FMX!!

Today I did a FMX 14 PAX on my patient. Luckily my patient was one of my very good friends and was very patient with me. :) I was a little nervous to take a FMX since the last time I had taken one was in radiology last semester. However, I was able to quickly re-orient myself. One very beneficial lesson I learned from taking x-rays today was to quickly EVALUATE the size of the patient's mouth/dentition before taking films. My patient had a VERY small mouth. I started with size 2 films and quickly realized there was NO possible way they were going to fit in her mouth - especially with using the ORA. However, instead of actually looking in her mouth and SEEING that it was TINY, I tried putting Edge Ez on the size 2 film. This was unsuccessful and I finally switched to the size 1 films. Although it worked out OK, I could have saved time and kept my patient out of a little bit of unnecessary pain.

I was very grateful for the experience and the lesson I learned! All in all, the x-rays turned out great. I only had to take 1 retake and was very pleased to see that my x-rays were diagnostic. I think I am off to a good start! :)

Stranger... No Danger! :)

Today in Clinic I saw my first "stranger" or non-family member/friend. Prior to Clinic, I was anxious because I was afraid that I would get really nervous and timid around my patient. However, to my surprise, I was very calm, cool, and collected. This gave me great confidence and the majority of the patients I will be seeing out of school will be complete strangers. I was able to establish rapor with my patient and was grateful for the experience.

My patient had a VERY EXTENSIVE health history. At first I was a little "flustered" as I began to look over the health history form. BUT, once again, I am grateful for the experience! I was reminded of how to chart complications, medications, etc. properly and gained confidence as I was rewarded a "job well done" by my professor.

I only got through an OD Check today but I was happy with my efforts. When I was probing I was able to find some deeper pockets and furcas -- HOW EXCITING! :) It was such a great learning experience for me. I truly was able to understand the difference between a class 1,2,3,4 furcation. All in all today was a great day. I find myself becoming more comfortable, confident, and excited to treat patients with each Clinic session. HOORAY FOR TREATING PATIENTS! :)

Second Day of Clinic = 2 Patients.... What Did I Do?!

Today was our "second day of clinic" as far as seeing patients go. It turned out really good BUT it definitely had its moments of stress! I decided to see two patients today. At first, I just had a 1A patient scheduled for the full three hours. I later learned that this patient was only 3 yrs old and realized it wouldn't take me three hours to treat this patient nor would a 3 yr old sit in my chair for three hours willingly! So, I scheduled my 1A patient for 1 1/2 hrs and scheduled my Husband, Austin, for the remainder of the clinic session.

In my mind, I imagined 1A patients to be SO easy. You don't have to probe, you MIGHT have to scale. Piece of cake - right? Well I was in for a treat! My 1A patient was great but loved playing with all my instruments, telling me stories, and taking the chair on rides! I was SO happy this patient was comfortable in the dental setting because I truly believe it makes the BIGGEST difference on oral health behavior BUT...I was truly exhausted by the end of that first appointment. However, I am grateful I had the opportunity early on to treat a 1A patient, it helped me to TRULY UNDERSTAND how different it is to treat a child vs. an adult. I am glad I have come to this realization so that I can better plan for and treat my 1A patients. I want to be able to provide them with the best experience possible to reinforce good OH habits. Hopefully I did so today.

All in all, I was happy with my efforts. I gained some great experience and can't wait to apply it to my next patient. LET THE FUN BEGIN! :)

First Pt. Day in Spring Clinic!

Today we saw our first patient of the Spring Semester. It was a little nerve racking at first (of course) but once I got going with treatment things went really smoothly! I was really excited because I only missed one area of calculus - #5 mesial surface. I was grateful I missed an area though because it was a great learning experience. Prof. Wold also reminded me of the deep grooves present in the anatomy of the premolars. This helped me visualize the premolars as I was scaling and allowed me to make sure that I got deep enough into the col area so that I could make sure there was no calculus present within those grooves.

I also was reminded to keep my middle finger on the lower on the shank of the explorer so that I can have more tactile sensitivity - it totally made the biggest difference. I am excited to be back at school and in clinic. I realized that I need to brush up on some areas, but all in all I am beginning to feel more confident with my abilities and the skills I have gained thus far. I am excited to keep moving forward in this journey to becoming a successful hygienist! :)

First Day Back! :/

Clinic was really great today! I was nervous about coming back and being discouraged because I had lost so many of the skills I had gained in Fall semester. But, to my surprise, I got right back on track! We learned how to use our Gracey's and our Ultrasonic Tips. I LOVE THE TRIPLE BEND!! :) I am excited that we have learned how to use the rest of our instruments so that we can start to use them on REAL patients and apply the knowledge we have learned today. I need to learn to not doubt myself as much and have CONFIDENCE in myself. I CAN DO THIS!!