Two Operators

I was the patient again on Wednesday.  I rather enjoyed being able to sit back and relax while someone else did the work.  That won't be the case tomorrow, but I will blog about that tomorrow.  On Wednesday, Marianne continued my treatment by scaling all of my teeth and attempting to place a sealant.  Her air/water syringe wasn't working properly, so the surface of my tooth wasn't 100% dry when she placed the sealant.  When Marianne was checking it the whole thing came right off.  Fortunately this could be rectified by having Tanya place two sealants later that same day.  Tanya needed someone to place sealants and I was more than happy to oblige.  In order to pass of her process evaluation, she placed two sealants for me.  I am very happy now to have my two upper right premolars protected from occlusal cavities.

There were several times while Marianne was working on my that it felt like she didn't have the scaler adapted correctly to my tooth.  I hope that I can do that well tomorrow.  I am really nervous about it, but also very excited.  I can't wait to have actual patient and have to go through all of the hoops during an appointment.  Trevor will be my first official guinea pig next Monday.  He is being really good sport about it.  He understands that I am not going to be perfect the first several times that I work on a patient.  He, of course, is hoping that it won't be too horrible.  I am as well.  I don't want to do any serious damage to him.  This will be the first time that all 14 of us students will have our own patient and there won't be as many instructors for one on one teaching.  It will be nice to have scale checks though to make sure that I am understanding what calculus feels like with an explorer and scaler.  This is going to be a great week!  We only have 3 weeks left!  Next week isn't even a full with because of Thanksgiving.

I do have a lot to be thankful for right now.  I have a wonderful husband who loves me, flaws and all.  My boys are healthy and smart kids.  I am so grateful to be a mother.  It comes with its challenges, but it is so rewarding when I see my boys do something that I have taught them.  I am grateful for school.  It has been hard and know that it is only going to get harder, but it really is fun.  I am ready for my Christmas break to rejuvenate me for spring semester.  I am feeling a little burned out right now.  Christmas will be a great time to spend with my children and feel closer to them and my husband.  I am thankful also for my school friends.  They are making this program so enjoyable.  I have such a great group of girls to learn with.  Thank you dental hygiene class of 2012.  You guys all rock!