Oh the difference a sharp instrument makes

I had two very distinct experiences today.  My first patient was scheduled for 8:30 am, so I had a little time to prepare for the day.  I figured I had better take the time to sharpen my instruments for that morning.  Like a good little hygienist, I did just that.  I got all of my instruments nice and sharp, prepared for calculus removal.  Patient arrives: I do my usual: extra/intra oral exams, x-rays, probe, and scale.  I had the privilege of giving 5 injections (was once again reminded that I need to go slower). (On a side note, I kept poking my glove during the injections!  I have never felt like the small gloves are too big for me, but apparently they are while I am giving injections.  I must remember to wear extra smalls.)  Prof. Alexander comes over at about 10:45 asking if I am ready for my scale check since it is almost walk out time.  She checks my patient and perfect!  No missed areas!  Wahoo, I cried!

My original PM patient, which was supposed to be a 12 year old girl, canceled the day before.  I called a couple of people later yesterday and a wife was going to make her husband come in for a cleaning.  Well, she calls me at about 8 am and leaves a message canceling her husband's appointment.  I wasn't heart broken by this news.  But later in the morning Prof. Alexander came around asking if anyone is in need of a patient for the afternoon.  I reluctantly raise my hand.  Prof. Bossenberger has a patient for me.  Yeah!  (Sarcasm intended.)  My patient comes in on short notice.  He is a class 3!  Perfect.  I go from seeing most likely a class 1A to a class 3 for my last patient of the semester.  It is good though.  I will need class 3s for next semester.  So, I start cleaning his teeth.  I only get the right side done and run out of time.  While scaling, I didn't completely feel like my instruments were locking into the calculus.  I knew it was there, but knew that I was missing deposits.  Prof. Alexander comes over once again and says it is time to have my scale check.  I haven't had a chance to check with my explorer to see if I missed anything.  She sits down and checks the upper right quadrant.  Three missed areas right off!  She takes an instrument and tries removing some calculus.  She looks at me and says, " I think the problem is a dull instrument."  Lesson learned!

Moral of the story:
AM patient- no misses, freshly sharpened instruments.  PM patient- lots of misses, very dull instruments.  I will never make that mistake again!  I will be bringing my instruments home over the Christmas break to sharpen, then sharpen again.  I know a sharp instrument is critical to what I am doing, but this affirmed that I have got to make sure the instruments are sharp before I go intraoral with them.  Otherwise, what I am doing is pointless and will just have to redo what I had tried to do in the first place.  Bring on Spring Semester!  Goal: always have sharp instruments and have very few missed areas.