Wed. Feb 28

Today I wasn't sure who was going to be my pt. We (my pod partner and I) had a couple scheduled but they moved and didn't let us know that they were canceling and we didn't know how to get a hold of them. We found this out the day before today (yesterday). So than I was given a name of a five year old who's mother said they would be able to make it. But than that night she called and said she couldn't. Than Micah said he had his pt.'s spouse that wanted to get her teeth cleaned but she needed to be premedicated and I wasn't sure if she knew how to take care of that.So she was partially on my schedule and I also talked my husband in coming up with me just incase I ended up not having anybody. But finally we worked it out that the spouse of Micah's pt. did premedicate and was able to get her teeth cleaned.She really liked to talk so it took alot of time and I didn't get as far as I wanted to. She also showed up really late. So while I was waiting I took a pano and a couple other x-rays on some other pt.'s to get some requirements passed off. She is another pt. I need to take a day and have her come back. I just don't think I am going to be able to get all my reuqirements in. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!Again I say it.....I NEED to get faster.

Mon. Feb 26

I finally finished a pt. today. It is a great feeling to get a pt. finished. And I didn't have any areas that I missed with calculas. Instead of leaving clinic feeling like I will not be a good hygienist, I left feeling very confident in myself.The only problem was that I didn't do a pt. from start to finish in one day, this was a returning pt. She was an exam and I passed which made the day even better. Your mind seems to play tricks on you. Even though you feel like you had a great day in clinic it seems like some negative thought seems to always come into play about what you should have done better.All in all though I was pretty happy I finished a pt.

Wed. Feb. 21

My pt. today was an older gentleman. He was very nice and quite funny. Again I didn't get finihsed though. This was the first time he had to ever have to come back instead of getting finished in one day. His comment was "Chirstmas will be here before I get my teeth cleaned". I know he was just joking but I know it's true I need to get faster. I have 3 hours and you would think I could get a pt. done in that time.He is a class 5 and I should have gotten him finished but I didn't and he is very nice to schedule to return. His wife needed to come back also so I felt better that the other student didn't get finished either. I tried to do the Ultrasonic on him but since we was older he had a hard time keeping the suction in his mouth so I need to hand scale him.I sure hope this will be a good time to practice getting quicker with just hand scaling.

No Pt.'s today Wed Feb 14

We learned Ultrasonics today. The instructors had us use pennies to learn on and than we did it on each other. I have some very sensitive areas that make me jump out of my chair when the ultrasonic hit it. I have learned first hand not to use the ultrasonic on areas of recession or other areas that are sensitive.I had a hard time taking it from the penny to inside the mouth but I love using it. It seems to make things a lot easier.Oh and Happy Valentines Day!!

Another 1A

I am having a hard time differentiating between probing a primary tooth and a permanant tooth. I have never really worked children before this program and don't really know what primary teeth look like and permenant teeth. I did finish but it takes me way too long to finish a 1A. She was very cute and did talk a lot so that slowed me down a little but I still need to get quicker.I say that all the time. I did finish a little quicker today though, so I am improving. But I sill need to get better. I need to try and learn the difference between the teeth and I need to re learn my technique with probing.

Today is my first child

I had my first child today and I think it went pretty well. The only thing I think I need to work on is how long I took with an 8 year old. I did do an exam and maybe I just wanted to make sure I was going to pass it before I had a check but it took me the entire time to finish a child class 1A. But it was a good feeling to get finished finally with my first pt. It leaves more open spots for me to get what I need. I need to get quicker with my pt.'s especially the 1B's and higher.Maybe I need to get more organized and play the day out through my head before it happens.

How to handle a patient

Today's pt. was really hard to handle. Sometimes I think pt.'s need to remember we are in a learning facility. My pt. today was really short with me. She was very on edge with all the waiting and the instructor checks and the OHI and the fact I didn't get finished. During OHI she had cut me off because she just wanted her teeth cleaned. It is hard to do what the pt. wants or do what you need to do to get the grade and what is asked of you.I'm working the fastest I can, I guess I need to just get better. I did reschedule my pt. and I hope she returns to let me finish.