LAT, LA, and Smiles All Around!

Alright, I have a lot I could say right now.  Last Thursday was AMAZINGLY productive, I thought.  My Class II patient cancelled at 10:30 the night before, so I waltzed over to my parents house to gather my moms health history.  I've kinda dreaded having to use her as an alternate because I knew her health history was going to be super labor intensive, but I also wanted for her to see me at work!, so I went ahead and scheduled her.  I collected all the information I needed in order to fill out my TX record Wednesday night, but I wasnt able to enter in drug info till the next morning because my DDR was in my cubby.  My mom is easily on 12 different prescriptions for various things.  She went septic in May of 2010 from a bladder infection and her health just hasnt been the same since.  The medications took me quite a while to fill out, but we finally were able to move forward to xrays.  I really have to pat myself on the shoulder.  I was super nervous about taking xrays last year but it is surprising to me how well they have come out this year on my various patients!  It really is encouraging and I'm grateful that I am getting faster at taking them, finally!  We were in and out of the xray room very quickly.  I was able to probe, chart, and clean 2 quads of her Class V dentition before the morning was through.  (With no errors!)  Not too bad!  I was also able to pass off my blood glucose PE on her.  It was pretty straightforward.

Robyn R came in the afternoon.  I had to dismiss him prematurely at his last appointment because he had a cold sore.  After completing his OD I was happy to find out he was considered a Class III!  I NEED those!  Haha.  Robyn has caps on each and every one of his teeth with implants interspersed so I had to keep a keen eye on my xrays throughout the appointment as to avoid using a metal instrument (or the wrong US tip) to clean the implants.  It was a good experience for me, learning to rely on xrays better in appointments.  After a few glances, I was able to find the tooth I was looking for more quickly, something that has been a frustration in the past.  I get so turned around...LR,RL...bah.  He had significant edema and erythema along his gum tissue, and it was diffuse.  These caps had caused a lot of irritation and the margins were not tailored to his anatomy very well.  My heart broke for him.  I was able to administer 4 injections, that went seamlessly I am happy to add.  I was able to pass off my first LA PE on him!  After his cleaning, we were able to use LAT -- Laser Assisted Therapy to seal off the blood vessels and lymphatics within his pockets that contribute to the irritation his gingiva are experiencing.  It was neat being able to use the CO2 laser on a patient, rather than just a chicken breast and tomato.  Im so grateful for the thorough education I recieve as a student at WSU.  We really do have the best program ever.  We completed half of Robyns mouth and are using the other half as a control when he returns next week for a reeval.  I'm excited to see what results we find.