VA #3 and Clinic #3b

VA was pretty good this week. I got to do some digital x-rays which I really need for my requirements. I did a full mouth and I actually didn't do too bad of a job. I was even able to get all of the apices in the films! There was no possible way I was going to be able to get the sensor to fit in the patients max. ant. to get the x-rays I needed so Professor Hanson taught me a new technique. I had the patient bite on the sensor like a cracker (not literally bite, that would have broken the sensor!!). I was able to get the shot but I forgot to increase the exposure time so the films were too light.
Clinic on thursday was such a nightmare! I had one of my clinic days from last semester. My first patient walked into the clinic and decided she didn't want a cleaning so she walked right back out. Then I couldn't find anyone at all to come! I even walked around campus to find someone!! Then my patient in the afternoon had too high of blood sugar so I had to send her home. Luckily I had a sweet patient who could come right over and I was able to clean 1 quad of her teeth and she was a class 3 so it wasn't a complete waste of a day!

clinic #3

Clinic this week was interesting. I found another class three and I declared her as an exam. It feels good to be getting these classifications in. I wasn't able to get to scaling on her yet because I have such a slow pace sometimes. I really need to work on speeding up my OD process and the HHX. If I was able to get these done faster I think I would be able to scale a quad before my patient leaves. That is my goal from now on, to speed up my patient process. I also need to increase my scaling speed as well. First though is making sure I am just scaling right. What good will it do me if I am scaling fast but not effectively and leaving burnished calculus everywhere? I hope I can be a little quicker from now on.

VA #2

I really really like the VA! This was the second time at the VA that we got to see patients and I feel like it has helped me so much with my scaling skills. I saw some more difficult patients today and got some good classifications. Classifications aside though I am so happy I am getting these particular patient experiences. I cleaned some quads of a class II and I learned a lot. Professor Hanson came in and helped me with my scaling techniques and I feel like I am improving. I am still a little unsure of my skill level though. There is so much to learn! I guess it is a really good thing I still have a year of clinic left before I go out into the real world and scale on my own!

Week #2

I saw some great patients this week!! I utilized my list of patients I got from the women's health connection and found a class III! I also saw a patient who I got from the clinic and she was a class II. I am doing so much better with my requirements this semester and I think it is because I just threw myself into the hard patients. I am proud of myself for getting into clinic and seeing the harder patients but I feel like there is a lot I have to learn about cleaning teeth in harder mouths. I am practically a slug at scaling. I know I can go fast but I always seem to fill the time that I have so if I have an hour to scale a 1B I will almost take up that whole hour. I think that I do this because I get so nervous about missing calculus so I go over and over the same spot and I totally waste time. I wish I could feel confident enough with my skills that I could scale and have the instructor check it without me rechecking and rechecking my work and without me taking a million years. That is my main goal this semester in clinic, to improve my scaling techniques and then to speed up my scaling so I can survive in a private practice.

1st real clinic day and VA

This week was our first patient day and it was pretty crazy!! My patient cancelled the night before and I frantically tried to find a new one. Most of my recall list and patient list is spanish speaking so it was really difficult to find people to call. I ended up having my aunt come in and at least I had a patient in the chair! The afternoon was a little disappointing because I had a patient who had never had a cleaning and never flosses so I was sure she would be at least a II. Of course with my luck she was a 1B! Bummer! I took a full mouth on her for some reason so I didn't even get her finished!! It was frustrating!! I just need my classifications!! I also got to go to the VA this week and I loved it! It was such a fun atmosphere and I felt like it was a good learning environment for me. I love the fast pace of the VA as well. I hope that the VA will help me to fulfill some of my harder requirements that I can't seem to find anywhere else!!

8/28

Today was clinic orientation and it was nice to get eased back into clinic and not have to worry about finding a patient. I really like my pod and I think this year will go well. We opened up all our new instruments and got things organized. I am excited to use my new instruments! I wonder when we get to learn how to use our new instruments because I have never seen some of those instruments before in my life!!