This morning I was able to see my peer-pal's mother again. This marks exactly 3 months since her last cleaning. She has impeccable oral hygiene and really probably doesn't need to be seen sooner than 6 months, but it makes her feel good to be checked regularly. She mentioned today that she will have to have 2 of her implants removed because I told her to visit her oral surgeon to have them checked. She said her oral surgeon took a pano and thought everything looked fine. She mentioned that I got a 9mm and 6mm pocket in some area around these implants, so he checked to make sure he was able to get the same readings. Sure enough, he was able to get deep pocket readings that made him concerned. He said the implants need to come out and may not be able to be replaced. She mentioned she has nerve issues on this side of her mouth which may be caused from the implants sitting on the nerve according to her oral surgeon. When she came in today to get her teeth cleaned, my professor checked her and noticed there was no mobility in any direction which made him wonder what the bone levels look like today. I took a PA x-ray and things look similar to what they were in January when the other x-rays were taken. I printed them off for her and told her to take those x-rays with her to her appointment. She was grateful for all the help we were able to give her today during her appointment. I was able to clean her teeth quickly and learn a lot about implants, mobility, and x-rays. This morning was a great learning experience which had nothing really to do with dental hygiene. I love moments like these that help me learn a little beyond my scope of practice to educate my patients with other things.
This afternoon I was able to see a man who was a patient of one of my classmates. She said his wife wanted him to be seen but she didn't have a plan on how to have him in before Christmas. This worked out really well for me and for her. I was able to relieve her of this burden and have a patient in my chair since the one I had scheduled cancelled last minute. It was a really quick appointment. He has been seen here at the clinic many many times so his chart was full, and I just had to review a few things with him and get started. He had great home care so there wasn't much to discuss in the way of oral hygiene instruction. This seems to be that kind of patient I will see as a perio maintenance appointment (I hope!). Things went really smooth for my last day of clinic this semester. I couldn't have asked for a better couple of patients and easy way to end the semester.
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