Clinic January 21,2009

My goal this day was to complete an exam and finish my patient in one clinic session. I was really happy because I met my goal. I feel that declaring my patient as an exam helped me to become faster at scaling. I saw my brother-in-law on this clinic day. He was a Class 1B. The day went really smooth. I didn't need any retakes and at scale check I only had to rescale two areas. I felt like this was a good experience. I don't know if I passed the exam yet, but feel pretty optimistic about it. I feel like I am always anxious the night before and the day of clinic. I don't know how to relax before clinic and hope that the anxious feelings will slowly get better. It seems like I am normal because the other girls in my pod say that they feel the same. Most of my clinic days have been smooth so I don't know why I feel so stressed about clinic. Hooray the third week in the semester is over. Only 12 weeks to go. I am enjoying the program, but it is nice to have the weeks fly by.

Wednesday Clinic

On Wednesday my goal was to pass off a couple of PE's and take some radiographs using the phosphor plate system. The phosphor plate system is really nice to use and takes up less time to develop or run through to see your image. I brought my daughter to clinic on Wednesday. I feel that sometimes it is harder to work on your own children. It took me a while to probe her mouth. She is twelve and had probably about twelve to fourteen permanent teeth. She did not like the probing experience. I found that it isn't very comfortable for this age and it is hard for the patient to keep their mouth open for a long period of time. The cleaning went very well. I am glad to have two less PE's to pass off this semester.

Class 1A exam

My goal for today was to not be stressed out. I feel that I was a little stressed out, but tried really hard to not be stressed out. I felt like my day went pretty smooth. I am glad that I did the 1A exam. My daughter was my patient. She was a little uncomfortable a times but she was a good sport for being my patient. I feel pretty confident that I passed my first exam in clinic. I hope that clinic will become more comfortable each time.

First Day Back 2nd semester

My goal for the first day back in clinic was to learn how to use the ultrasonic and the gracey scalers. I have seen many hygienist's use these instruments. The hygienist's that I know seem to really enjoy using the ultrasonic and I feel that I will like it to. The day went pretty smooth for me. I feel that these instruments were fun to use and I'm excited to use these for treatment. I am nervous for this new semester. There are many requirements to meet and a lot to learn this semester. I hope that I don't have a heart attack at the moment I feel that I might. I hope that clinic tomorrow goes smooth for me. I don't feel so much intimidated with the actual treatment, I feel it is being able to remember all of the steps for the paper work and all of the rules of the clinic. I can't wait until things just feel natural for me and I don't have to feel as much stress. I guess my goal for tomorrow should be not to stress out.