Real Patient Day

I think that everything went okay today. I was nervous at the beginning, but as we started things went better and I was able to relax. I was nervous about taking x-rays because I just don't feel as comfortable with them as I can, but it went well. I didn't even have to take any retakes.
It was nice for me to go through the OHI the way that I did today with someone that has learned the same things that I have. I was able to talk to my husband about the difference between gingivitis and perio and explain to him how they occur. I emphasized the importance of good OH in order to stay healthy.
I did miss a couple of spot scaling today which was disheartening, but Prof Alexander told me that they are commonly missed and taught me a couple of tricks to make sure to pick up those spots. I was just grateful to get to a scale a quad today. It was a very good experience and I did learn a lot.
All in all, a good day!!!

Mock Day

Katee was such a trooper. I had a really good experience with her and I am grateful that we were paired together. The day seemed to go very smooth and I was able to get almost everything done on time. I was late getting my OD check but there were a lot of restorations that needed to be documented which I was the most nervous about because when we practiced that in clinic I worked with Julie and her restorations are soooooo hard to see. I felt much better about it after working with Katee. After I had my OD things went well. I was able to scale a quad and get my scale check on time. I didn't miss anything either which made me feel great. I even walked her out at the right time.
Charting on the other hand took much longer. I tried to get my chart in on time, but by the time you chart the green sheet for someone with a lot of restorations your time is up. I can see how not using the laminated forms helps with that.
All in all, though, it was a great day and I was very lucky with my patient, and I feel much more prepared for my real patient.

Time to relax

So today was my day to be the patient. I was very excited that I was just going to have a day to relax and see again how things should work. Then.... about 1 hour into radiology this morning I starting to not feel good, and of course it carried over into clinic today. I felt so bad for Katee because I just started to really not feel good toward the end of the day. I had so much sinus pressure that it was very hard for me to lay back the way that I needed to. I do hope that it didn't cause problems for her. I tried really hard to stay down the way that I should have.
Katee did do a good job, though, and I was grateful to get to see her work today.
I do hope that I feel better tomorrow!!!!

Good Day

I would say that today was a very good day. The air powder polisher went much better than it did last time after we realized that you can adjust the setting on the powder.
I was a little nervous to do the sealant PE today. I don't have any experience doing them and I personally had someone leave an air pocket in one of my sealants which caused problems for me later. I am sure that I will become more comfortable with it as time goes on. It even felt more comfortable today than it did on Monday. Yea! I love it when I feel like I am taking steps in the right direction.
Everything else went well today. Alisha said that I didn't hurt her at all with the air powder polisher and she was able to turn the power up while using it on me and I didn't feel anything. I have a stain in one of the pits near the distal of #2. She was able to get some of the stain off today and I was grateful for that.
Again, all in all, a good day!

Air Powder Polisher and Sealants

I was excited to use the air powder polisher. As I used it on the penny I thought it was amazing. I was excited to see what it could do on a tooth, but I must be honest--- it was a little painful. I wasn't quite expecting it to work that way. I know that to remove stain you do need to use something quite abrassive, so as I think about it I know that it wasn't as abrassive as it could be.
The sealants went well. I didn't think that I had put as much sealant on as I did, but it did take a while to get it down to where it wasn't hitting wrong.
All in all, it was a good day and I feel like I learned a lot. I was also able to pass off a couple of PE's which went well and I was grateful to have two more out of the way and done. There are only a couple more in my binder. As I look back at everything that we have done I can't believe it. This semester has gone by so fast.
I don't feel like I am even close to perfect yet, but I know that I am better and less awkward than I was at the beginning of the semester.

Mock Patient Day-- I was the patient

Today was a nice day to relax but it was also great to see everything done again. I felt like things were more structured today even though everything should have been the same. It is always easier to sit and watch others do the task.
When I had the scale check done on me today, I learned about positions and also going back over it with the explorer after to see what was missed. I feel like I learned much more then the operator because I could feel exactly what was missed. I enjoyed today a lot.
I also enjoyed sharpening instruments. I was worried about it in class but the aid that was given made it really easy.

Mock Pt Day

Today went much better than I thought that it would. I do still feel a little lost about some of the timing, but practice makes perfect. I am feeling a little worried still about having a patient at the end of this month. It just seems so soon. I know that it is going to be fine, but I must say that even working on Savanna today I was very nervous. It took me probing about a quad before I stopped shaking beyond belief. I don't know why I was so nervous even though it was just a practice day, but I think I was because I have not probed for a while.
I am just grateful for those who are willing to help and for Savanna's patience with me today.