thankgiving break!

The semester is almost over and it feels so great to have this one done!!! I feel like I have done well and I'm becoming a better clinician everyday! I still have a long LONG way to go still but for the first time there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I only have 1 and 1/2 years of school left and then I can be a hygienist! If I can find a job... I feel like a couple of my classes have been doom and gloom as far as finding somewhere to work after we graduate! I'm just glad that we graduate a month before the other hygiene schools so we can get our resumes out sooner!

just a moment...

I realized that I never blogged about either of the service projects that i did. The first one that I did was at the student union building for oral cancer screenings. It was really fun, I got to answer people questions about their mouths and I knew the answers! (thats the amazing part). I felt like I was a part of something worth while. I'm so gald that the program has us do these! At first Iwasn't so excited because it is just more time but the more I do volunteer stuff the more I love it!
The second one I did was so easy. I did the Toss n Floss at the football game. it was freezing but totally worth my time especially if someone calls in for an appointment! That's just one less person that I have to find! I really wish the program would help find patients.

real patient yesterday...

So it's a day late but i really wanted to blog about having my real patient. It was so fun!! I felt like i did pretty well with my skills and my x-rays turned out great! no retakes! I didn't get to scaling though because I didn't know that i could move on to scaling before taking x-rays. I just sat there and talked to my patient for 15-20 minutes! what a waste of time! i could have got a quad done in that time! But I loved having someone in the chair that I could trust to tell me the truth about how i was doing (comfort wise) but had no idea about my techniques. it was a lot less pressure than cleaning another student!

Observation day!

A couple of guest speakers came today. The first was a lady that had been through the program and been in a terrible car accident and is mostly paralysed! I was so impressed by her and her positive attitude. She came to talk to the class about how to treat people with disabilities and she really taught me alot.
After that we listened to a 3M rep and didn't really get much out of that beside lunch (which I am greatful for because I forgot mine)
Then on to observing Alyse. Her patient was a severe diabetic and had lots of health issues because of it. his finger tips were literally falling off! But he was a pretty good patient dispite how uncomfortable he was. It was nice to see the ultrasonic be used and actually see results. He had tons of calculus so it was easy to see flick off! it was way cool! I can't wait to do that!

Being the patient

Today I got to be the patient in clinic and it was so nice to just sit back and relax today! But I think it was a good experience because you realize just what the patient is going through. It does not feel good on the back to be laying down for four hours! I will sit my patient up when I need to do paperwork. I also learned that I need to act more confident so that the patient can relax and feel comfortable in my care. My operator did fantastic at that and I know I always state my insecurities out loud! Even if I don't know what I'm doing I'm going to act like it and do my best!
Real patients on Monday!! It's so nuts but I think I'm ready! Ready for a nice easy 1B at least! ;0) I'm so excited for this semester to be over and to have Christmas break! I need it!

Day 2 of patient Tx

Today went great! Everytime I get a little less shakey and nervous. I did however spray my patient in the face with the ultrasonic! oops! A little water never hurt anyone right? I am learning that the ultrasonic does work! Because when I hand scale a quad and Ultrasonic a quad I get about the same results in the scale check. I feel like a real hygienist now! My back and arms don't even hurt from bad poture. Slowly but surely!
PE's are done! Working on other students is done! I have knowledge in my head! and soon I'll be taking the boards... I wish! I have so much more to learn but I am learning!

operator!

Holy moly! I don't even have the words to describe how nervous I was for today and I don't have any words for how I feel now that it is over! but I will try to have the words... I was terrified to come and work on a patient today because I felt like I had been shown how to scale but I had no idea if I was actually scaling anything away. I was sweatin bullets when prof Costley came to do my scale check and she didn't find any mistakes! I was then so relieved and in a way i feel like I have kind of proved to myself that I can do this!

boo yah!

Today was sooo great! We passed off PE's and practiced. I still was nervous and sweated like a pig but I feel not so lost as far as my instruments go. My back doesn't hurt today because I rocked at my posture, and I didn't hurt my pod partner which means I am getting better at adapting. Just when I think that it will never come it does! I think that things will be so much better when I have a patient that has lots of calculus that I can get off! I'm excited to observe in a few weeks cause I think that will really solidify things in my mind.
We also learned how to sharpen our intruments. When we went over it in class i was so confused!! but it really wasn't too bad. I think I sharpened it right. It worked well on the test stick at least!
Only a few clinics left! I can't believe it! The semester FLEW by!

Sealants!

We got to place a sealant today. I think that I did a pretty good job when comparing with my couple of tries that I had in the dentist office I work at! But then again I had a very cooperative patient and it wasn't so hard to keep dry.
I worked more on charting today. I had to cross out a lot and rewrite a lot! it was kind of frustrating but I learn better when I make mistakes anyway. So at least this time I know it stuck! I feel like it has been all semester and we have been blowing through things so fast. I've picked up on most of it but the charting (which was one of the first things I was supposed to know!) is still not in the noggin!