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.