Very different than expected

Well, my day started with thinking I was going to have a class 3 in the morning and a class 2 in the afternoon. My class 2 cancelled and I was only able to reschedule a 1B. It was okay and I did get a couple of xrays but nothing that was substantial. My morning class 3 was a no show. We called him at 10 after 8:00 and he said that he was just running 30 min late, so I waited. At 15 to 9:00 we called back and he said that he was on is way- "I am in West Valley. I will be right there." I know, that is pretty comical. I called Jake and he came up, again 1B. I was able to get a couple of things done this am. I passed off my glucose testing because Brad is diabetic and Jake was kind enough to let me stick him with a needle. I gave him a PSA and an IA. He was too kind. SOOOOO... a class 3/2 day turned into two 1B. Do I need to say more?!!

MOCK BOARD

Well, what can I say about today. I was actually feeling fine all day, not nervous. I can tell you that there was joy in my heart when I saw my patient walk through the door, but it wasn't relief of nerves just happiness.
I can tell you that it was interesting cleaning my patient. I thought that I was very thorough in my cleaning. I ultrasoniced for about 30 minutes then hand-scaled the entire area, and was feeling good about things until I went in with my explorer. There were four areas of radiographic calculus on my patient and I missed all four of those areas when I was cleaning. As I started to work on them it felt like they were a permenant fixture on the tooth. I didn't think that I was going to be able to get them off. Well, I worked and worked using lateral pressure like I didn't think was possible in order to get them off. Things were going okay until I got to the mesial of #14. My patient had very bulbous crowns- I know that doesn't sound like much but until you are in with a scaler trying to pull off a piece of "permenately cemented on calculus" from under the rounded, overhanging, contour of a bulbous crown it starts to mean something. I truly didn't think that I was going to be able to get it off. I tried every posterior instrument I had out on my tray and even a couple of anterior instruments but everytime that I pulled coronally it felt like I was hitting contact and I couldn't pull horizontally because of that little aspect called gingiva. At one point I thought that I would just send her over with the error and accept the fact that somethings are impossible. The more I thought about it, however, the more determined I was to get it off. Well, let's just say that I didn't think a 1/2 gracey could be angled quite the way that I did and I definately didn't think that I would ever use enough lateral pressure that I would be bending my instrument. I discovered that both of those things are possible.
The nerves came when I sent my patient over for scale check. I have actually never been that nervous since being in the program, and I must say that Prof Alexander has some kind of sense of humor when it comes to talking to people about areas missed when scaling. I will just leave that story alone for now...
All in all, it was a good day. I ended up getting my four areas of radiographic calculus off my patient. In fact, I didn't miss any areas which felt great!!!!
Good day, today!

I am never going to get anything done

I was kind of frustrated today at the VA. I really need to see a class 2, so that I can get my exam done and I need to have the calculus present in order to pass of PE's that I have wanted to do and have had out on my counter every clinic session since the first week of clinic. Again, NOTHING!!!! My morning patient today was crazy. I know that I should not say things like that but there is just no other way to say it. He was crazy with a capitol "C." For everything that I went through with him this morning it still was only 2 quads of a 5 and I had about 4 errors and I have not missed that many spots all year. It was just not the best way to start the day.
My afternoon patient was quite interesting in and of himself. The x-rays took much longer because of the suspension in the tube head arm. It kept drifting and I tried everything. My patient was getting frustrated and I could tell that it was not going to be the best day. He was also severely diabetic and didn't eat lunch. He really needed to have a short appointment, but he needed xrays, and exam and complete perio charting done. After I was done probing he asked if the charting was part of the cleaning and informed me that he only wanted to be cleaned. To make things better he told me that he needed to be about of the office by 2:30 and it was 1:45 by this time. I rushed to get everything done but was unable to finish my charting. I kind of received a lecture for that after, which was just frosting on the top of the cake!!!!
No class 2, no PE's, and quite a day!!!!

Double Booked and Mock Board Take 2

Well, I have bothered Mr Solamon so many times this week I believe that he truly is tired of hearing from me. He was able, however, so get my Mock Board patient to agree to come in. This means that my afternoon was double booked again. I was not sure what to expect from my first afternoon patient but I was pretty sure that he was going to be a 1B. I thought that I would for sure be able to get him in and out in 1 hour. I was a bit taken back, however, and I do believe that he has used Meth a few times in his past. I had not seen anything like his mouth up to that point. It was a very good experience for me and he was great to work with, but it was not quite what I was expecting especially coming off an appointment like I had in the morning. My patient was a little "much to handle." Some days I think that the planets are so far from being aligned that they are in different galaxies.
Anyway, I started my Mock Board patient late again, and I really did have to hurry it get the right side of her mouth done. I was grateful, however for the opportunity to work on her before the exam because her crowns are very bulbous and it was a good opportunity to get in there to see how to adapt my scalers in order to reach her interproximal areas.
WHAT A DAY!!!

BAD NEWS

I was suppose to bring my Mock Board patient in today so I could finish her OD and clean the right side of her mouth since it is the left side that I am using for Mock Board. She CANCELLED on me! I could not have been more stressed. I don't have room in my schedule to bring her in before the Mock Board unless I double book myself again and I am not sure if that will be possible with the patients that I have on my schedule for the next week, and on top of that she CANCELLED!! How am I suppose to know if she is reliable enough to show up on the day of the Mock Board. If she doesn't come there is no way for me to get an A in clinic and I won't have that practice for the board.
Life today is not the best I have experienced!

Double Booked and Mock Board

Today was my first experience seeing 2 patients in one day. I had a bit of some miscommunication with my schedule, so I had two patients scheduled this afternoon. I must say that I was very nervous and was not sure exactly how I was going to handle things. I knew that my second afternoon patient was going to have some kind of perio but I was not sure to what extent and my first afternoon patient, I thought, was going to be a 1A but ended up being a 1B because he no longer had mixed dentition. I told myself that I was going to be able to get him in and out in 1 hours. I was able to do that, but I didn't take into account take-down and set-up of my operatory. Needless to say, I was running a bit late pulling my last patient back into the chair. It was worth the weight, however, she qualifies for Mock Board. I wasn't able to get her OD done, though, after I took all of her x-rays. I am going to have to borrow all 4 teeth in order to get her to qualify which means that I had to take my 4 BWX and 8 PA's today. Happy, however, that I was able to find her.
Oh, what a day!!!

Power Outage

Surprise!!!! What do you do in a dental clinic when the power goes out? I run to my locker and try to open my lock for 15 minutes to get my head lamp. I have wondered to now if it was a good investment for me to buy the head light when I bought my loupes, but they were worth their weight in gold today when the power went out in the clinic. My afternoon patient was a 1B and I really didn't want to have to reschedule him, make him come back, and I didn't have any space in my schedule until November. I was not able to use my ultrasonic and he was a pretty heavy 1B, but I was able, unlike others, to continue with treatment because I had my light. I pulled it out, grabbed my scaler, and went to work. I was able to get everything done and Prof Bossenberger told me that I won the Boy Scout award for the day.
What an experience!!!

Class 3 Exam

I was not quite expecting the day that I had today. My moring patient no showed on me and I spent 1 hour trying to find someone to come in. My dad wasn't feeling well, but he was a peach and hussled up so that I would at least have someone in my chair this morning. I had his 3 quads to finish and since they carried over from last semester he was considered a class 2. I was able to finish but I felt a little rushed since I started 1 hour late.
My afternoon was just as much a surprise. My patient originally came in as a class 3 but the last few times she was in the clinic she was a class 5. In other words, I was expecting to see a class 5 this afternoon, but it had been a while since she was in. When I took radiographs there was radiographic calculus everywhere. With the bond loss that was already there and the calculus that was present, she was a class 3. I declared her an exam and was able to get 4 quad done in the one appointment. She was a sweet lady and very cooperative. I felt very good about things before the scale check and the exam did go well.
The day was a surprise but it ended up being a good surprise.