Get Your Fulcrum Up... Literally

Most of you that are not hygiene students are probably wondering right about now, "What is a fulcrum?"  Well, I will tell you what a fulcrum is.  A fulcrum is when your fingers are stacked on each other with your ring finger postioned on a tooth in order to give maximum stability (because you don't want to be poking your patient in the chair if they make any sudden movements).  I'm pretty sure that I received the record for not "getting my fulcrum up" high enough, at least when we first started practicing.  I got better the longer we practiced thankfully.  I also truly believe in the saying "practice makes perfect" because I have been able to do things that I didn't used to think I would ever be able to do.  I feel much more comfortable with instruments in both of my hands now, which used to be an awkward feeling - in fact I love being able to have instruments in both my hands because I feel like a real hygienist now.