Boa is going to be my new friend when we start working with the ultrasonic and placing sealants. 

I passed my first PE off today!! I am for the first time feeling like I am ahead of the game for once this week.  Kinda a relief. Next week I am going to pass the PPE and NEVER forget the steps I need to follow when putting on my protective equipment....mask FIRST glasses SECOND gloves LAST...and rubbing alcohol inbetween glove changes!  Now I am off to Radiology Lab for the first time...I hope that goes well and I do well on my first test this weekend. Fingers crossed! Until Monday....Sam

First Day of Clinic!!

Wow....I can't believe I actually finished my first day of clinic in the dental hygiene program.  It is kind of surreal...I have seen so many other people I know go through the program, but it is crazy to think that it is finally my turn!..It's about freaking time, is all I have to say to that :)

I walked into clinic this afternoon all ready in my scrubs, bright white shoes, lab coat, and my hair pulled back, ready to take on this new chapter in my life. My pod group is awesome. We rely on each other already, as a support group, and I love it.  My unit is all organized and ready for Wednesday, which makes me feel so professional...I love all of my shiny new instruments!  It makes me feel like a RDH already.  And the tour of the clinic was so so so helpful, now I don't feel like a complete stranger in my new home for the next 2 years. 

I think one of best parts of the day was talking about our "first kiss" and "most embarrassing moment". I was cracking up at a few of them...let just say I will ALWAYS make sure I don't have day old underwear hanging out of my jeans! ha ha I am so glad that wasn't my story. I am so excited for this upcoming semester, year, 2 years....I know it is going to be challenging and A LOT of work, but I am up to the challenge, and I seriously and literally have 30 new friends in the same boat helping me along the way.  Now Lets just pass our PE's first try, and life will be a little bit easier. :)  Until next time.....Sam

Apparently I am a Blogger now!....

I am now entering the world of Blogging all thanks to the dental hygiene program I am starting on...Monday! Wish me luck!!!!!  ....more post to come for SURE....my grade depends upon it :)