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