Goal Achieved! AND the most satisfying day yet in clinic!!

After disappointing myself beyond reason last Wednesday, I was determined to finish 4 quads of a 1B in one appointment...and TODAY I DID!  On my Father!  It was exhilarating!  and Im glad I was able to share the memory with my dad.  Everything went smoothly and of the whole mouth, I only missed one surface of supracalc.  Not bad, not bad!  AND, I finished 2 PEs.  Now that I've accomplished this, I will expect no less of myself and I WILL complete 4 Quads on EVERY OTHER 1B patient I see.  Using the scaler to search surfaces of the teeth for deposits really helped to increase my time, as well as being confident in myself.  It helped that my dad has such a large mouth!  Easier access to all the surfaces!  Professor Costley recommended using and H6/7 instrument for anteriors because it is less bendy than a nevi.  I havent tried using one before, so I put it in my cassette for sterilizing, instead of the Indiana, which I rarely use.  Ill test it out. 

I wish I had finished Tami today!

Monday was Presidents Day.  No clinic.  Today I walked into clinic confident I would be able to finish Tami's OD (including probing) and complete all her quads.  After completing only 1 quadrant I have to admit, I feel rather defeated.  The great aspect of the day was that I didnt miss a single surface on her quadrant, and truth be told I was able to finish the second quadrant.  I just had no time to have a professor do a scale check before I had to have her out the door.  I feel really discouraged about the time it takes me to scale.  I need to improve my time drastically, especially since she was only a 1B.  Next time I dont care what it takes, I will finish all 4 quads of a 1B in one appointment.  That is my goal. 

Major freakout.

Heather stabbed me today.  With a blood glucose lancet.  Nothing short of traumatic.  I HATE blood glucose tests.  Stab me anywhere else and Im fine.  I wont even flinch during anesthesia next year, I just hate giving out my finger!  Well suffice it to say I can sympathize with my patients now, if thats what they were going for.  ;)  We also learned how to clean removable prostheses and pretended to know how to use the diagnodent.  We were the test dummies with that training and our machines werent working the way we expected them too.  Hopefully Ill be okay when it comes time to pass off those PEs.  Everything went smoothly except my big freakout in class and I hope Ill be able to pass off those PEs soon.  Goal:  never have a blood glucose test again. 

CA Duty

Happy Valentines Day!  Today I was able to be a CA for the morning clinic.  Im feeling more comfortable with the responsibilities the second time around.   I do pretty well.  The other 1st year came in a little late but I was able to get things going seamlessly!  I hope I feel comfortable with it next year after the long break.  Im glad Im getting these TA duties out of the way early. During clinic I completed Raphael.  I feel bad that it has taken this long to finish him but it felt good to finally tell him he wouldnt have to return for 6 mo.  I received some good feedback from an instructor regarding decreasing my time.  She said to use my scaler to explore rather than switching back and forth between the scaler and explorer.  Then I need to use my explorer to reexamine those areas I used my scaler to explore (once I think Im finished).  Ill try implementing that.  Goal:  decrease my time scaling.  Im so slow!

OD

I feel like all Im doing are ODs!  I feel like a measly assistant!  I guess it will pay off later.  Marie came in today.  I had to have her sleepover so that I knew she would be there.  Things went smoothly.  I was even able to diagnose 2 sealants on her.  Goal for next time she visits: complete my sealant PE.  Today I got some good feedback. Marie is a good friend so she was really open as to things she didnt understand as I spoke with her.  I learned of those things I can explain differently and more clearly.  I appreciated her feedback.  Goal:  be clear when explaining what I am performing on my patients.  I took BWX digitally, and had difficulty reaching that far back.  I should work on that.

Scaling a Quad II

Today I started off taking xrays of Stephanie.  I did a pretty great job and she mentioned that she was a gagger, but after instructing her to breath through her nose and to lick salt she did just fine!  I felt good about helping her!  Then I was able to treat 1 quad of Raphael.  I would have really liked to get through 2 quads but it took a super long time to get Vining to verify my xrays to Steph.  That held me up a good half hour.  Agh!  At our next appt Im going to try super hard to work through Raphael.  I want to be faster!  And goal for next time: Pass off a PE.  I need to get on that, STAT!  Maybe Ill do anterior and pictures next time! 

My Favorite Father!

Marie was supposed to come in today but she slept in so I had to call my dad.  I was anticipating a really difficult day but his calming influence and ability to "open wide!"  made it so easy!  Plus, contrary to my dental hygienists opinion, he is only a Class1B.  I was able to catch all his restorations and even 9/10s of his root canals!  I was so happy!  It has been a great day, and I feel really wonderful.  I did a swell job of probing and evaluating dentition.  Goal for next time: move through probing somewhat faster.  And I accidentally disclosed my pt before my OD.  Instructors need to be able to evaluate tissues so I need to make sure to do it after.  Only problem is I was asked my pts PFI once at the OD and I didnt have it so I got confused as to when it needed to be accomplished.  Everything got taken care of though.