Last Day of VA

My last day at the VA was a really weird day. It was the day before Thanksgiving, so no one wanted to come in. Most of our 8:00 patients cancelled or no showed. I got a patient, but he was a very easy 1B. His probe depths were perfect, he hardly even had any 3's. He had a plaque score of 0. He only took about 10 min. I couldn't pass off any PE's; there was nothing I could pass off with such an easy patient. All of the 9:30 patients cancelled. We were all done by 9:30 so we had a very long lunch. The afternoon was just as bad. Only 2 patients came. I didn't have one in the afternoon. It was an interesting way to end the semester, but we have fun. I love my VA group. It was a good semester.

11-25-08 Last day of clinic

I had a class 5 pt in the morning. He was so nice. He brought me donuts. He didn't have very much calculus, and what he did have came off pretty easily. I also did 4 BWX. Everything went really well. He had to leave early, but since he was such an easy patient it didn't really matter. He was done anyway. He had the worst attrition I've ever seen. He said he grinds his teeth at night. I recommended a night guard. Hopefully he gets one; he hardly has teeth left.

My afternoon patient cancelled. I was able to pass off my desensitization PE on Julie, so at least it wasn't a complete waste. Julie passed off her caries risk assessment on me. My saliva flow was better than when we did it in lab, but it was still pretty low.

11-18-08

My morning patient was a class 3. She was missing a lot of teeth, so it was just 3 quads. For the most part her calculus came off pretty easily, but there were some spots that were very tenacious. I was able to pass of my perio file PE. She was really sensitive, but didn't want to be numb. She didn't even know what floss was. I talked to her about it and showed her how to use it. She kept asking for more things she could do to fix the infection in her mouth; she seemed interested when I was teaching her. Hopefully she will use it.

My afternoon patient was a class 5. She fell three weeks ago and hit her face on a step. Her teeth were mobile and she had a draining fistula. I took a PA. She has what looks like a periapical abcess. Dr. Anderton looked at it and said that she probably needs a RCT. He also adjusted the crown on the tooth that was the most mobile so she wouldn't be biting on it as heavily and it would be able to heal and tighten. Her tissues everywhere else looked so much better than they did last semester. She has been taking much better care of her teeth.

11-12-08

My 8:00 pt no showed, so I was very grateful that we had 9:30 patients. My 9:30 pt came an hour early, yeah! It worked out so good. He was glad to be able to be seen so early. He turned out to be a class 3. He was a hard patient. Some of his teeth were going to be extracted after his cleaning. I got 2 quads done; I was able to do 5 injections. They went really well. I'm feeling a lot more confident with injections now.

My afternoon patient was a class 2. He had one tooth that was sensitive to pressure. I took a PA. There was a very small radiolucency at the apex of the tooth, so he was scheduled for endo testing.

11-11-08

Today was very productive. I just had a 1b in the morning, but I got 3 PE's done. I did the diagnodent, air-powder polish, and caries risk assessment. I also did a set of bitewings. My patient did not like the air-powder polish. She had braces on her bottom teeth, so I just used it on the buccal of her mandibular teeth. She didn't like spitting in a cup for 5 min, but she was interested in the results of her CRA.

My afternoon patient was a class 5. I also did a FMX and the blood glucose PE. It took a while to get started because we had to look something up about premed, and I had to call his physician. It all worked out though and the apt went very well. I didn't miss anything.

11-4-08

My patient in the afternoon was a class 5. I was able to do BWX and my arestin PE. I missed one spot on her. There was a piece of calculus apical to a crown margin that I didn't feel. Once Prof. Alexander showed me where it was it was easy to feel.

My patient had a lesion on her tongue. Dr. Anderton looked at it and said it wasn't anything to worry about, but to make a good note to compare it at her next apt. This was the first time I've ever had a patient with a lesion that needed to be looked at.

11-4-08 Lab

In our lab we went over emergency situations, including an earthquake and medical problems. It was helpful; it's good to know what to do if there is an emergency, and the more practice the better.

We also learned about subgingival irrigation and desensitization; those were really easy. We tried some different kinds of varnish. Neither of them stayed on as well as vanish does. I didn't like them.

We practiced wheelchair transfers. That was fun. We have a lot of wheelchair patients at the VA, so it's something that is very important for us to go over. It wasn't quite realistic because none of us were very hard to lift, but it was still good practice.

10-29-08

My 8:00 pt didn't show up. Kem found a patient for me in dental though, so I was able to see a pt. He was a class 5. I saw him earlier this semester, so he had no calculus.

I got another pt at 9:30. He was a class 3. He hadn't had his teeth cleaned since the 50's. His calculus was so tenacious. He was a really hard patient; it was good practice.

In the afternoon I had a 1b. He had a lot of calculus on his mand. ant. linguals, but that was pretty much all. There was just a little bit in the rest of his mouth. I'm glad I had a really hard patient at 9:30, because my other patients today were very very easy.

10-28-08

I had a class 2 in the morning. I was also able to do a FMX. I need PA's really bad, so that was good. My bitewings turned out aweful, but my PAs were really good. I was able to get all of the 3rd molars in.

In the afternoon my pt didn't show up. I tried calling her and she didn't answer. Luckily Lindy's pt brought her husband with her in hopes that someone would be able to see him. He was 2 quads of a 2 and 2 quads of a 5. I was also able to get 3 PE's done, so it was a good day. He was kind of upset about the health history. He didn't see what my questions had to do with anything. I explained the impact oral health had on the body and vice versa. He was still really ornery about it. Once I was done with the OD he was really nice though.

Mockboards

I'm glad mockboards are over; clinic seems a lot less stressful now. I was a student examiner in the morning. It was nice to be able to see the flow of things before it was my turn.

My patient forgot about the apt even though it was confirmed the day before. Of course, there always has to be something to keep things interesting. Mr. Soloman called her and she did come in, but she was an hour late. I didn't have much time to scale because she was so late and needed anesthesia, but it went okay. The injections went really well. I missed a few spots, but if I would have had more time I would have done much better, so I feel good about it. I'm really glad we get to experience the whole process a few times before our real boards.

This morning was very relaxing. It's incredible the difference it makes when we don't have a patient for clinic. The lab went well. Accessory fulcrums were easy; I've been using some of them already. It was cool to see the difference between the sonic and the two types of ultrasonic scalers. The blood glucose is really easy to use. The saliva thing was okay, but it's gross to watch. I've already placed arestin at the VA; I'm glad we talked about it today. There's not much to medicaments; they are pretty easy.

My patient this afternoon made me mad. He called last night to say he might be cancelling if he can't find someone to work for him (even though he's been scheduled for a month). He said he would call at 10:00 today to let me know. I told him to leave me a message, and to call as soon as he could so I could find another pt if he couldn't come in. He never called. I tried to call several times, but he didn't answer. I figured he probably wasn't coming so I started to look for another pt. I couldn't find anyone, but then he did end up coming. After all that he was just a 1B! Oh well.

This morning I had a new pt. She turned out to be a 1B. She didn't speak any English; I was very glad to have translators there to help. She wanted a full mouth done, so I finally got some PA's. The posterior PA's were hard because her mouth was very small. They turned out good though.

My patient this afternoon didn't speak any English either, but her son was there to translate. She was a new pt and a class 2. She will work for mockboards, Yeah! She has never had her teeth cleaned before. Her calculus is very, very tenacious. I'm kind of nervous to use her for mockboards because it is so hard to remove her calculus, but at least I have a pt.

9/23/08

Tuesday morning I just had a 1B with a set of bitewings. It all went really well; I didn't miss any spots. His gums were really inflamed by his lingual bar. I gave him some floss threaders to use; hopefully he uses them .

That afternoon was much better; I had a class 4. It was awesome. I've never seen anything like his mouth, even in a textbook. He is going to have all of his teeth extracted and is getting dentures. On #3 I could see the entire lingual root, and there was plenty of room to get instruments under it. The tooth was so mobile I was afraid to do any hand instrumentation on it; I would have pulled it out. I don't think I've seen so much calculus in every patient I've seen put together. It was so cool. I was glad Emily finished early; she suctioned for me, it helped so much. His anterior teeth were a lot more mobile after I scaled; the calculus was giving them a lot of support. When I was done it was incredible to see the difference between the two sides of his mouth. He'll be in next tuesday for me to finish. I'm excited! When he comes back in I am going to try to get used to the curved ultrasonic tips.

Today was a pretty easy day. This morning I had a 1A and my other pt cancelled. I was able to pass off infection control, sealant, and selective polish PE's. I did two sealants and a set of 2 bitewings. My patient was a really good kid. She didn't have any problems with holding still or anything.

This afternoon I had a 1B. I did BWX on him too. He had x-rays 6 months ago, but they were not at all diagnostic; so I took more as retakes. They turned out really good.

I need to work on exploring. I still can't always feel the calculus.

9/9/08

My patient this morning was a recall. She was a class 2 the first time she came in and then a class 5 last time. Her last apt was 4 yrs ago, so I thought for sure she would be a class 2 again. She takes very good care of her teeth now though so she was a 5. It was a little disapointing, but it was cool to see how much she has improved. Her probe depths were better every time she came in. The first time she had some 8 mm pockets; now she had 2 4 mm pockets, but the rest were 2's and 3's. Her OH has improved so much. It's good to know that some of the things we tell our patients sink in and actually help.

My patient this afternoon was a class 5 also. She was the same kind of patient as this morning. She was very interested during OHI and was motivated to continue improving her home care.

Overall, today went really well. It all went smoothly. I missed a couple of spots, but I feel like my scaling skills are improving.

4/23/08

Today was the last clinic. I only needed one more quad of a class II. I am so glad my patient came; I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't come. It was the biggest relief to finish. I still need one more sealant, but I'm going into the senior clinic to do a sealant tomorrow morning. I've already got that set up, so I'm not worried about it.

Clinic today was amazing! It was my best day I think. I did 2 quads of a class II and it went really well. I didn't miss any spots. I am still too slow, but I was really happy with how well it went. She only spoke a little bit of English, but I haven't had a patient who has spoken any English at all in a while.

It is the biggest relief ever to be finished. I hope I'm ready for next year. I don't feel very ready. I have improved a lot, but I am still really slow. I guess I'll find out next year if I'm ready for next year! Right now I'm just glad for a break.

4/21/08

Today I completed my class III requirement. I finished 2 quads. I also finished the last of my PE's. That was a huge relief! I had planned on finishing them last time, but it didn't work out, so I was glad to get them done today. I did the intraoral camera and the removable appliance. I thought the appointment went well. My patient was pretty close to on time and scaling went all right. There were 2 spots that I had a hard time removing. It was kind of frustrating because I couldn't get those 2 spots with the ultrasonic or hand instruments. My instructor was helpful in showing me how to get in there, but it still took me a while to remove them completely.

4-16-08

Today I had a class III. It went all right; I missed a few spots, but it was actually easier than my class II exam. I got 2 quads done. Now I'm half-way done with my class III's. I need to get faster though. I'm still really slow at scaling.

4/14/08

Today I did my class II exam. It did not go well. I took a long time and missed a lot of spots. I wish I would have done my exam on my other class II; I did so much better. I was able to do my last set of bitewings, so now I am done with x-rays. I'm worried about what my score will be on my exam. It just wasn't a good day. He was really nice though. Now I just need 1 more quad of a II.

4/8//08

Today I saw a class II patient. I only missed two spots, so I thought it went well. I was able to pass of my ultrasonic and diagnodent PE. I forgot to chart the baseline reading, but other than that both PEs went well. I did take longer than I should on a II, but I was able to finish all four quads.

4/7/08

My patient today was 86 years old. She was 3 quads of class V and 1 quad of class II. I've never seen so much plaque; I was pulling out piles of it. It was packed between her teeth and under her bridge. I used the ultrasonic 1st and thought I got most of it, but it just kept coming. It was kind of cool. The apt. went really well. I did miss some tiny spots, but my instructor was really helpful.

4/2/08

Today I had another no-show. what a suprise; it's becoming a regular thing on wednesdays. I called someone off the list and he said he'd be there in 30 min. He actually got here at about 10:00, but it was worth the wait. He's a class II. I finished the OD, but didn't have time to start scaling, but I got him scheduled for the 14th. I wasn't able to do any PE's today. I didn't have a patient for most of the time and I've already done my peer calculus removal and instrument sharpening PEs. I did sharpen my instruments though so at least I got something productive done while I was waiting.

3/31/08

Today I had a patient who was a class two last time she came in. She was a class V this time. I didn't miss any spots, but it kind of took a long time. She had quite a bit of calculus, so I was really slow finishing. Today I felt like I was getting better with my angulation.

3/26/08

I had another no show today. I called a lot of people, but I couldn't find anyone who could come in. Nicole's patient heard that I didn't have a patient and started calling his friends. He was so nice! He gave me a number for a friend he couldn't get a hold of. I called and left a message and about ten min. later he came to the clinic and said he got a message that there was an opening and asked if it was still available. Yeah! He was a 1B, but at least I got a patient. His appointment went really well. He had to leave early because he had a class, but I was able to finish.

3/24/08

I had my last 1A today. I was able to do bitewings, a pano, and sealants; so I felt like it was a productive day. She didn't really have any calculus; so I finish really fast. I didn't end up walking her out until 3:45 though because I had to wait for an hour and 20 min for a scale check. It was really frustrating. At least she was pretty patient with the whole thing. She was getting really restless, but I would be too if I had to sit that long waiting to go home. Poor kid!

3/19/08

Today my patient no-showed! I called him and his girlfriend answered; she said that he was supposed to call and cancel, but forgot. I tried to call someone off the list, but he couldn't come in today. I called my brother and he came in. I knew he would be a 1B, but at least I was able to do my caries intervention project. He has a lot of white spot lesions and snacks a lot; usually chips. I didn't really get anything else done, but I was glad by brother could come in and I wasn't left without a patient.

3/17/08

Today I had a pt who has been smoking for 13 years. I was hoping for perio., but she was a 1B. It went really well. I didn't miss any spots and got done pretty fast. The staining was hard to get completely off, but my instructor showed me a trick to getting it off in some areas. It was the worst on the mandibular anterior linguals. She had a lot of calculus in that area too, but not much posterior calculus.

3/5/08

Today I had a 1A exam. It went really well. I was able to do some bitewings, but didn't need any sealants which is what I was really hoping for.

CA day

Today I was CA with Jessica. It was a good day. I knew what I was doing this time, so that was good. I now have all my 1A's scheduled. I just need Perio! I'm really stressing about it. I don't have any, not one quad!

2-27-08

Wednesday was a crazy day. My patient called the day before to say that he could only stay for 45 min; then he was ten min late, so I only had 35 min. I had already done his OD, so I was able to finish him; I felt very rushed though. I also had another patient come in at 9:00. I did a pano and sealants. I was able to pass off my air-powder and my sealant PE's. I felt like I got a lot done, but I didn't feel very organized.

another 1B, of course

I had a new patient today. I was hoping for a perio patient; I'm done with my 1bs, but I don't have anything else yet. It did go well though. I got BWX and I was able to finish without missing any spots. I was also able to pass off a PE. I'm ready for a perio patient; I just wish I could find one!

CA

I was CA for the 1st time today. It was fun. It was kind of nice to have a more relaxing day; except that the end of the semester is coming quick and I'm nowhere near the end of my requirements. At least I now have one more PE done!

Lab day

It was so relaxing this morning not having to stress about my patient showing up. Going over ins info was boring of course, ins stuff is always boring. I feel bad for the instructor that had to talk about it for six hours. Talking about ultrasonics was helpful. We also went okver removable prostheses and diagnodent. Those seemed pretty easy.

I don't have any patients next week because Mon. is presidents day and Wed. I am CA.

2-11-08

Another 1b! I did my 1b exam today. It went great! I didn't miss any spots. I did take over 25 min. to scale, but not too much longer; I'm glad I decided to do my exam today. I felt like I was actually starting to get faster, finally. I really really really want to find a perio pt! I've been trying, but I haven't had any luck.

2-6-08

My pt today was 70 yrs old, he brushes his teeth 2 times per week and never flosses, but of course he was just a 1b. That's my luck! I'm really getting nervous about requirements. We only have 11 clinic days left and I haven't found any perio patients yet. I thought for sure my patient today would be, but he didn't have bone loss. It did go well though. He's going to be going on a mission for 1 1/2 yrs, so he wanted a full mouth. He also had some 5 mm pockets. I've never had a pocket over 3 mm, it was cool.

2-4-08

Today I had a patient come back that I started last week. She's just a 1b, but she had a ton of calculus. It took me way too long to scale her. I missed 4 spots; they were all subgingival. My instructor helped me a lot. She watched as I went over those spots again and helped me find the ones that I couldn't feel. It helped a lot.

1-30-07

My mom was my patient today. She was my patient last semester, so I had already started her; I had already scaled 1 quad. I didn't miss anything today, so I was happy with the appointment. I am still too slow though! I passed off my explorer PE today. I was glad to be able to pass one off. It's hard to catch the instructors when they have time.

1-28-07

My pt today hadn't been to the dentist for eight years. My bitewings I took on her were not good. Her mouth was tiny and she had a really bad gag reflex. She was even gagging during the premolar shots. And she had so much calculus! I couldn't even see her teeth in some areas. It was very tenacious too. She's a 1b.

I had my first 1A. It went really well. I was able to finish him pretty quickly. It was nice only needing one check. He couldn't have any sealants; he had cavities and restorations on all of his molars and premolars. Overall, it went really well.

I had my first pt who actually had some calculus. I didn't do very good; I missed a lot of spots. I'm having a hard time feeling the calculus. I explored, but I couldn't feel it. That's definitely something I need to work on.

1B

My little sister was my patient. She is a 1B. I was able to do a set of bitewings and finish scaling. She has an impacted wisdom tooth, so a pano would be good for her. I will be rescheduling her for a pano and some sealants. I thought the appointment went well.

first patient

My first patient of the semester was also my first patient I didn't know since I had my mom for my patient last semester. I thought it went well. I was worried she wouldn't come because the roads were so bad. She was about an hour late, but I was able to finish all four quads. I did miss a few spots though. I need to slow down a little to make sure I am being thorough.

area specific instrumentation

We learned area specific instruments today. We also got to practice ultrasonic scaling. It all went well exept the distal Gracey. I can't get that one right. I'm nervous for Wed. My first non-family patient. I can't believe we're back in school already. I'm already ready for another break!