Staying on the Positive Side

I had a really strange feeling on Friday night after speaking with my afternoon patient.  I just had this little thought in the back of my mind that she was going to no show.  Well, sure enough, she no showed.  But let me start at the beginning of the day.

MeChel was so sweet and let me have her second patient for the a.m.  My patient had cancelled the week before and MeChel knew of my predicament.  Thank heavens for helping friends who are willing to share.  So, I saw the most wonderful, accommodating patient.  I took bitewings and 4 PAs!  She was a class V, but had furcations as well.  I got her completely done and out the door by around 10:40.  I was feeling pretty good about myself.  I didn't even miss any spots!  Woo Hoo!

I had promised my 4 year old that I would clean his teeth that morning and then we would have lunch together.  Well, I was short on time, so I wasn't able to squeeze that in.  I called preschool to make sure that he wasn't sad since I had told him that was what I was going to do.  They said he was doing fine.  Lunch comes and goes.  I let some friends have the things I had brought for my son.  Right before patients are supposed to be there for the afternoon, I get a phone call from preschool saying that Zach is feeling bad because I was supposed to pick him up.  Broke my heart!!!  I talked to him to see if that would help him feel better.  Well, next thing I know, my patient no shows.  Emergency back up?  You guessed it!  Zach Morris.  No, not the guy from Saved By The Bell.  My son.  

When I picked up Zach and as we were heading into my building, he remembered that I had brought him chips to go with this lunch.  When I told him that gave the chips away, he started to whimper.  Mr. Soloman was right there to pick up the pieces.  He promised Zach that "if he would let his mom clean his teeth that he would buy him some chips."  Thanks Mr. Soloman!  That was so awesome of you to do for him.  So, we went back to my unit and cleaned his teeth.  He lost two teeth over the summer, so I took an occlusal film to check where those permanent teeth are.  They're there.  After all of that, he got his Doritos.  I called my sweet hubby to see if he could come in for some x-rays as well.  The stud came up and let me take 18 x-rays.  What a trooper!  

Overall, it was a productive day.  I took 2 sets of bitewings and 19 PAs.  I can't complain about that.  Let's hope for no more no shows.  It sucks!

Not a Very Good Day

I have to admit that today was a little rough.  First of all, my AM patient was pretty foul and kept telling dirty jokes and swearing a lot.  Honestly, the guy wouldn't shut up!  I kept thinking to myself, "just be patient with him."  But deep inside I wanted to tell him to SHUT UP!  I felt like things went ok on him.  I probably could have utilized my time a little better on him (I would have finished more if he hadn't been talking so much).  I only finished two quads of a class 2.  He did have some areas that were tenacious, so they were hard to remove.  I got all but one spot, so I was pleased.

Next, my PM patient was a nightmare.  The poor guy is needing a cleaning to get on the liver transplant list.  Because of his liver failure, I needed to get a Physician's Consult to find out about premedication.  Well, I got a hold of his dr.'s office and they gave me the fax number.  I told them the patient was in my chair, waiting for treatment.  I thought that would have sped things up, but oh no!  They were taking their sweet time.  As a matter of fact, they never got it faxed back to me.  While we waited, I charted existing dental problems in his mouth, but I couldn't do anything subgingivally.  I did get a Scan-X pano taken on him though.  So, 1 pano down and 5 to go.  I had to reschedule this patient for next week, so that we can hopefully complete the cleaning so that when he meets with his doctor next Friday, he can be put on the transplant list.  The whites of his eyes were completely yellow and so was the gingiva of his mouth.  I had no idea that liver failure could cause yellow gingiva.  Now I know.  Here's hoping to a better week next week.

First VA Experience

I had my first experience at the VA all day today.  I didn't sleep well last night.  I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep.  So, on top of having a boring morning, I as exhausted and ready to go to sleep any minute.  Each of us five students got our patient names.  I was assigned a woman.  What made me nervous was that there was no answer on this woman's phone the day before to confirm the appointment.  I was hoping she would show up.  I was going to be able to take a pano and 4 BWX, do full perio & dental charting.  But I wasn't going to be that lucky.  I was fortunate though, because 30 minutes after my first patient no showed, a very nice gentleman came in for a cleaning.  I was able to take 4 BWX on him and for not having taken x-rays all summer long they looked pretty darn good.  We also have to take them with Schick.  One set of bitewings down and 19 to go.  I completed his perio and dental charting and cleaned one quadrant as well.  I was very pleased because he is a class III.  I did pretty well.  I missed one spot, which was very obvious.  For some reason the area looked like an amalgam filling to me.  I was really mad at myself for missing it, but overall I was very pleased that I was able to complete as much on this patient as I did.  Overall I felt that it was a very good day.  Oh, one thing I will never forget...I forgot to fill my ultrasonic attachment with water before I put the insert in.  I bled it for one minute, but forgot to fill it before putting in the insert and the instrument got really hot because the water wasn't in there.  I didn't realize this was the problem until Prof. McCaunaghy asked if I had done that.  Oops!