Thanks Trev!

Dear Trevor,

Thanks for being patient with me today as I poked a proded your teeth.  You were so good about letting me do what I needed to without any complaints.  I know that you don't really like to have me instruct you on how to take care of your teeth, but you took it like a champ!  Love you lots!

Love,
Sarah

I really felt like I am starting to understand the full flow of how clinic is to work.  I almost and did make some stupid mistakes.  I almost forgot to put the safety glasses on my patient (critical!!!).  I did forget to have my treatment plan created before my instructor came to do the OD check.  I shouldn't have done conventional film.  It took way to long to send them through the developer.  The first x-ray I took didn't turn out at all because it was hurting my hubby.  Next time that happens, I will take it out and put an edge eeze on it before taking the x-ray.  I tried to make it work and it just didn't.  I also failed to walk out my husband after his appointment was complete.  I tried to have him checked out with his treatment plan.  It didn't even occur to me that I hadn't walked him out until Prof. Costley asked why I was walking him out with the treatment plan.  I felt like I could have used my time better.  Probing still is a little hard for me.  I feel like I am struggling with getting the proper angle for seeing the very back of all of the molars.  I felt that this was a good experience.  I learned what not to do and how I can improve.  I can't wait to get him back in and finish the job!

Finish Scaling

Last Wednesday I was able to finish working on Marianne.  It was awesome!  I am still a little uncomfortable with going subgingivally.  I found out that I am holding my instrument wrong as well.  I am leaving too large of a space between my fulcrum finger and my middle finger.  After 14 weeks of class, I have never had anyone tell me I was doing this wrong.  Let's hope that I can fix it.  I placed a sealant on her as well.  I really enjoy placing sealants.  This is something I have done for years, so I am very comfortable with it.  Today is my "real" patient day.  Trevor, Zach and I get to go to school together and I get to do the whole thing, including taking x-rays.  Today will be a good day.  I feel pretty confident that I will be able to do a good job.  Let's hope that Trevor is in a learning mood, because I have to teach him something about OHI.  I can't wait to put the disclosing agent in his mouth and see just how well he does brushing and flossing his teeth.  I will post later about my experience.

Oh What Fun It Is To...

Scale!  I scaled one quadrant today.  Monday, November 15, was my day as the operator.  There are so many little things to remember.  I was rather excited because I actually heard Marianne's heart beat through my sphygnomanometer (?).  I am finally feeling like I am getting the order of how the appointment is supposed to go, the wording on the chart and how to probe without hurting my patient.  I feel like I am doing a good job of probing and hope that I am doing it so that my patient is comfortable.  I started with blood pressure, respiration, and pulse, then went on to and extra and intra oral exam.  I then probed and decided on a perio statement.  From there I had my OD check and started OHI.  I died Marianne's mouth purple and checked her PFI score, demonstrated how to brush and floss.  Once I gave her sufficient instructions on how to care for her teeth, we started on scaling.  I scaled her lower right teeth!  I did it!  I don't feel 100% comfortable with it, but I will get better.  I didn't have any scaling errors though.  That was a good feeling.  I realize how hard it is to get the exact order of how the chart should be written.  What a great day!

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!

Being the patient

I rather enjoyed today.  I was able to be the patient all day today, as well as on Wednesday.  I just got to relax in the chair while Marianne worked on me.  Today was our first taste of what it is like to walk step-by-step through the appointment process.  It takes forever.  We didn't even get to scaling today and I was in her chair for over 3 hours.  Probing is my least favorite thing about having my teeth cleaned.  It is so tender to go under the gum line with a pointy instrument.  I will do my best next week to be gentle and walk softly around the tooth surfaces.  I was floored that I had some pocket depths that were 4 mms!  How could someone who is so into teeth have a 4 mm pocket depth?!?!  I don't get it.  I wonder what I have done to cause pockets that deep.  I hope that next week my two operator days will run smoothly.  I hope that I have the chance to do some scaling. I feel bad that next semester most of my patients will have to come back for multiple appointments, because I won't be fast enough to get them done in a 3 hours period of time!  Yikes!

3 Words... Air Powder Polisher

On Wednesday of last week, November 3rd, we used the horrible thing called an air powder polisher.  It was  PE that we had to pass off by practicing on another student.  Its purpose is to remove heavy stain from the tooth surfaces.  It is basically a small sand blaster.  You have to be very careful with where and how you point the instrument at the tooth.  It is not ok to point it at the gum line!  Pain!  Plus, the "sand" tastes horrible.  It is a sodium bicarbonate (?) something or other.  It is supposed to have a mint flavor, but you can't get past the salty taste in your mouth.  I feel terrible having to use this on people.  I did get to experience what it feels like being sprayed at my nose on Monday.  Ouch!  Note to self: never spray at the nose or palate of the mouth.

Sealants and fluoride

Last Monday, Nov. 1st we practiced sealants and fluoride.  I love getting new sealants.  I was able to get two new ones today on a couple of my premolars.  I also enjoy doing sealants.  I feel like I understand how to place them really well, without having to remove much material afterward.  I do have to say that I don't like fluoride varnish very much though.  It tastes nasty and makes my teeth feel like they are coated in gum for several hours until I brush it off.  I would much rather have the tray of gel or foam for four minutes than have that stuff on my teeth for four hours.  It is rather easy to apply though.  All you have to do is quick swipe of the "paint brush" with the varnish on all surfaces of the teeth and presto!  The teeth have fluoride on them.  It's magic!

Prophy

I enjoyed what we were doing last Wednesday.  I have done so many prophylaxis cleanings on patients in the past that it was second nature.  I felt very confident in polishing Tori's teeth and making sure that the prophy cup flared underneath her gum line.  I didn't do a fluoride varnish treatment on her, but it can't be too hard!  All you do is paint some nasty fluoride on all surfaces of the teeth.  I will have an opportunity to do it on my patient tomorrow.  I can't wait for tomorrow because we get to do at least one sealant on each other.  I have several molars that are in desperate need of sealants.  Hopefully that goes well.

It's all a blur

I have been struggling to keep my days separate.  I keep forgetting to blog about what I have been doing.  I only hope that by the end of the semester that I have enough blog posts to get the grade.  My days are really blurring together.  I can't believe that we are halfway through our 10th week of class.  I am almost finished with my first semester.  I have heard that this time flies.  I am grateful that it is.  I am really enjoying my education, but I can't wait to be done with school and have this education thing behind me.  I am excited to feel comfortable with what I am going to do for the rest of my life.  Also, the work load will be so much nicer.  Right now my "work" comes home with me, whereas when I am working as a hygienist, work stays at work.  Monday, October 25th, we just had a practice day.  We had to pass off our Oral Hygiene Instruction PE and the Intraoral Camera PE.  My instructor kept telling me to slow down while I was instruction my "patient" on how to take better care of her teeth.  I didn't feel like I was talking fast, but she apparently thought I was.  I think that made me even more nervous.  Oh well, I got through it.  Now I am on to tomorrow, Wednesday.  We are getting closer and closer to our actual patient days.  I can't wait to work on Trev.  Thank heavens he is willing to be my first victim, I mean patient!

Relaxed

I got to sit back and relax on Wednesday, October 20th.  I was able to enjoy being a patient today and not have to do too much.  I enjoyed being able to lie in the treatment chair and just chill.  MeChel worked on me and life was good.  She did a really good job!  I did have to pass off a couple of PEs right before clinic ended.  I'm not quite as comfortable with posterior scaling as I am anterior.  I know that it will come.  I just need to practice.

Easy Pleasey...

As my son would say, "Easy Pleasey, Lemon Squeezy."  Monday, October 18th was really interesting.  We started learning how to use a intraoral camera.  I thought that it was going to be the easiest thing in the world to put a small camera into someone's mouth and snap a picture.  Well, I was wrong.  It is very easy in theory, yet to actually do it and get the picture you want is another thing.  I had a hard time stabilizing the camera long enough to take a picture.  I was eventually able to do it, and it is really fun.  We are supposed to take pictures of things inside a patient's mouth to use for patient education purposes as well as for documentation.  That will be a nifty tool to use once we start working on patients.  I was also able to start scaling on anterior teeth today.  That is a BLAST!!!  I practiced at home and got a decent sized chunk of calculus off of my husband's teeth!  Let the calculus fly!

An easy PE

So, every day we have a process evaluation that is due for something that we have learned so far.  We are to have practiced these skills sometime on our own and then pass it off with one of our instructors.  Todays was a piece of cake!!!  I am glad that I am getting down the classifications of instruments.  I understand that.  Now I need to go home and practice the working strokes, adaptations, and angulation.  I need to get myself feeling more comfortable with how to adapt to the tooth and how to really get in there and make the calculus fly!!!

Sorry Karlie

Dear Karlie,

I am so sorry that I made you bleed today.  I felt so bad every time that I saw a slight flinch.  You were so good to work on.  You sat there so patiently every time I poked you.  I make a promise to you right now, that I will go home and practice on my typodont.  I will make sure that I adapt my scaler to the tooth better than I did today.  It really was hard concept for me to grasp.  I don't really know why, but I will work hard to get better.  I hope that your gums heal quickly.  If you read this blog post, it will be good for one free flower headband from me!  You better act quickly.  This offer won't last forever!  Thank you for letting me get back in there, even though I kept hurting you!  You were a great patient!

Sarah

Yikes!

Today we practiced scaling the front teeth on the top and bottom.  I was terrified.  I would much rather have a newbie working on me than work on someone.  I sometimes feel like I really shouldn't be doing this.  I failed a PE today.  It is really disheartening to have that happen.  I feel sick about it.  I know that it means that I just need to improve my skills for that PE. I haven't worked on that one enough to really know how to do that one.  I need to work harder at making sure that I am prepared for each clinic day.  I am so glad that this day is over though.  I am ready to go home and spend some time with my family.  Oh, wait!  I still need to study for my two classes for tomorrow.  It really is never ending.  I feel like I started to understand how to scale.  There is more wrist movement to it than I originally thought.  I would have thought it was the fingers moving the instrument.  I am going home to practice so that I can pass off my PE that I failed today.  I will not fail another one.  It made me feel like a complete idiot!!!

What a day

Today was a rough day from the start.  My little boy came down with a temperature of 103 degrees yesterday.  He had also been complaining of a stomach ache at his preschool.  Trevor went and picked him up yesterday and I met them at home a little later.  Well, we were vegging on my bed watching a movie.  Zach, my little boy, had quite a bit of water and was eating some pretzels.  He tells me, "I need to frow-up."  And about 2 seconds later he proceeds to "frow-up" all over himself, me, and my dry clean only bedspread.  I know that with him feeling like this, either Trevor or I am going to have to stay home from work/school with him.  Come to find out my husband has a really busy and important day for today and really can't miss.  So, that leaves me trying to find someone that doesn't have kids at home during the day to watch Zach.  I left a message with my professor, but she never got that.  I called first thing in the morning today to let them know the situation.  I did get a little guilt trip about not being there for my pod partner.  So, I proceed to make another million phone calls to see if anyone can help us.  Long story short, (too late) my husband ended up staying home with him and missing his important day at work.  It is really hard juggling school and home life.  I need to realize that I am first a mother and then a student.  My husband felt that I was putting my schooling above his job.  My education is very important to me, but my family is more important.  Trevor kept saying that by me missing one 3 and a 1/2 hour morning was not going to keep me from graduating.  He is right.  Anyway, I made it to school and did what I needed to do.  It was an informative day and I learned a lot about the differences in scalers and curets.  I can't wait to start using them.  We actually got to sterilize them today.  Watch next clinic day!  Sarah is coming to scale you!

Finally...

I feel like I understand something.  We practiced using an explorer on each other today.  I actually felt like I understood how to adapt the sharp end to the tooth as well as decipher which is the correct end to use.  It feels so good to feel like I get it.  I don't know about everything else, but exploring I do!  I had a lot of fun going subgingivally to check for calculus.  Woo-Hoo for explorers!

Probing

Well, I caused Tanya to bleed a little bit.  But is went better than I thought it would.  It was really hard to not apply too much pressure while I was entering the sulcus.  Each time I did, I felt like I had a lite grip on my probe, but yet my patient would flinch.  I felt bad for getting her a couple of times.  Trying to enter the col area was complicated.  There were times that I felt that I was there, yet my teaching assistant would tell me to contour to the tooth more.  I know that I will get it.  I just need to go home a practice on my typodont.  I also need to practice taking blood pressure on Trev.  I hope that he enjoys how much time we are spending together with him being by guinea pig!!!  Have a great day everyone!

Fulcrum

We had a fun day today!  We have been able to practice on each other the last couple of clinic days.  On Monday we practiced taking vital signs on each other.  I tell you, blood pressure is hard to do.  I really struggled with that.  I need to bring my blood pressure cuff and stethescope home to practice on my hubby.  It is great to have a built in guinea pig!  Today we were learning how to use the dental mirror inside the mouth.  I thought learning these things would be so easy since I have such a long dental back ground, but it isn't.  Learning to fulcrum for all the differen areas in the mouth is harder than I expected it to be.  I just need to practice, practice, practice.  I think I am finally getting into a routine in the clinic though.  It feels good to finally feel like I know how to start each day there.  I can't wait for it to be just second nature and to not have to think about what needs to be done next. 

Today we were also practicing extra oral exams on each other.  This is where we palpate each others faces and necks to check for lumps and bumps that shouldn't be there.  It is fun to be part of a profession that looks out for a person's overall health.  We aren't just concerned with the teeth or mouth, but the person as a whole and we want to help our patients maintain great health for their lifetime.

Taking Vitals

I need to be more on my "A" game.  I wasn't prepared for what we were doing today.  I had forgotten to look at my module for the day to see what was going to take place.  Well, I didn't get my unit set up and felt pretty dumb when Prof. Costley came over and asked why I wasn't prepared.  The module specifically said to have my unit set up for a patient before class started.  I hadn't done that.  You can be sure that I won't make that same mistake twice.  I don't like feeling like I have disappointed Prof. Costley.  She is going to make or break me passing for the next year.  It is better to impress her rather than make her question my unpreparedness.

On to my day.  We started out by practicing going over the health history sheet.  Stefanie and I were practicing on each other again.  They informed us that the health history portion of the appointment could possibly take the entire appointment time.  Now, mind you, my appointment time at first is going to be 3 hours!  Heaven help me if I take three hours to go over health information with my patient.  Hopefully, if that happens, I get a nice person that won't be mad that we didn't even get to the cleaning.  The reason that may happen is due to the need to write down what the patient says regarding questions that were answered with a "yes."  Also, if they are on several (or lots) of medication, I have to write down each and every one and look them up in my drug reference book.  That in and of itself is very tedious.  I understand why we need to do it though.  The health of our patient is in our hands and I have to be very careful because of the oral side effects of drugs. 

We also were able to practice vital signs.  I really struggled taking Stef's blood pressure.  I brought my stethescope and BP cuff home to practice on Trev.  Hopefully he doesn't mind me squeezing the crap out of his arm several times in a row.  I just want to be able to get it before we go over the Vitals PE next week.  I want to be able to walk in that clinic and feel like a pro at taking vitals on my patients.  This time I want to be completely prepared!

Blurred

I'm not sure if it is a good thing that my clinic days are all starting to blur together.  I am blogging about Wednesday, September 1st on Monday, September 6th.  I can't really remember what took place on that day other than passing off a couple of PEs.  It is always a good feeling to see progress in whatever you are doing.  That is how I feel with my clinic days.  Each day that I can pass off a PE takes me one PE closer to my goal.  I am finding it hard to remember every detail of how to set up or take down my operatory.  I must do better at reviewing the PEs that I have already passed off.  I know that I will get into a routine and each of these things will become second nature to me, but for right now I feel like I need to review, review, review to make sure that information is in my brain. 

I still don't feel like I am getting a routine down with my school schedule.  I am feeling overwhelmed with everything that is required of me.  Some of the things I am learning is a review from my 7 years of dental experience.  Those things are coming back to me like riding a bike, yet there are new terms and directions that are brand new that I don't quite understand yet.  I know that it will come. I just can't wait to start scaling Trevor's teeth.  He has already committed to be my first patient on November 22!  So, let the count down begin.  That will be a great day!

One more thing.  I got the CD of our family pictures this past week and just want to share some of the cute pictures that were taken of my family.  Yes, I am bragging about how cute we look.  But isn't that what a family picture is?  I think so.

My Guinea Pig

We were able to practice on each other today!!!  Stef was my guinea pig while I suctioned and squirted her mouth.  I was able to try four different styles of suction devices.  We have a really neat suction thing called a Blue Boa.  As a practitioner, I rather enjoyed using the Blue Boa.  It was very convinient to place on the corner of my patients mouth and let it rest there while I practiced rinsing the mouth with my air/water syringe.  Thanks for letting me work on you Stef!!!

Today we also practiced setting up and taking down our operatory.  There is such a particular way of doing everything.  My pod and I were going over everything together to make sure that we each were understanding how to do each step without missing something.  There is so much to remember to do to get set up before seeing a patient.  I can't wait until we get to start working on each other.  It will feel so fantastic to hold an instrument and actually scale calculus off of someone's teeth.  I love my clinic days.  It is fun to learn what we are going to be doing.  My hands sure a taking a beating though.  I feel like I have used about a cup of alcohol rub to sanitize inbetween glove usage and 5 gallons of water to wash my hands.  Any day now my skin is going to crack.  I just need to do a good job of keeping them moisturized.  I love what I am doing.  Everyday I am feeling overwhelmed at the end of the day.  But the next day I am ready for the next adventure.  Bring it on!

Baby Steps

This is what we have been told we are doing.  We are learning to take baby steps in this process called "becoming a dental hygienist."  Yesterday we went through a process called "washing our hands."  We were taught the proper way to wash for 15 seconds, rinse, repeat for 15 seconds with scrubbing between the fingers, rinse, repeat for another 15 seconds with scrubbing under the finger nails, rinse and dry.  This will be my routine for the next two years every time I am in clinic.  I love my clinic days.  It is so fun to be learning what we are actually going to be doing when we are cleaning a patients teeth.

We had a special treat yesterday.  We had a guest speaker come and demonstrate the use of a suction tip called a Blue Boa.  The inventor of it is a graduate of Weber State Dental Hygiene and lives here in the Ogden area.  She is so nice and has created such a wonderful product.  The second year students didn't get a personal demo from her, so they haven't become too accomstomed to this awesome device.  I think it is something that I could get used to and appreciate in the dental profession. 

It was also a great day, because I was able to pass off my first PE, or process evaluation.  We have a number of these every semester that we have to pass off by demonstrating our knowledge on the task described.  One down and ? to go.  I am loving being here.  It is such a blessing to be in the program and I can't wait to finally get my feet (or hands) "dirty" and actually learn some scaling and probing.  Until next week!

First Clinic Day

All day today, I have had the chills because of how excited I am to finally be here.  I will admit that I was terrified yesterday.  Every time I thought about school, I got a pit in my stomach and my heart started to race.  Now that I am here though, I couldn't be more happy.  It has been fun getting my supplies stored in my assigned drawer.  I always enjoy learning new things and have had fun getting to know the software that I will be using for the next two years.  It is also nice to get to know my classmates as we have spent the ENTIRE day together.  I now feel that I have to go home and get all of my stuff more organized.  I have many things that I need to get together so that I have the right things with me for each class.  Hopefully I will get used to this new schedule quickly so that I have more time for lunch.  I am STARVING right now!  What a great day it has been so far.  I am so ready for this new adventure to begin.

Orientation

Boy, am I feeling overwhelmed and slightly out of place.  I feel like I know nothing about the dental field even though I worked in it for 7 years.  I am bringing home with me enough stuff to fill a room in my house and all of it needs to come back to school with me on Monday.  I have been told that I shouldn't be too overwhelmed, yet it is hard not to.  I am very nervous, yet so excited at the same time.  As I opened up some of my instruments, mostly my fake mouths, I got the chills.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be and that I am doing.  I know that this is going to take a lot of work and I am ready.  I am really excited to get to know the other girls in my class.  We are going to have a great time together, learning and helping one another.  Let's ROCK Dental Hygiene Class of 2012!!!