"Get up on that fulcrum!"

I'm hoping bad that Tanya put that as her blog title today too! Ha ha it almost sounds dirty and is my new favorite dental hygiene quote, thanks to Professor Costley. :)

So today we learned how to use our explorers. I felt really prepared today because I got up early and read out of Neild, studied the PE's that I needed to pass off, was early to school, and made it to institute. What a productive morning! OH! And I remembered by SIDE SHIELDS for my glasses!! I looked cute, I won't lie. ;)

Doing the actual exploring is a bit... I mean a ton harder than reading about it!! It is a good thing that we had a little practice with our probes before exploring because it's way more complex. We were all really frustrated and overwhelmed just working on our typodonts and were scared to work on each other. I was especially nervous because I hurt Heather the whole time I probed her last week. Jamie was my partner for clinic today. Her and Jodie came to our clinic session to make up a missed one. Tanya and I loved the company in our pod today! We were complete for the first time ever! Anyways... so Jamie let me learn how to explore in her mouth. Yes, I did make her bleed and I did poke her lip a couple times, but she said there was no pain so that is ok right?? ha ha she was a good sport! We all struggle with keeping our stacks stacked, "getting up on our fulcrums", and indirect vision! Professor Costley held onto my hand while a probed a few of Jamie's teeth and that was so helpful! You really have to adapt to the tooth a whole lot more than I thought! It totally makes sense when you think about it though.

All in all, today was stressful but I felt like I did pretty well. I passed off two PE's too! Woo Woo!! I like it when it is a good day in clinic! Perfect to start off the week! I hope it's a good one! :)

Here comes the Probe!!

Today we poked each other for the first time! YIKES!! We first practiced with marshmallows and candy corn. The tough part was keeping my "stack" stacked. My ring finger and middle finger did not like sticking together and my middle finger just likes to hang out and wave at everyone. After our instructor explained that the maneuvering is more in the wrist than the fingers I think I got better.

Before we saw a real patient we practiced on the typodont. I think that mine's name is going to be Lucas! Ya, like?? We had to maneuver around a bunch of calculus on the typodonts which was kind of hard. And you have to use a lot of pressure to get in the sulcus unlike a real patient. I liked practicing on the typodont... and then I got a real patient in the chair. I probed Heather today for like 10 minutes. We got cut short on time because of the Vitals PE and a presentation from the past president of UDHA. It was pretty frustrating trying to probe on a real person. Heather said I was hurting her the whole time and I couldn't tell that I was pushing too hard. I felt really bad and am really frustrated that I couldn't distiguish what was too hard. I don't know how I am going to practice it either. One thing that I can already see as a problem is going to be actually seeing!! The probe measurments are soo small! I hope that we are given more time to practice probing soon!

KARLIE!!! Get yourself some side shields for your glasses!!!

All in all, today was a bit frustrating. I feel like I don't know anything, and of what I do know I pretty much suck at it. ha ha
PRACTICE... Practice... PATIENCE... Patience... PATIENTS... Beware!!! :)

Checking Vitals in Clinic

It is the 13th of September. I can't believe the time is going by so fast! My last post I mentioned that I couldn't wait to walk into clinic with a confident attitude. That didn't happen today. I'll try to be patient!

We went over our Vitals PE today. Last week when we did our health history PE we went through how to do vitals so today was more of a review. (Which is always good!) I took my Aneroid Sphygmomanometer and Stethoscope home last weekend so that I could practice with my family. I took everyone's vitals last night with the help of our Willard nurses (Nick and Kelli). That was so helpful!! I still have a little bit of a hard time doing it though. My biggest problem is that I forget the numbers! I listen so hard for the systolic measurement and then get focused on the diasolic measurment so I forget the first number. Then when I am trying to remember the systolic measurement, the diasolic shoots right out of my head! I think I need to write the numbers down as I get them. This is the same thing that happens when I do pulse and respirations! I didn't know I was such an airhead!! I also need to practice being more discrete when I am watching for respirations. I think a wrist watch will help with that. I wouldn't have to look up to the wall to see a clock if I wore a watch.

I passed off my equipment maintenance PE today with Professor Costley. YIKES! That was the first time that I had a PE passed off from her. I was a bit nervous! Next time I have to do the Positioning and Ergonomics PE. I need to study hard for that one!!

Day One of Week Four... went well :)

HHxRx - HHx - OE - status Rx...

Health Histories!! Today we learned how to do a health history with a patient. We went through the health history paper, did vitals for the first time, looked up medications in our DDH, and charted all that. It's kind of tough to internalize this type of stuff because we have no way to make it practical knowledge. I took a health history paper home and my stethoscope and BP cuff so that I can practice with my family members. Hopefully that will help me out! It is going to be hard to remember what to write and where to write it. I hope so bad that all of this comes back to me when I need it!! It is actually pretty cool to look up the medications and see what they do and what the side effects are.

All in all, clinic went by really fast this morning. The stuff that we learned today and struggled to internalize will be second nature to us in time. I can not wait for the day when we all walk into the clinic with confidence on our faces because we know what to do and how to do it!!
Will that be in this lifetime???

One Confusing Day In Clinic...

I'm writing this a couple days late, I hope that is okay! Last Wednesday in clinic was a little rough for me. I need to make sure that I have enough sleep the night before clinic from now on. I was tired so it seemed like everything that was being said just kept bouncing off my ears instead of sinking in. I'm sure this was partially because it was a really hard PE that we learned.

We were taught the positioning and posture that we will be expected to adopt while working on a patient. Neild has some great graphics depicting the right places to be for certain sextants, but I still struggled. "Surfaces towards, hands together." "Surfaces away, hands apart." "Turn the patient away when your legs are spread the widest." (I really might have to stretch to be able to do 9 o'clock right.) It is going to take some time to master the clock positions!! At least I understand that am and pm have nothing to do with the chair positions!! HA HA Thanks Heather for bringing that up again! Blonde moment! I can't believe I had to ask that!

Besides the positioning PE we learned the maintenance PE, which is perddy simple! Oh, how I love cleaning the traps! ha ha. Kim encouraged me to get all the PE's out of the way that I could so I actually passed off 3!! It is going to be a great relief to have those done!! I was really surprised that I tackled that many! I have to remember: 1. Mask. 2. Glasses. 3. Hand scrub. 4. Gloves. I think.... uh... I'm going to go check that out!