1-15-09

My morning patient was a really good experience for me. She had alzheimers and couldn't really communicate. She would sometimes nod or shake her head when I talked to her, but usually she didn't respond at all. Taking x-rays was really difficult. As I left the room she would turn her head to watch me. I told her it was important for her to not move her head until I came back in the room. I didn't have to retake any x-rays, but I did have to go back into the room to reposition it several times per x-ray. It took a lot of time, so I was unable to finish her cleaning. I did two quads and rescheduled her for the other two.

My afternoon patient no-showed. I've had two clinic days and three no-shows. I'm hoping this will not be my luck throughout the semester. Maybe I'm just getting all of my no-shows out of the way early. Mindy's patient had her kids with her; so I was able to clean her 5 year old's teeth. He was a funny kid. When I told him I was going to paint his teeth with fluoride to make his teeth strong he was really excited. He asked me if I could paint them blue with flames. I told him I only had white and he said his teeth were already white, but at least they would be strong.