Week 12 was very exciting!!
My first patient was a lady I was able to screen at Midtown in May for a Women's Health Clinic. For some reason when I took her information down, I starred her name and wrote "BOARD" next to it. I knew I wanted to see her and remembered her husband was interested in having her come to WSU for a dental cleaning. When I tried scheduling her, I struggled because she speaks only Spanish. I coordinated an appointment with her husband and then they cancelled a couple days prior because she was nervous about the language barrier. I can understand, but it still was very frustrating. Needless to say, I am very thankful that they rescheduled because I probably would have used her for my Mock Board experience. God works in mysterious ways! :) Yep that's right! My patient had enough calculus to be my Board patient! WAHOO!! This was super exciting to me, but I felt bad that I couldn't get anything but x-rays and the PD completed for her today. Her husband responded positively to boards, but really wanted some part of her teeth cleaned that day. I wish I could've done something more, but I just couldn't. I was able to reschedule her in January to see her for half of her mouth and then I will see her for boards. This is a huge relief and a big step for my future! I am so thankful that things really do work out and all is well!
My afternoon patient was my Mock Board patient returning to have the last quad of his mouth cleaned. I scheduled him for an hour and got him all cleaned up and out in time and was able to administer a couple local anesthesia injections. He was very thankful to be seen and know his mouth is clean. I was able to encourage him to continue with the home care that he has been learning each time he comes in for his cleaning. It's exciting to see someone have interest in the education you give them and see it work for them! His wife was very sweet to work with since he speaks on Spanish. They want to brighten their smiles with bleach trays and were inquiring about that at this appointment. I was able to tell them about a fundraiser we will be doing as a program with bleach trays at a discounted price. He seemed interested in this!
My second afternoon patient was a returning Class III patient to have the remaining two quads cleaned. He had some sensitivity that I was able to control with a few local anesthesia injections which was a nice review of how to administer some since it had been a little while since I gave local anesthesia. My patient spoke some English but mostly Spanish. The first time I saw him I was able to provide an interpreter to make him feel comfortable and understand the whole process of the cleaning. The other good part about today was that my peer-pal was able to be involved since it was her Senior Observation day. She got to meet my patients and let them know that would be seeing her after I graduate. This was encouraging for her and comforting for my patients.
Overall, today was a great day for me to practice my scaling and improve my speed and prepare for boards by finding my board patient (WAHOO!). It was a good experience for my peer-pal to see what clinic is like and know she will have reliable patients next year. My patients were able to have their teeth cleaned and get their mouth back to health.
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