Monday, April 9, 2012
Finished Requirements?... CHECK!
Today I finished my requirements for clinic...wahoo! I finished my class 3 today and it was such a GREAT feeling! Looking back over this semester, I can't believe how far I have come. I remember receiving the requirements for this semester and thinking... how in the WORLD will I finish all of this?! It feels so great to be able to say that I actually did it! The skills and confidence I have gained over this semester have surpassed every expectation I have set for myself. I feel so blessed to be in this amazing program. ONE YEAR DOWN!... One more to go! :)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Class III Patient... Halfway Done = A GOOD DAY! :)
Today in clinic I saw my Class III patient again for a continuing care appointment. At his last appointment, I only got through OHI so today I started right in with scaling. Going in to those deep pockets were quite intimidating! But, after scaling the first few teeth I got the hang of it. I used the triple bend ultrasonic tip and my gracey's for the majority of pt. treatment today. I had a lot of success with the combo of the two. I definitely am starting to understand the importance of using both the ultrasonic and hand instrumentation. I was able to get off a significant amount of calculus with the ultrasonic. However, I was loving my gracey's for that tenacious calculus way down deep in the bottoms of those pockets!
I scaled two quads today and only missed one TINY spot. If I ever needed a confidence booster I got one today. Some days I feel like I'm never going to become a clinician worthy of practicing. But today gave me great amounts of hope! I know there are going to be days in the future that I miss more areas, but right now I am just going to enjoy my success! :)
One thing I can focus on for next clinic session is my time management. I am being effective in my instrumentation, however I am taking a TAD bit too long. I think I tend to doubt myself and keep going over areas that I am unsure of. Partly because I know I have enough time to do so and partly because I am still trying to decipher the difference between calculus and... other stuff! :) However, I do need to set "mini goals" for myself throughout the appointment to work on getting a little faster. But I know it will come with time so I just need to be patient with myself...easier said than done!
I scaled two quads today and only missed one TINY spot. If I ever needed a confidence booster I got one today. Some days I feel like I'm never going to become a clinician worthy of practicing. But today gave me great amounts of hope! I know there are going to be days in the future that I miss more areas, but right now I am just going to enjoy my success! :)
One thing I can focus on for next clinic session is my time management. I am being effective in my instrumentation, however I am taking a TAD bit too long. I think I tend to doubt myself and keep going over areas that I am unsure of. Partly because I know I have enough time to do so and partly because I am still trying to decipher the difference between calculus and... other stuff! :) However, I do need to set "mini goals" for myself throughout the appointment to work on getting a little faster. But I know it will come with time so I just need to be patient with myself...easier said than done!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Started My Class III Patient Today - Exciting! :)
Today in clinic I saw my Class III patient. It was my first appointment and probing was quite the experience! It was so cool to actually probe a DEEP pocket! I felt like my probe was never going to stop - kinda scary. Even though I was a LITTLE apprehensive when I first started probing, it was a great learning experience! I can truly say I know what sub-gingival calculus feels like! When I was probing, I began to discern when I was hitting calculus and when I was at the junctional epithelium. I tried my best to try to go around the sub-gingival calculus and get the correct pocket depth. However, it will be interesting to re-probe after I scale and see how accurate I was.
I only got through OHI today. But my patient also had a partial denture so I was able to clean that and pass of my removable appliance PE also. I am done with all my other requirements and this is my last patient. I have three more clinic days left so I feel very confident that I will be able to get my Class III patient done with PLENTY of time. I am glad I am not feeling rushed as we are at the end of the semester...it is a nice feeling! :)
I only got through OHI today. But my patient also had a partial denture so I was able to clean that and pass of my removable appliance PE also. I am done with all my other requirements and this is my last patient. I have three more clinic days left so I feel very confident that I will be able to get my Class III patient done with PLENTY of time. I am glad I am not feeling rushed as we are at the end of the semester...it is a nice feeling! :)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Class II Patient Finished!
This past Wed in clinic I finished my class II patient and passed off two PEs. Wednesday's clinic was a MUCH better day than Monday's - what a relief! I wasn't feeling very confident after Monday so it was REALLY GREAT to have a good day in clinic and regain my confidence.
My patient spoke Spanish and only a little bit of English and that was probably the hardest part of pt. treatment for me. Having a language barrier puts a whole new twist on things. I am determined to have Austin teach my how to teach OHI in Spanish. I think that will help A LOT. The rest is manageable but to be effective with OHI I am going to have to change my lingo! :)
My patient spoke Spanish and only a little bit of English and that was probably the hardest part of pt. treatment for me. Having a language barrier puts a whole new twist on things. I am determined to have Austin teach my how to teach OHI in Spanish. I think that will help A LOT. The rest is manageable but to be effective with OHI I am going to have to change my lingo! :)
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