New Experiences

Everything today was new for me. I have not assisted in an office before like most others. I have never polished, brushed someone else's teeth, or flossed someone elses teeth. I enjoyed today as I was working with the instruments. I know that I need to practice some more, but I feel that way about everything.
After my pod partner disclosed again after I was done I found that my toothbrushing side was cleaner than the polished side. I tried polishing again to clean some areas and get some more practice, and I found that it took a little more pressure than I was using to get the biofilm off of the tooth.
Again, I felt good about the day, but I do need to opportunity to practice some more.

Anterior Instrumentation PE

I have been nervous for other PE's before, but I know that I have never been as nervous as I was today. I am not sure what happened, but I think that I lost my head and all senses along with it. I just feel like I was brand new and that nothing was coming very easily. It was very discouraging today, and I wish I knew why.
I am grateful for the patience of my instructors especially today because today I really needed it. I do feel sometimes that I will never be to the skill level at which they are now. They all make it look so easy. I know they have been doing it much longer, but I wonder if I will ever get there.
I do hope that Wed. goes better!

Barnhart

Today went okay. I did almost jump out of my seat when Katie literally screamed. I thought that I cut her with my instrument but she just has a sensitive tooth. She said that anytime metal touches it the tooth hurts. I did feel sooooo bad however, and I hope that I never have to experience that again. The instrument itself was good. I could feel that I do have a tendency to apply too much lateral pressure. I need to work on that. I need to do more of an exploritory until I actually find a deposit.
My PE's went well today. I feel like I have a good grasp on my instruments-- not how to use all of them, but to know theoretically what they are used for. I was also able to pass off the intraoral camera. I felt really good about that.
I would like to say again that I am grateful for patient instructors and TA's who are really willing to help and demonstrate when needed.
All in all, I would say that it was a pretty good day.

Good Day

I felt like today was a good day. It was nice to have a day to just practice scaling. I was grateful for the instruction that I received today. It was very helpful and made a lot of sense. I just hope that I can get my brain to move my hands the way that they should move.
The charting PE went well today. I feel much more confident in my abilities to actually chart a patient. I am not 100% confident with recording everything on the treatment record, but I am sure that will come with time, practice, and real patients.
Again, today was a good day, and it was one that I needed!!!

Things that I need to work on

The number one at the top of my list and the one that I am focused on at the moment is my adaptation into the interproximal areas. I always want to adapt in a smooth transition, but I don't take into account that the tooth curves much more quickly then I would like it to.
Scaling today was okay-- still need to work on my instrument roll...
I didn't get a lot of time to practice, so I don't feel very confident with it yet. Everyone keeps telling me that the confidence will come, so I suppose that I need to have faith in those with experience. It is hard to start something new, though. My brain tells me that I want to be much better than I am, but my hands tell me another story.
My probing PE went okay today. I was a little nervous with my instructor looking over my shoulder, but I got through it. I still need to work on my tactile sensitivity, however, so that I am not hurting whoever is in my chair. My grasp and fulcrums felt much better today, though. Even small steps give me some encouragement.

I still need a lot of practice

Today was an okay day. I know that I understand the theoretical aspect of what we are doing. I know why we do what we do and it all makes sense to me in theory, but I really to need to work on the application.
I did pass off my explorer PE today, and I did okay. I did not do as well as I would have liked. I know that I can't expect to be perfect, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be. I want it to be natural and easy. I want to be able to do everything that I am suppose to do without worrying about hurting my patient. I want my hands to move the way that they are suppose to. I just want to feel confident in my abilities which I don't feel that I am.
It can be frustrating when I feel that I am putting everything that I can into it. I know that I need to study and practice more, but there are just not enough hours in the day. Between a family, school, and working full time I just don't feel like I have anything else to give.
I just want my hands to understand as much as my head does---- is that too much to ask?!!!

Practice Day

I have to admit that when I saw on the schedule that today was a practice day I was excited. I thought that I would be able to work on exploring to get ready for the PE on Monday, and that we would have a day to breath. In the pod instruction this morning my concept of today changed completely. As Prof Costley was talking about all that we needed to do today I started to feel very overwhelmed. It seemed like soooo much all in one day.
When we went back to our pods and started to work on the list of "to dos" I felt like I was moving much too slow and as I looked at all of the forms that I needed to fill out my mind started to race.
As we got going, though, it didn't seem that bad. I do need to work on my probing, however. I know that I am much too slow. I felt bad that I left less time for Katie because I was about 5 min over, and still had to have my OD check.
So what can I say about Practice Day... in the end looking at what we did it was good practice. I feel like I know now a little better about what steps need to go in what order. I am one who has to feel organized or I get overwhelmed, so it was good to go through what we did today, but I do need to work on going faster in order to get everything done.

Disclosing

To be honest, I was a little afraid of the disclosing soluation today. In a room full of people who take VERY good care of their teeth it had the possibility to be a little embarrassing. Everything worked out well, however. My mouth was much cleaner than I thought it would be. I do need to work on my flossing-- anterior mandibular teeth, but beyond that I feel that I do a good job. My teeth may not be as white as everyone else's, but I do know that they are clean. That is a happy day!!!
I still need to work on my exploring. It is much harder than the instructors make it look. I do think that Prof. Costley's idea of taking it home and practicing on myself is necessary for me to understand. The adapting angle just comes up on me soooo quickly and I know I don't turn my instrument quickly enough. Practice, practice, practice!!!!
I would like to know why every time that I practice my PE's I can do them without a hitch, but everytime that an instructor is in the pod my mind desides to go blank. I don't know why my body does that. Isn't it just the same information that I practiced? Don't I still know what I am doing? Then why does being put on the spot change everything?
All in all, though, I would say that it was a good day

Finding composits

I had a very hard time today finding the composits on Julie. I was getting very frustrated and feeling like I am not going to be able to do this. I know that I am probably hard on myself but it is difficult not to be when everyone around you seems to get it so easily. It wasn't until Prof Costley came over and had a hard time finding them as well that I started to feel a little better, but even now I am not sure if I know exactly what I am looking for. I really dislike feeling lost...
Other than my inability to see the things that everyone else sees with no problems today was a good day. I was running late this morning but I made it to clinic and set up everything on time. I was able to pass off the intraoral PE. There was even an area in which I graded myself as a 3 and my TA gave me a 4. It made me feel good that she thought I did a good job.
I really can't wait until I look like a second year in their abilities and feel like I know what I am doing.