Real Patient Day

Today was real patient day in our clinic session. I felt like it could have went a little bit smoother. I feel pretty confident in all of the areas except for the computer and paper work. I had the treatment plan ready for a Class IB patient and then my patient ended up being a Class II patient. This was not a big deal except for we needed to delete the treatment that was already in the computer. This seem to take some time. But the good news is that I have a Class II patient for next semesters requirement. I usually feel pretty confident taking x-rays, but I had to take two retakes. I think I must have been a bit nervous today or something. I was able to get through OHI and then I will see my patient back next semester for the rest of the cleaning. Overall today was a good learning experience. I hope that I can be faster next semester. I can't wait until I have some kind of routine that will work for me.

Mock Patient Day

Wow what a day! It was fun to work on my patient and work through the entire process. It seemed to run smoothly. I would have like to have finished 2 quads, but maybe next time. There is just to much to do and remember. Overall, today was a great day and I'm glad that the stress is over. I'm excited to see my real patient on Monday. It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over.

Air-Powder Polishing and Sealants

We learned how to air-powder polish and place sealants in our Monday and Wednesday clinic. It is nice to finally see what an air-powder polisher is and how it works. The hygienist at our office has begged the dentist to get one of these. She must really enjoy using it on her patients. It seems to work really well to remove staining, but I think that it stings your tongue and the taste is not so great. I am glad to be working and passing off the sealant PE. This was one of the easier PE's for me because of experience. It is kind of weird to think that we only have a couple of days left in clinic before the semester is over. Wow! How times flies when your having fun.

Wednesday Clinic Being the patient

Today in clinic, I was the patient and Shalyce was the operator. I felt that it went well. We seemed to stay on time. I felt like it was hard for me to keep my mouth open the entire time. I experienced fluoride varnish for the first time today. I don't like it. I feel like it left my teeth feeling dirty and gross after having a cleaning. I don't think that I will have it again. Sometimes it is hard to be the patient because it is not the most comfortable. I guess this is good so we know how our patients feel. I felt this way after having x-rays taken on me Monday.

Monday Clinic

On Monday we had a mock patient day in clinic. It was kind of stressful, but fun. It was fun to be the operator and go through the full process. I felt like it went pretty smooth for me. I feel like the paper work is the hardest for me. It was nice to be able to work on a new person. It will be fun to be the patient on our next clinic.

Selective Polishing

Today in clinic we learned how to polish. This was kind of nice to learn something that I am familiar with. In class yesterday, we learned that it is not healthy to polish every patient and every tooth. This will be hard for me to get use to since I have been in the dental profession for 15 years and this is pretty routine in the dental offices that I have worked in. It was nice to pass off two PE today. I am finally ahead. Yeah!

Practicing instrumentation clinic

Today in clinic we practiced both anterior and posterior scaling on our pod partners. I am glad that we practiced today. I feel that I am a lot more confident in scaling each time I practice. I also passed off the anterior scaling PE. It was nice to have this passed off today. When passing this PE off today my pod partner had cement from a lingual retainer. It nice to scale the calculus off and make it feel smooth for her.

Curet Clinic

Yesterday in clinic, we learned how to use a Barnhart curet. This was pretty exciting. It is fun to be able to learn and use these scalers. I feel that it is harder to learn on the typodont sometimes because the scalers always get stuck or caught. When scaling my pod partner I was able to remove some biofilm and calculus. I felt like this clinic went well. My goal is to practice and become better at rolling the instrument into the col area from the line angle. Also I am happy to have passed the angulation and instrument PE. This week has been a little stressful because we have had several PE's to pass and several tests. I feel that next week will be the same. It is nice to know that next week will start our tenth week of the semester. Yeah!

Intra-oral camera clinic

Today in clinic, we learned how to use the intra-oral camera on each other. This was really fun to see how it works. I have heard about intra-oral cameras, but have never been able to use one in the offices that I have worked in. It was also relaxing to find out that I passed the dental screening PE. We also practiced anterior scaling and explorering. I have been glad that we have been practicing these skills, because I do need the practice. It was also good to practice running through the health history to the OD section on a new pod partner so that I can become more familar with this part. It seems less stressful practicing everything each time.

Scaling the anterior teeth

In clinic, on Wednesday we learned to scale the anterior teeth using our Nebraska scaler. This was really fun. It is exciting to learn new techniques. I felt that the maxillary lingual surface is probably the hardest to scale. I am so glad that most people don't get alot of build up on these teeth. The easiest surface to scale is definitely the mandibular facial surface. I feel that it will take a while to get use to using indirect vision. The scary thing about it is that you have a sharp instrument in your hand and it isn't easy to see and navigate with your mirror. I hope this becomes easier with practice. I also passed off the probe PE yesterday. The quad that I had to probe was pretty much right on. I think it will be more difficult when we are probing depths that are not WNL. I am glad that we've made it through the eighth week. Yeah! Only seven more to go.

Instrument Classification and Explorer PE

In clinic on Monday we learned about instrument classification and practiced some case studies. I was a little nervous to pass off the explorer PE. It was probably the PE that has given me the most stress so far. I feel that we haven't had to much time to practice exploring on a real patient because we have been busy learning other new things. (or I just did not take advantage of the time) I felt glad to have passed it off. I feel that I still need a lot of practice. My goal is to start practicing on my pod partner when ever I get a chance. We also sorted our instruments and worked on a work sheet that helped to identify each instrument and what they are used for. I'm excited for Wednesday clinic because we are going to learn to use our anterior scalers. This should be a lot of fun.

Wednesday Clinic

My goal in Wednesday's clinic session was to be able to apply all of the skills and techniques that we have previously learned on my patient. The instructor's changed things around a little and had us switch pod partners. This was a good thing because we will be constantly seeing new mouths and will need to know how to deal with the variations. I felt pretty confident with the clinical side of things. I am still trying to get use to how the paper charts work. My goal is to have the paper chart thing pretty much under control by the end of the semester. I thing it just takes practice. It is funny looking back at the first of the semester and thinking that somethings were really hard and now they are pretty easy. I hope that all of the things that we learn are going to feel like that.

Monday clinic

Clinic on Monday was pretty fun. We disclosed our mouth's to see where we are missing when we are brushing. We also went over OHI and toothbrushing technique's with our pod partners. It is amazing how many areas that we miss when we brush and floss. It was funny to see everyone's mouth's blue. It was nice to pass off the instrument grasp PE today.

Dental Screening Clinic

In clinic, on wednesday we learned about dental screening and how to record existing restorations and suspicious areas in the mouth. I feel that the charting of existing restorations and finding suspicious areas was fairly easy. Recording in paper charts has been a little hard to get use to again. I am use to recording all of the information in the computer. I passed off the extra-oral exam PE in this clinic session. I am really happy about that. For some reason I stressed about that one. It does feel good to be about half way through the semester. I feel that finally I am in some kind of routine. My goal is to continue working hard and to learn as much as possible so that I can be a terrific hygientist when I am finished. Sometimes this can be hard to do. For me it is hard to find time to balance so many things like going to school, school work, family life, church and etc. (and it really is etc) But the good news is that it all works out if you take it a day at a time.

Monday Clinic

Yesterday in clinic, we learned about BFI readings we also probed the left side of the mouth. It is amazing to me that after watching someone else probe for the last 15 years I finally get to do it myself. How exciting. It is also interesting to check the gingiva and be able to make the perio statement. I didn't feel that this was to hard, but it will take some practicing. My goal is to become better at recognizing the different colors, textures and contours of the gingiva. It was nice to pass off my mirror fulcrum PE off. Tomarrow the extra-oral PE is due. For some reason this PE seems harder than the intra-oral PE.

Probe Clinic

My goal today was to learn how to probe. When I read through the modules it seemed like it was going to be hard. In fact I was a little scared to probe. I thought probing the typodont was hard and felt that it was easier to probe my pod partner. I was able to probe the maxillary and mandibular lingual and buccal side of my partner. I felt like I did a pretty good job most of the probe readings were right on. It is exciting to actually get this far in the semester and start to put everything that we have learned together. I also passed off the health history and vital signs PE. Oh what a relief.

Monday Clinic: Explorer

Yesterday in clinic, we learned how use our explorers on our pod partners and typodonts. It was hard to adapt the explorer to each tooth. We also had to turn in our health history PE's yesterday. I haven't received mine back yet I hope that I did well. My goal is to practice explorering and become better at it before I see a real patient. I did come home and practice on my typodont model. Today was my first test in anatomy. I am glad that I got a good grade on the test.

Adaption, angulation and activation clinic

September 17, 2008 clinic - Today in clinic we learned about instrument grasp and how to explore using adaption, angulation, and activation. This was a fun day in clinic to be able to work on our pod partners and the typodont's. The instrument grasp and how to use our fingers as fulcrums might be challenging and hard to get use to. My goal is to practice and become more at ease using the instruments this way. I feel that it is challenging because I have been an assistant for a long time and assistants hold their instruments different than hygienists.

Intra-oral Examination Clinic

Today in clinic we learned how to give an intra-oral examination. This seemed hard at first, but after practicing a couple of times it wasn't as hard as it seemed. I feel that it is easier than the extra-oral exams that we learned last week. My goal is to pass the extra oral examination and intra-oral PE off by next week. Taking my pod partners blood pressure was a lot easier today I seem to be getting the hang of it.

Thursday Class

Today in radiology class we had a guest speaker. His name was Professor Harrison from the radiology department. It was very interesting to hear about how x-rays work and the effects that they can have if proper precautions are not taken. In hygiene class today, we had a quiz and I didn't do so well. Better luck next time. Tomarrow we will be going down to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi for our first UDHA meeting this should be fun.

Blood pressure and extraoral examinations

My goal for Monday clinic was to learn to take vital signs on my pod partners. This was quite difficult. Taking my partners respiration and pulse was fairly easy, but learning to take blood pressure was a little challenging. It is hard to sometimes find the patient's pulse and hard to manipulate all of the equipment to get the readings. This is going to take some practice for me I am use to taking blood pressure's digitally. It will be fun to bring my blood pressure cuff and stethoscope home and practice on my family.
Today in clinic I learned how to do an extraoral examination on my pod partner. I have seen this done many times in the office that I work at, but it was exciting to be able to actually do this exam on someone for the first time. I learned how to palpitate and look for abnormalities in the different areas of the head and neck. This went well but will require a lot of practice also. We also learned about fulcrums and how to use our mirrors. Overall I feel that my clinic experience this week has been fun and that I have learned alot.

Ethics class

Today in ethics class we learned about different issues that effect the dental professional. It is very interesting to learn about these issues. I feel that it is very important to know what to do in certain situations that you could face as a working professional. I have really enjoyed the other students point of views and feel that I have been learning a lot in all of my classes. It is nice that the weekend is here so I can have a little bit of a break and spent time with my family.

Wednesday Clinic

It was exciting to pass off a couple of P.E's again yesterday. That is quite a relief to have a couple completed. We have been learning about health histories this week. It is interesting how important health histories are and if they are not evaluated properly the complications they may have for the patient. After working in the dental field for nearly 15 years, I feel that reviewing health histories is very important for the patient's health and for the dental professional that is treating the patient. It is amazing to see the difference in the level of patient evaluation that the program requires versus a general practice office. I feel happy to be more educated on how certain prescriptions may effect the patient and what health problems may need more attention before seeing a patient.

First week of school

What an exciting week it has been. It was nice to get the first week of school behind me. It feels nice to not be as anxious as I felt the first few days. It was nice to be able to pass off a couple of P.E.'s in clinic on Wednesday. That was a relief. I can't wait to get into a routine. I have learned alot this week in all of my classes. I feel that the next 2 years are going to be alot of fun. I am also looking forward to this nice long weekend.

First day of dental hygiene class

Today was my first day of class as a dental hygiene student. I was a little bit nervous this morning to start the program. The day went very well. The program seems like it will be a lot of work, but a lot of fun. The dental hygiene students and teachers seem very nice. This is going to be a great experience. It is nice to have the first day behind me.

Hygiene orientation

Today is orientation for the hygiene program. I was very nervous, but it has been a great day. I am really excited to start the program on Monday. It was exciting to get my insruments and lab coats for the program.