9-18-07

My first patient today was 1B. She had great looking tissues. They were very stippled, pink and tight. She did have calculus that was very difficult to get though. Since her tissues were so healthy and tight I had a hard time getting interproximal and subgingival. I first thought I did a great job since it was a 1B but when I had my scale check I had missed all the mesial and distal surfaces subgingival. The instructor and I tried to get proximal enough to remove the calculus but non of the instruments we thought would work didn't work. So she went to get a McCall that had a thin working end which allowed us to get to the calculus. It was a good learning experience.
I really need to learn the area specific instruments so I could be more useful as a clinician. It is hard to just talk about in class. It is better for me to visualize and experience it on a patient.
My second patient canceled last minute so luckily Lilly had someone waiting in the waiting room who wanted her teeth cleaned. She was a class III but didn't have a lot of her teeth. So it was considered only 2 quads of a class III. But she was a great patient to help me learn and see the proximal surfaces and where calculus likes to hide.