GOAL: Complete a full Class IB appointment from start to finish today
ACTUAL: Completed 4 quads Class IB with no missed calculus, took 4 BWX
Today was just an extra day and a feather in my cap. It didn't mean extra points just extra experience. My patient showed up 10 minutes late, so I was worried I wasn't going to make my goal. Although, I was a little stressed about this, I still was able to maintain my composure and get through it. She took 3 different kinds of medication and had to fill out her HHx when she got there. I was able to get through all of this and take her x-rays within the first hour.
I had a couple of hours to scale and complete the cleaning. I was able to give her adequate OHI and demonstrate and give her OH aids that will help her maintain her great homecare. Overall, I felt like today was a great learning experience and I was able to complete it. My patient thanked me for my service and complimented me for the way I treated her. I was grateful I was able to make her happy and give her another reason to come back to the hygiene clinic.
I was so glad today was the last day of clinic for the stress that requirements give, but I will really miss the opportunity and growth I had during this semester. I look forward to Senior Clinic and all I will learn within the next year. I wish I could continue to hone my skills through the summer.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
April 9, 2012 patient #16
GOAL: Complete 4 quads Class IBACTUAL: Completed 4 quads Class IB
Today was going to be a pretty laid back day. This patient was another of Kelsi's patients who she couldn't see, so I planned to see him. She did everything beside the quad scale which is the best part! It went really smooth and very quickly. The patient was dropped off by his mother, and she left and didn't come back until well after I completed the cleaning. The patient seemed happy with the appointment and his mother was glad it didn't take too much longer. She was happy that her whole family was able to be seen this semester and plans to bring them all back for their next cleanings.
The exciting part about this appointment for me was the once I completed it, I was able to have 62 quads complete thus far in the class which fulfilled my requirements for full credit! I love clinic! I was so excited about my accomplishment!
Today was going to be a pretty laid back day. This patient was another of Kelsi's patients who she couldn't see, so I planned to see him. She did everything beside the quad scale which is the best part! It went really smooth and very quickly. The patient was dropped off by his mother, and she left and didn't come back until well after I completed the cleaning. The patient seemed happy with the appointment and his mother was glad it didn't take too much longer. She was happy that her whole family was able to be seen this semester and plans to bring them all back for their next cleanings.
The exciting part about this appointment for me was the once I completed it, I was able to have 62 quads complete thus far in the class which fulfilled my requirements for full credit! I love clinic! I was so excited about my accomplishment!
April 4, 2012 Patient #15
GOAL: Finish 2 quads Class IIACTUAL: Finished 2 quads Class II
I was able to get this patient from Kelsi. She was able to clean half of her mouth but didn't need the other 2 quads to fulfill her experience in clinic and didn't have room to see her. I was garteful for this because I knew this patient wanted to be completed, and I didn't have to work really hard to find her.
Unfortunately, this patient was really jumpy today and sturggled with the slow speed suction. She got water , literally, all over her face, head, hair, chest, neck, etc. I tried to explain how to use it to avoid this, but I don't know if she was just anxious today and couldn't comprehend what I was saying or if she has a hard time controlling her tongue. Either way, this made the appointment very difficult. When I would ask her if she was okay, she would always respond yes but still jump. I am so glad I only had to do this for 2 quads instead of a whole mouth because by the end I was getting very frustrated!
When I got done, I talked to Kelsi about it, and she said her experience with this patient wasn't like mine at all. This didn't amke me feel good about it. I hope the patient knew I was trying to be kind. I did the best I could.
I was able to get this patient from Kelsi. She was able to clean half of her mouth but didn't need the other 2 quads to fulfill her experience in clinic and didn't have room to see her. I was garteful for this because I knew this patient wanted to be completed, and I didn't have to work really hard to find her.
Unfortunately, this patient was really jumpy today and sturggled with the slow speed suction. She got water , literally, all over her face, head, hair, chest, neck, etc. I tried to explain how to use it to avoid this, but I don't know if she was just anxious today and couldn't comprehend what I was saying or if she has a hard time controlling her tongue. Either way, this made the appointment very difficult. When I would ask her if she was okay, she would always respond yes but still jump. I am so glad I only had to do this for 2 quads instead of a whole mouth because by the end I was getting very frustrated!
When I got done, I talked to Kelsi about it, and she said her experience with this patient wasn't like mine at all. This didn't amke me feel good about it. I hope the patient knew I was trying to be kind. I did the best I could.
April 2, 2012 14th patient
GOAL: Complete IB patient in one clinic sessionACTUAL: Completed Class II patient
At this point in my clinic class, I knew I was going to get through the quads I needed to complete with full credit. I wasn't sure what kind of patient this lady would be, but it didn't matter to me. I was hopeful for a Class IB just for selfish reasons. I didn't want to miss on something so dumb to hurt my grade. Although my patient ended up being a Class II, I wasn't upset about it at all. I decided to use this as a learning lesson for me to continue to hone my skills and really understand what calculus is and what it feels like.
This was definitely a confidence boost for me in my clinic experience. I am understanding what it's like to clean a whole mouth and coming up with my own routine to make sure I cover every surface. I can't wait to actually be able to use the exploratory stroke with a scaler and feel for calculus. I'm getting pretty good with the explorer, but it is such a time waster.
At this point in my clinic class, I knew I was going to get through the quads I needed to complete with full credit. I wasn't sure what kind of patient this lady would be, but it didn't matter to me. I was hopeful for a Class IB just for selfish reasons. I didn't want to miss on something so dumb to hurt my grade. Although my patient ended up being a Class II, I wasn't upset about it at all. I decided to use this as a learning lesson for me to continue to hone my skills and really understand what calculus is and what it feels like.
This was definitely a confidence boost for me in my clinic experience. I am understanding what it's like to clean a whole mouth and coming up with my own routine to make sure I cover every surface. I can't wait to actually be able to use the exploratory stroke with a scaler and feel for calculus. I'm getting pretty good with the explorer, but it is such a time waster.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
First cancellation that I couldn't fill
My patient cancelled her appointment yesterday while I was in class. She said she had a school meeting she couldn't get out of. I have all of my requirements met plus some so I wasn't too worried about that just that I need a patient in my chair so I get experience. I got her message when I got home. I decided to call around and got nothing. I went to school today and told Prof. Costley about it asap and she just said to try hard to find one. After multiple attempts to find a patient, I didn't find one. I knew my instruments were so dull from Monday's appointment, so I decided to sharpen all of my instruments. This was good practice! I was able to get them all sharpened again and help a few of my classmates with charting and cleaning up.
12th Patient 2nd appointment (March 26, 2012)
Goal: Finish my Class III patient, take 1 PAX on Kelsi's patient, 2 PEs for my Class III (Universal #2 and Area specific)
Actual: Completed 2 quads Class III, 1 PAX
My patient was 15 minutes late which made my heart race because I needed to finish her whole mouth to fulfill my Class III requirements. I left her a message on her phone to call me right as she walked in the clinic. I was so relieved she showed up. Cancelled and no show patients make my life so stressed. I wish people knew what they do to us students when they don't show up for their appointments. Anyway, I am so thankful she finally came!
Based on x-rays, I knew the maxillary quads were going to be harder to complete than the mandibular teeth because of bone loss and calculus that show on the x-rays so I chose to do the maxillary teeth last so she would show up! :) I know most people don't like the dentist so the chance of her coming back if I really beat her up wouldn't be likely so I was kind to her last week ;) Boy, is she in for a treat today! I had no idea how hard it was going to be, but sheesh! I'm pretty sure every one of my instruments are dull and she was bleeding like a stuck pig! HA! I guess that's what happens in deep perio pockets full of calculus. She was a real trooper though. Most patients need L.A. for what I did and she stuck through the whole thing flinching a little, but for the most part she was great!
I was able to complete the rest of the cleaning and do the PAX before she showed up for her appointment. Really truly, it went very well if only I knew she was coming just running a bit late! Oh well! I was so exhausted after that. I just wanted to go home and sleep! Thank goodness the weather was so crappy Monday so I was able to skip my run and not feel so bad about it :)
Actual: Completed 2 quads Class III, 1 PAX
My patient was 15 minutes late which made my heart race because I needed to finish her whole mouth to fulfill my Class III requirements. I left her a message on her phone to call me right as she walked in the clinic. I was so relieved she showed up. Cancelled and no show patients make my life so stressed. I wish people knew what they do to us students when they don't show up for their appointments. Anyway, I am so thankful she finally came!
Based on x-rays, I knew the maxillary quads were going to be harder to complete than the mandibular teeth because of bone loss and calculus that show on the x-rays so I chose to do the maxillary teeth last so she would show up! :) I know most people don't like the dentist so the chance of her coming back if I really beat her up wouldn't be likely so I was kind to her last week ;) Boy, is she in for a treat today! I had no idea how hard it was going to be, but sheesh! I'm pretty sure every one of my instruments are dull and she was bleeding like a stuck pig! HA! I guess that's what happens in deep perio pockets full of calculus. She was a real trooper though. Most patients need L.A. for what I did and she stuck through the whole thing flinching a little, but for the most part she was great!
I was able to complete the rest of the cleaning and do the PAX before she showed up for her appointment. Really truly, it went very well if only I knew she was coming just running a bit late! Oh well! I was so exhausted after that. I just wanted to go home and sleep! Thank goodness the weather was so crappy Monday so I was able to skip my run and not feel so bad about it :)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
13th Patient (March 21, 2012)
Goal: Complete my partial PE and anything above that would be great!
Actual: 4 quads IB, 4 BWX, and Partial PE
Today was such a crazy day! I had Mark confirm this patient the day before because she speaks spanish. She mentioned that she was unable to come until 10:30am. I didn' think anything of it and said it was fine. He looked at me funny and said Really? That wasn't enough of a clue for me I guess. I went home Tuesday afternoon still not worried about what Wednesday was going to bring. It wasn't until Wednesday morning when I realized what I did. Walk-out is at 10:45am and I was going to complete a full OD and partial cleaning! YIKES! I knew this wasn't going to work.
I showed up to school on Wednesday and immediately walked into Prof. Costley's office. She was putting on her makeup for the day (this woman is always perfect it doesn't matter if she is wearing a business suit or scrubs! I don't know how she does it!) Anyway, I explain my situation and she tells me to have Mr. Soloman call this patient and see if she can come in earlier or reschedule her and find a new patient for the day. Even though I am close to having my requirements completed, I am still required to have a patient in my chair every clinic session. Mr. Soloman talks to my patient (thankfully she answered) and explained the situation. She asked if she can come in at 12:30. I ran to ask Prof. Costley if this would work and she said YES! AH! I couldn't believe it! Mr. Soloman had her come in at 12:30 and sure enough she did!
I worked on other homework for the time being which worked out well actually. I had Stephen bring me lunch since I wasn't planning on beign there the whole day.
When it came time to get set up for clinic, I noticed a hispanic girl with a young boy in the waiting area. I didn't think anything of it other than, she is way early and how nice for someone else not to worry! I walked into clinic and had to set up a different chair because I was going to be in a right-handed unit for the overflow since it was a different group and different clinic session and my left-handed unit had another left-handed classmate in it. This didn't seem to be a big deal other than the chair wasn't set which bugged me! 12:30pm comes and my patient ticker turns yellow saying my patient is here and ready. I go out to the waiting area and sure enough this patient that I saw in the waiting area was my patient! As I was walking back, I thought to myself, "She's kind of young to have a partial but maybe her partial is her lateral incisors" since that's pretty common. I remember she can't understand anything I say, so I go ahead and try and show her what I need to do. She was very compliant. Somehow I was able to communicate whether or not she had a partial and she nodded her head no..... oh no! I laid her back and sure enough she had NO PARTIAL!!!! Frantically, I run into the radiology room where Kayla was and tell her (she was the one who gave me this "partial patient". She asked if I had the daughter or the mother. I assumed daughter since she was young. She told me there was a mix up because the daughter was supposed to see Karlie and the mother was supposed to see Kayla who found a different partial patient so she gave this patient to me.
I ran to Prof. Costley and gave her the news. She told me to call Karlie and ask her what she wanted me to do. 45 minutes after 12:30 I got it all figured out. The daughter and mother (who actually is a grandmother) live in the same household and have the same name! Karlie didn't need her and told me to go ahead. Meanwhile, McKinlei had a patient who had 2 partials! Prof. Costley told her about my situation and then had me come over and do my partial PE with her! I couldn't believe it! What chaos! It's amazing how everything turned out!
Anyway, I was able to take 4 BWX on this patient and complete 4 quads of Class IB... and get my partial PE taken care of on a different patient! Sheesh! This girl was so sweet to be patient while I worked out the bugs and was so grateful I was able to complete her i none appointment.
You ask what about the grandmother? She is now scheduled with Marie (another classmate who needs a partial patient) in April! WOW! How does stuff like this happen?? Only in the Dental Hygiene Program! HA!
Actual: 4 quads IB, 4 BWX, and Partial PE
Today was such a crazy day! I had Mark confirm this patient the day before because she speaks spanish. She mentioned that she was unable to come until 10:30am. I didn' think anything of it and said it was fine. He looked at me funny and said Really? That wasn't enough of a clue for me I guess. I went home Tuesday afternoon still not worried about what Wednesday was going to bring. It wasn't until Wednesday morning when I realized what I did. Walk-out is at 10:45am and I was going to complete a full OD and partial cleaning! YIKES! I knew this wasn't going to work.
I showed up to school on Wednesday and immediately walked into Prof. Costley's office. She was putting on her makeup for the day (this woman is always perfect it doesn't matter if she is wearing a business suit or scrubs! I don't know how she does it!) Anyway, I explain my situation and she tells me to have Mr. Soloman call this patient and see if she can come in earlier or reschedule her and find a new patient for the day. Even though I am close to having my requirements completed, I am still required to have a patient in my chair every clinic session. Mr. Soloman talks to my patient (thankfully she answered) and explained the situation. She asked if she can come in at 12:30. I ran to ask Prof. Costley if this would work and she said YES! AH! I couldn't believe it! Mr. Soloman had her come in at 12:30 and sure enough she did!
I worked on other homework for the time being which worked out well actually. I had Stephen bring me lunch since I wasn't planning on beign there the whole day.
When it came time to get set up for clinic, I noticed a hispanic girl with a young boy in the waiting area. I didn't think anything of it other than, she is way early and how nice for someone else not to worry! I walked into clinic and had to set up a different chair because I was going to be in a right-handed unit for the overflow since it was a different group and different clinic session and my left-handed unit had another left-handed classmate in it. This didn't seem to be a big deal other than the chair wasn't set which bugged me! 12:30pm comes and my patient ticker turns yellow saying my patient is here and ready. I go out to the waiting area and sure enough this patient that I saw in the waiting area was my patient! As I was walking back, I thought to myself, "She's kind of young to have a partial but maybe her partial is her lateral incisors" since that's pretty common. I remember she can't understand anything I say, so I go ahead and try and show her what I need to do. She was very compliant. Somehow I was able to communicate whether or not she had a partial and she nodded her head no..... oh no! I laid her back and sure enough she had NO PARTIAL!!!! Frantically, I run into the radiology room where Kayla was and tell her (she was the one who gave me this "partial patient". She asked if I had the daughter or the mother. I assumed daughter since she was young. She told me there was a mix up because the daughter was supposed to see Karlie and the mother was supposed to see Kayla who found a different partial patient so she gave this patient to me.
I ran to Prof. Costley and gave her the news. She told me to call Karlie and ask her what she wanted me to do. 45 minutes after 12:30 I got it all figured out. The daughter and mother (who actually is a grandmother) live in the same household and have the same name! Karlie didn't need her and told me to go ahead. Meanwhile, McKinlei had a patient who had 2 partials! Prof. Costley told her about my situation and then had me come over and do my partial PE with her! I couldn't believe it! What chaos! It's amazing how everything turned out!
Anyway, I was able to take 4 BWX on this patient and complete 4 quads of Class IB... and get my partial PE taken care of on a different patient! Sheesh! This girl was so sweet to be patient while I worked out the bugs and was so grateful I was able to complete her i none appointment.
You ask what about the grandmother? She is now scheduled with Marie (another classmate who needs a partial patient) in April! WOW! How does stuff like this happen?? Only in the Dental Hygiene Program! HA!
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