Bitter Sweet

Well, it's over.  I can't believe that after two years of working my butt off, it is all over.  Today was the last clinic day.  It doesn't quite feel real yet.  I think it will be more so when we actually have to take all of our "crap" home.  I wanted to really push myself today so I scheduled two class V patients for the morning and what I thought was a class III for the afternoon.  The morning went just as I had hoped.  I didn't need to take any x-rays on either of my am patients.  From start to finish each took me about 1 hour 10 minutes.  I didn't think that was too bad considering we need scale checks and charts signed before starting.

We enjoyed a fabulous potluck lunch together, instructors and all!  It was very enjoyable to sit down a eat a meal together.  We had stuffed taco shells (is that what they were called, Kristie?), soup, salad, chips/salsa, and many desserts.  Oh, it was so yummy!  Thanks everyone for contributing to our feast!  It was so good!

My afternoon went a little differently than I had expected.  I was planning on two Jr. students coming in to work on my patient.  I thought he was four quads of a class III, but he wasn't.  The last time I cleaned him I was given two quads of a III and two of a V.  The two girls that were supposed to come in, came in in the morning and worked on Leigh's patient.  That turned out to be good because my patient for sure didn't have 4 quads of a III.  Another Jr. was going to be in clinic in hopes of getting some IIIs.  I begged, well not really, Jen to let two quads remain a III so that this student could clean my patient and hopefully finish up some requirements.  So, I proceeded to clean my patient's mandible.  Easy-peasy!  Then we had to wait on the Jr. to finish scaling one quad on another patient.  My patient really needed to get back to work, but within a couple of minutes the student was ready.  I couldn't believe how much he was making my patient bleed!  My patient had a couple of deep pockets, but he shouldn't have been bleeding the way he was.  When we finally got him finished up and I walked him out, I told him that he might be a little tender later tonight.  He told me that he could definitely tell a difference in the way this other student and I scaled.  When I was exploring around to check for calculus, a chunk of tissue came up with my explorer!  This other student made the comment "oh a blood clot!"  I thought "no you dope, that isn't a blood clot. you cut off his tissue!"  I felt bad sending my patient away on a rough note!  I wish that I could have just finished him up myself and gotten him out of there faster.  What's done is done.  I will make sure this patient gets taken care of by my peer pal.  She'll do a great job!

Well, here we are at the end of our university experience.  I am terrified and excited and can't wait to see what the future holds!  I hope for the best for all of my hygiene friends and me.  I hope that we each get what we want out of our careers!  Good luck to us all as we head out to our futures!  I love you guys and will miss you dearly!  Thank you for making my hygiene education so amazing!

Here's to signing off for the last time!  Here we go, Dental Hygiene Class of 2012!  Let's do this!

What a day

It was a bizarre day!  I had a very productive morning.  Trev came in and I did the Velscope PE. (By the way, abnormal tissue will appear red to purple to black through the Velscope.  I will never forget that.)  I did a diagnodent experience and passed off the air powder polisher on him so that I could place a sealant.  I also had a class V patient come in at 9:30.  Took a little longer than I wanted to, but everything went fine.

My afternoon was a little crazy.  MeChel and I were switching patients so that I could finish up my class IVs and she could get some class IIIs.  My patient was a little late and Karlie had to get MeChel's patient numb, so it all worked out.  I had to take some intraoral photos of my patient so that I could use him as my Eagle Soft patient.  The pictures were really blurry and I couldn't figure out why!  MeChel is a genius!  I had put on the barrier back words and didn't have the clear side facing the camera.  Blond moment #1.  Eventually I got some intraoral photos.  My patient then wanted to brush his teeth since he hadn't done that yet.  While he is brushing his teeth he is trying to turn the water on.  I don't know what he did, but all of a sudden water is arching out of the eye flushing station!  Water is going everywhere.  I put the eye covers back on the spout and I show him how to turn the water on.  Water goes spraying everywhere again!  I guess there was a little button at the back of the faucet that my patient had pushed when trying to turn on the water.  You would think it would have occurred to me to explain to my patient how to turn on the motion sensor faucets.  But I didn't.  Blond moment #2!  Finally it is figured out and I get the floor mopped up.  In the midst of all of the confusion, I fail to write in my patient's chart and get it signed before MeChel starts to work on him.  (Thanks for reminding me in front of Alexander, MeChel!  I love you anyway! ;)

At this point I get started on MeChel's patient.  I am feeling really shaky from the beginning of the appointment, but I know that I have to get these quads done.  I get some help from Marilyn on the right side.  I move on to the upper left quad and have an area that I don't feel completely confident about.  I am starting to feel light headed and decide that I would like Perry to come advise me.  I go to get him and explain that I am feeling light headed an that my hands are feeling numb.  The instructors say, "sit down and take off your lab coat and mask."  Perry goes to check my patient.  I missed two areas, but not in the quad in question.  My hands proceeded to feel more and more tingly.  I couldn't get my right thumb to straighten out without real effort.  It was the strangest sensation!  Thank you to everyone who helped me today.  For cleaning up my room, writing in my chart, bagging my instruments, driving me and Zach home!  You guys are the best!

I just don't know how I am going to get out into practice and be able to do perio if I can't do it in school.  I looked at taleval and Perry gave me several checks for lateral pressure, yet I had had him come over to check my lateral pressure and stroke.  He told me it looked and sounded right.  I think he is the only instructor that gives me bad marks.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that he freaks me out and I just do crappy work under pressure!  Maybe things will be better under the supervision of a dentist.  I sure hope so!

I cried!

What an emotional day!  Let me rephrase that, what an emotional hour!  I get a text from McCall saying she received her clinical board results and that she passed.  Yeah, McCall!  So, nervously I head up stairs to my computer to see if my results are in.  Sure enough.  I have an email saying my results are in.  Terrified, I look up my pass word for WREB and go to see my results.  The only thing I can focus on is at the bottom of the page and it says:  EXAM RESULTS: FAIL!!!  Fail?  I am looking at those words and at the score trying to figure this all out.  I immediately called McCall to have her help me discern what I was looking at.  I start to cry because I am freaking out!  She tells me that her result page said the same thing and to only look at the score.  If it is higher than 75 than I passed.  I did!!! YEAH!  I am so happy.  I continued to cry for a few minutes because my emotions were just right on the surface.  I am so happy to know that I don't have to relive that awful experience again.  The reason it said I failed is due to my process of care results.  They still aren't in.  I don't understand why it is taking them so long to get those results.  I took that test nearly 2 months ago.  I think it is horrible that they have failed at the bottom of that page.  That was a terrible trick for WREB to play on all of us!