April 24, 2008

Today is my very last day of clinic. Seems so surreal. I had a class 5 this morning who didn't show and than in the afternoon I had a possible board pt. come in so I could clean one quad. I think it well but he is so dramatic. I gave him a PSA, 2 ASA's a greater palatine and some dentin block LA and he still didn't get numb. He was jumping and twitching through the whole appointment.
I thought there is no way I could take him into boards like this. I some good advice from my instructors. They advised me that I still did very well and he has some great calculus. They also said that the IA is greater profound anethesia so it might not be as bad. I trust them so I am going to go for it. I am really worried about it but I think I will be able to do it.
I just need more confidence in my self.
I also hope I took good enough xrays on him to not loose those 4 points. Especially since I am worried about the 6 points I will loose for each piece of calculus I miss.
I hope it all works out.

April 17, 2008

Today was my simulation day. It was a very busy day. I had a class 5 who was a very sweet man. I feel bad for him since he had quite a few carious leasions with a partial. I think he might loose his stability teeth that his partial sits on. I hope he gets them taken care of.
Than I had my last week pt. (possilbe board pt.) come in so I could take the xrays I needed. It took a while since they had to be perfect. I don't want to loose points for xrays since it is a good 4 points that I don't want to loose.
In the afternoon I had a class mates grandpa come in since she was seeing the grandma but he ended up having really hight Blood Pressure. I had 3 other people take it just to make sure I was reading it right. I spoke to him about taking blood pressure medication since high blood pressure is a serious disease.
Than my last pt. was a 1B 12 year old. She talked a lot so it was hard to stay on time to clean her. She also needed 9 sealants. Since I didn't need them I had some first years come in to do them. It took quite a while. My pt. was very patient.
Her mother was very nice as well. She waited while her daugher had everything finished. I think it was a very productive day.
I really hope my skills are improving because I am graduation in 2 weeks.

April 10, 2008

Today we had mockmockboards...our very last one right before our actual board test. i cant' believe this semester is coming to an end so quickly. My pt. was a great class 2 that was great to work on. She was pregnant so I wasn't able to give her local anesthetic but it turned out alright. I didn't miss any calculus spots but I did miss my perio statement and an area of recession. I also caused an area of tissue trauma...OOPS!
I also had a pt. come in so I could take xrays but our clinic had a bunch of no shows with pt's and so I gave him up so he could be cleaned instead of me taking xrays.
I told him he would have to come back in for the xrays and he was very nice about it and agreed. He is my possible board pt. and I need to get some good xrays.
I still can't believe we only have 2-3 more weeks. I need to get some things finalized so I better go. Later,

April 3

I saw a cute 4 year old today. He wasn't very cooperative but he was sure cute. Every time I would ask him to open up or to lye back in the chair or anything his response made me laugh a little. He would just look at me and hum a bit (hmmmmmm) and than say thats ok like he was telling me he wasn't going to do that.
His mom and I tried the best we could. We got him polished but I couldn't scale any plaque off of him. He said it hurt. So we didn't push it.
At 12:30 all of our schedules changed. I had scheduled a family and I was going to see a 1A and I gave all the other children away. I had another peer ask if I could do one of her patients. So I gave my 1A away and saw the other peers 1B and did sealants again.
Everyone who was on the schedule for someone was switched with someone else. But we got everyone taken care of.

March 27

Today was suppose to be my production day but every body canceled. So I ended up seeing 1 quad of a class 3 and gave the other quad to my peer for her make up mockboard. She hasn't had very much luck with pt's this semester. And I am hoping carma will bring good luck back around. Since I am desperately trying to find a board pt still.
In the afternoon I saw a 1A. She was very cute. She was about 8 or 9 and needed sealants as well. I gave those to some other class mates who needed them.
Again I hope some luck starts to come my way. I only have about 4 weeks left to find a pt. for my WREB test. And I have no new patients to see. I did sign up for the Womens Health connection to I hope that will bring me something. And my husband is asking around at work as well.

March 20

Today I saw one of my class III's and got two of her quads done. She is very motivated to gain a healthy mouth. So she is very reliable on showing up. I put her on Chorehexidine to try and control the plaque and bacteria in her mouth along with getting a jump start on her healing.
In the afternoon it was another class 5. They seem to flock to me. I sure hope I have all my quads I think I needed.
I am also still looking for a board pt. Every day that goes by makes me very nervous. I have no more new patients to call. We have been doing screenings but I have had no luck by either no shows or I can't get a hold of them. I sure hope I find one soon.

March 6

At this point I am trying to get every new pt. that I can since boards are coming up. There are quite a few of class mates who have there pt.'s. WREB is very picky when it comes to qualifying a pt. for this test. I have had no luck finding any body for there standards. The patients are either too clean or they have too deep of a pocket.
The new patient I saw today had too much decay but qualified with clicks of calculus. She also had her wisdom teeth which stresses me out a bit. I don't think I would do a great job cleaning it as thorough as it needed to be to pass WREB.
And my afternoon patient was a tissue evaluation and than I saw his mom who was a 1B. She again hadn't had her teeth cleaned for many years but ended up being a 1B. I sure hope I can find someone soon.

Feburary 28

This morning we had Anesthetic Mockboard. It went ok. I passed the IA but I didn't pass the PSA. I definiatley need more practice with that injection. I am soo nervous for the real anesthetic boards. I need more practice with both injections.
At 12:30 I had 4 quads of a class 5. He was very nice. I seem to get a lot of class 5's here at Weber. At the VA they seem to be a bit more difficult of a pt. Which is good, it gives me a variety of all kinds of pt.s. I need to keep my skills up.

Feburary 21

Last week was UDA so we didn't have to see pt.'s that week for Thursday clinic. But I think we have a make up day at the end of the semester.
Today I had a class 5 pt. scheduled at 8. She showed up and she was new. I did the OD and my peer in the next unit over has had too many no shows. I didn't need a 5 so gave her up and let my peer clean her. She is really worried about getting all of her quads done since she has had so many no shows. I sure hope the VA helps her out when it is her turn to go.
So this morning I didn't have a pt. and at 12:30 I had a 1B. I have seen her family and her boyfriend is coming in later next month. It makes you feel better when they refer all of there family to you.

Feburary 7

Today was mockboard day. I had found a pt. last semester and he had committed to return if I waited to clean him and of coarse he never came back. I couldn't even get a hold of him. He would never return my calls and never showed.
So luckily I found a pt. 2 weeks age that was a class 2 that qualified. He was very nice to come in and let me use him as a test pt.
He had a very small mouth and was very difficult to access. I of course missed a couple of spots since he was very difficult to access. But I still passes. I also missed points on the canine xray. If you miss one tiny thing on an xray than you miss all of the 4 points.
It is a chunk of points that could have been prevented from being lost. Everything adds up quickly so be very thorough on the paper work you can control.

Jan 31

I saw my class 4 all day today. He came in at 8 and I did two quads and then my afternoon pt. canceled and he came back after getting lunch and I did the other two quads. He wanted to stay and get it done with. I am glad I found and finished my class four from weber. The other one I will be able to get at the VA.
The poor guy had 9 - 12 mm pocket depths with supenation on #9. He had a perio abscess in the pocket of #9. I didn't catch it but my instructor was the one that saw it. Since I have really never seen one before I'm glad she caught it.
We cleaned around that area hoping it would get rid of the bacteria to help it heal. I hope it didn't heal so the bacteria got trapped around the tissue.

Jan 24

Today was a pretty easy day. I saw new 1B that has never been in before. He was 15 but he looked like he was at least 19. He didn't know what floss was and said he brushed his teeth twice a day. But his tissues showed otherwise. He had not had a cleaning since he was about 8 but he still ended up only being a 1B.
We went over home care and discussed the importance of it or he would worsen his status. I talked to him about what perio is and he could get to that if he doesnt take care of his mouth at home along with regular cleanings.
I will see him back for an evaluation in about 2 weeks.
My afternoon pt. was an easy class2. I think she was boarder line 1B or class 2. I'm glad they gave her to me as class 2 since I would like to fullfill all of my requirments as fast as I can. At least the perio patients.