Well...

So, today did not go as smoothly as Monday unfortunately, which was frustrating for me.  I was only able to get one quad done today and this was my pt's second visit.  I had a hard time getting the calculus off.  The other time that I have scaled the calculus was easy to get to and popped right off.  Today that was not the case.  I felt frustrated that I was having such a hard time even though I know I am still learning the tricks of the trade and I haven't built up my hand muscles enough yet.  I also did not do as well on my PE as I would have liked.  Ok, let's be honest I failed my PE and have to redo it.  I failed 2 PE's last semester and both times I really did feel like a failure.  I thought that might change this semester, but I still felt like a failure today (feeling like a failure doesn't inspire much confidence in myself).  After this failed experience I am setting a new goal: before I decide to pass off a PE I will for sure make sure to check with an instructor to see if I am doing everything correctly and if I am not doing something correctly I will learn what I need to do to fix what I'm doing wrong.  Instructor Hemsley really did help me out after my pt left and helped teach me what I needed to do correctly.  She gave me a good tip and I really appreciated it.  I plan on practicing on my typodont this weeked.  Wow, with that off of my chest and out in the open for everyone to read I feel a whole lot better.  Maybe blogging isn't so bad.  Actually, it is kind of theraputic. Well, I had better get to studying for my other 2 tests this weekend.  Until Monday blogging friends.  :)

Monday's Pt

Oops!  I forgot to blog about my experience on Monday.  Normally I would just move on and make sure to keep up on my blogs, but I had a great day on Monday so I wanted to make sure that I blogged about it.  My pt on Monday was awesome.  I was able to do x-rays, get all the way through OHI, and scale one quad!  I was so excited!  Days like today make me feel like one day I really will be able to finish a pt in one appointment.  Not only was I able to get through one quad, but my pt was so interested in how to better take care of his mouth.  After I showed him calculus and how it forms in the mouth and how to prevent it he was asking me for more techniques and information than I gave him.  It was very rewarding for me to see my pt take such an interest in his oral hygiene.  Since he was so interested I really think that he will work to improve and meet the goals that we set.  I am excited to see him at his next appointment to see how things go.  I have also been wanting to improve on organizing my area and I felt like I really had everything organized and looking good.  My goal that I set for today was to try to do things as smoothly as I did today.

Pt No Show... Mom Saved the Day

So, on Wednesday around 8:10 Marianne and I went out to the waiting area to call our patients because they had not shown up yet.  I had called my patient the night before and she told me she was planning on coming and she actually sounded pretty excited about coming, so I figured she would be there.  Unfortunately my call in the morning only went to her voice mail, so I left her a friendly message asking if she was still planning on coming and if she couldn't make it we could reschedule her.  She didn't call back, so I decided that I had better find someone and get them into my chair.  (Since the start of the semester I have dreaded people not showing up because I thought I would be a complete wreck if that happened, but somehow I was able to remain calm.)  Stephanie was extra nice at trying to help me find someone from the resource list, but after calling several people I figured I was wasting too much time, so I called my mom and asked if she would come in for me and she said yes.  My mom immediately left her house and saved the day for me.  She got to the clinic and was in my chair by 9:10.  I somehow managed to get all the way through OHI still.  I was really excited about that!  :)  I really love and appreciate my mom for coming in.  She was the hero of the day.  Since I was able to get all the way through OHI even though I got started an hour late I decided that one day I really will be able to finish a patient in one appointment.  I can't wait for that day to come!  I'm not sure if you can count this as a goal or not, but my goal for Monday is making sure my patient really grasps the importance of actually showing up or at least being kind enough to call and give me a heads up that he can't come, so I can find someone else.

Retakes...

Today went well over all except I had to do retakes on a few of my x-rays.  My patient had a couple molars that were malposed that I couldn't get open until Instructor Hafen showed me her floss trick.  For those of you who would like to use the floss trick here is what you do, while your patient is in the chair and you are checking out their mouth you stick a piece of floss in between the malposed teeth and then remember the angle that the floss was at so you can align the tubehead to go the direction that the floss stuck out.  I hope that made sense and if it didn't then feel free to come talk to me and I will work to better explain it in person.  I was really hoping today that I would be able to at least scale one quad, but the malposed teeth set me back a little.  I am hoping that as long as my patient next Wednesday (not Monday since it's Martin Luther King day and we don't have school- Yay!) is a 1B that I will be able to get to one quad of scaling on her.  I will be working on organizing myself and mentally preparing myself to be able to achieve my goal for the rest of the week.  I have to say that I am amazed at all of the tricks that the instructors have learned since they have worked in private practice.  I really enjoy learning these tricks so I can use them and be able to give the patient the best care that I can.

Actually Calm and had Fun

Today was a great day.  I actually felt calm before my patient arrived and during the whole appointment.  I felt so good knowing that I was calm.  I finished up scaling my husband's mouth today and I loved knowing that I got his mouth clean and as free of bacteria as possible.  It was also fun seeing his progress since the last time I was here.  I only had 2 spots of calculus that I missed and I was really proud of myself for that.  I am still learning at how to see and feel for calculus, but I feel like the more practice I get at it the easier it will be to detect.  I can tell that the interproximal areas are the areas that I need to work on detecting the most.  I also noticed that as I looked through his mouth again I am beginning to be able to notice different restorations faster and more accurately.  I was also able to get everything done on time - a definite improvement from last Wednesday.  :)  I am excited for my patient on Wednesday even more now!

Deja Vu

Wow, I can't believe we're already back in school.  Christmas break felt like an extended weekend almost, but it is good to be back.  I have to be honest I was pretty nervous about seeing a patient today, even though it was my wonderful dad, since we had been gone for a month.  However, the appointment went a lot smoother than I thought it would.  I was also less stressed than I thought I would be (I would like to think I was less stressed because I went over everything I would be doing for forever last night.)  One goal that I have made for myself is to become better at getting the correct angle everytime and faster at probing.  I was actually quite pleased with how well probing went today.  I was within 1 mm of Instructor Caldwell's measurements and was really excited about that.  Stephanie helped me make sure I did my angles correctly as well, which made me feel good.  After I disclosed my dad's mouth during OHI I had him spit into the suction and he couldn't stop laughing.  He said that it looked so funny to him since he could see himself spitting in the mirror.  Then I couldn't help but laugh too.  He was such a good patient.  :)  I am feeling a lot more confident about seeing people that I don't know now.  I was very impressed with those who had people that they didn't know in their chairs today.  So, overall today was a good day and I'm excited to keep working on people!