Last day of Fall Semester!

What a nice relaxing day in clinic today! I am not quite sure why we set up our units because we didn't use them at all....but other then that the day went good. It was a really good preparatory day for next semester. We learned what we need to know for clinic assistant duties (there are a lot of them and I have the first time so I will be the guinea pig for the semester), and emergency situations and how we handle them. I just hope that I don't have any dire emergencies EVER when I am practicing dental hygiene. But I am happy that if that does happen that I have a good understanding of what to do and hopefully can stay calm through the emergency. But it would really ruin my life if someone died in my chair! This is my last blog of the semster. It has been good, it has been fun, it has been good fun!
Ta ta until next semester!

My first real patient!

I consider today a success. My sweet and loving sister, Lindsey, consented to come in and let me work on her as my first patient! I was so happy to have instructor allen there today, she has the best personality and she was thanking all of the patients for coming in and helping us all out. It was really interesting to work on somebody who doesn't have extremely clean teeth and tight gums, she is still healthy, but she doesn't have the drive to keep her teeth clean like everybody in the program. I am excited to start working on real patient next semester because it makes clinic so fun! I feel more relaxed when we have patients because we get to focus on everything we have been learning and put it all together. But I am even more excited for thanksgiving in just a few short days!!! Yeah for short weeks!

One more day until real patient!

Kayla is such a trooper! She was my patient and I finished her up today! But darn that Kayla she does not have any stuff that needs to be cleaned in her mouth! She is just too clean.  I guess this wasn't the best practice for me because I didn't have to do anything hard, but it was good practice to do everything. I feel like I am rambling and not making any sense so I am going to be done now before I look like an idiot. Just know that it was a good day and that Kayla is an awesome patient!

Operator Mock Patient day

My first day of being the operator in a real/mock situation!!! It was pretty fun! I am excited for when everything just seems second nature to me so I don't have to keep looking at what I am supposed to do next. I found that I had a hard time with jumping ahead of what I was supposed to be doing...you gotta get those signatures! I say this again and again, but practice makes perfect so hopefully by next semester I won't be so out of it and I will know what I am doing! This has been awesome practice though. One thing I will need to learn is to not talk to the patient and ask them questions about charting, because Kayla knows what's up, but I am guessing my real patients aren't going to have any idea if I chart OHI or TX first!!! Excited for Wednesday!

End of my patient time in clinic!

I have much pity for the patients who will be coming to our clinic and having to sit with their mouth open for 3-4 hours. I wonder if that is one of the  ways the Chinese used to torture people. I shouldn't be complaining because Kayla was my operator and she did really good, but keeping my mouth open was the hardest part. As with Monday, I learned so much from being the patient and it will help me with things I want to remember when i am the operator. All in all it was a pretty good day. Except the very end when I couldn't remember my blog password and I wanted to throw the computer across the room! But I guess I figured it out today!

Patient day!! Thanks Kayla!

What a relaxing non-stressful day! I was the patient the whole day and I even got to wear my regular street clothes for the whole day. Kayla was my operator and she did so good! It was really good for me to have this time to sit and watch because I understand better the things that I want to do when I am the operator. One of the things that I will need is to have a system of how I go throughout the appt. Up until now we have learned everything separate but now we are putting all of that knowledge together and it has been a little confusing. But today was fun and Wednesday I am the patient again! Good job Kayla!!

Soap and Fluoride

What a gem that wonderful TA Marilyn is, she carved us each a tooth made out of soap!!! We worked with our same patients as Monday and so I was with Karen. I passed off 3 PE's today so now I only have one more PE left!!! The end of the semester is creeping up and I  am excited!!! I am excited for when it is my turn to be the operator and do a full patient!! Well I am excited it is wednesday and I am off to head home and have a good night with my cute husband!

Sealants

Today we did sealants. It was a stressful clinic because there seemed to me so much that each person needed to do and not nearly enough instructors. So I think it was stressful on both sides both for students as well as the instructors. We are getting closer to the end of the semester and it is getting down to the wire!