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.