Two patients in one day again!

Today my plan was to finish Halli and to start scaling on Morgen.

I did not get Halli finished. She had to leave at 9:20 and I only got half her mouth done. I should be able to do this quicker by now!! She did have a wicked lingual bar that was caked with calculus though! How do I get faster at this?? I do not know! I don't feel like I totally understand how to do the ultrasonic so I use that very seldomly... maybe I need to get better at that.

On Morgen I scaled a quad and passed off the diagnodent PE. Woopee!! I didn't miss any spots on Morgen. YAY!! He is great to let me work on him in so many appts!! I did change something in my instrumentation that I think is going to help me. After watching instructor Caldwell I am trying to do more vertical strokes instead of oblique strokes. I feel like this is going to help out my grasp a lot!! Vertical strokes and keeping the instrument parellel to the long axis of the tooth is going to be my next goal. I think it will help me a lot!

Two in one day

Today I saw my friend and my husband.

I finished scaling on friend and got done early as planned... except I hoped to do a sealant on him but the dentist said it may be decayed. So no sealant for me. SHOOT!! I took a BXW of it so he can show it to his dentist. I also did something dumb, even though it was an accident. As I was flossing his lower lingual bar some of the cement came off! Goll darn it!! He was like uh oh, I think something just happened. So he has to go and get that fixed at his dentist too. Sheesh that appt did not work out as planned!!

Morgen came in next and was an amazing patient!! He has a billion teeth that can use sealants. I sealed 2 of them and passed off the air powder polish and sealant PE's on him. What are husbands for right?? I still need some work holding the high speed suction! I almost sucked his lip right off!!

Things to work on. GRASP. GO FASTER!! I just wish an appointment would go the way that I have it planned out in my head.

One Freaking Appt for a 1 freaking B!!!

WOO WOO!!

This will be my first time completing a 1B in one appointment!!

My goal was to take 4 BWX, 4 Anterior PA's, 2 Sealants, and all 4 quads scaled.

I didn't quite get my goal, but I am still happy about the appointment. My little sister skipped school to come in and see me! I wanted to do some sealants on her so that I could pass off my air-powder polish PE and sealant PE. That did not happen. I did get the x-rays done and got her finished in one day. WAY GOOD!!

What did I learn? Scaling really doesn't take that long. Using the Ultrasonic all over and then scaling is way nice! I can't talk and work. (I kept starting to tell her something and then I'd get distracted and stop mid sentence) It is really hard to switch units after you are comfortable with one! It is possible to finish in one appointment!

What I need to work on... Adaption. Holding the instrument right. Charting restorations. x-rays. Body temperature control!! (I was so HOT!!)

It is great to finish a patient!

I finished my patient today. My goal was to have her done early and to pass off a PE if I could. I only had 2 more quads left to do. I did finish a little bit early and passed off 2 PE's. Sweet!

I worked really hard to fix my grasp today. Last clinic Instructor Hafen noticed that I hold my instrument wrong! What a disaster! I am holding it with my middle finger instead of my pointer finger. When I concentrate and use the right fingers it feels kind of awkward, but I can see the benefits of it. I will continue to work on that.

Another problem that I have is finding where to put my fulcrum to get a good solid base so that I can use some real hard lateral pressure. I don't quite have that figured out yet.

My major problem is my slowness... and I will continue to work on that too!

All in all, I felt good about my appointment today. She told me that she felt that I did a good job, which makes me feel way good!!

Next appt I have I will continue to work on grasp, speed, and fulcrum. SPEED SPEED SPEED!!!

Almost one appt. :(

Today my goal was to finish a 1B in one appt. I was so pumped cause I knew my patient and thought things would just get done fast! Boy was I wrong! I totally messed up on his BP and that took a lot of time to do again. That is really a dumb thing to waste so much time on.

My goal was to finish him, but I only got 3 quads done. What a bummer! I need to be faster! I have been talking to the girls about how to get faster and I hope I can figure it out. My patient was a great help in the clinic though. He knows Spanish so he was able to help to translate for another patient. I thought that was awesome!

What I want to do is take a scaler, feel calculus, and only do strokes that remove it. No fishing around. I want to locate it, and remove it. Quick and clean and then move on! I also need to start memorizing probe depths so I can write more than one tooth at time. Today I did a couple teeth at time sometimes, but I get nervous and start only doing one tooth. It is getting easier for me though!