Instrument Classification...

Today was a pretty fun day in clinic! It was a good day to be able to pass off PE's and practice other ones! I passed off my Probing and my Exploring! Yay!! I was so excited! Loupes helped me out so much, I am for sure getting some! We learned about all of our instruments that we have..finally! Which ones are for anterior or posterior, which ones are for heavy or light calculus, etc. It was a lot of information and I hope I can remember all of it when it comes time to pass off my PE :)

I am most excited to use my 13/14 and my 15/16..they are scary looking curettes, but I am excited!!

and so the instrumentation begins,,,

Today we learned how to properly adapt the explorer and the proper angulation with the working end. I thought probing was hard which made this seem a lot easier for me. I felt like I could grasp the idea of adaptation and angulation with an explorer. Maybe because I have to take an exact measurement with probing, it seems a lot harder. I was able to practice probing today, and I feel a little more confident. I think practice makes perfect and that is why I really need to be diligent in reading the material for clinic instead of skimming over it. I am starting to feel the stress of holding my instruments properly and making sure that I keep a light grasp and fulcrum properly. All in good time..

OUCH! Probing!

1, 2, & 3 mm is healthy!

Today in clinic we learned how to use the periodontal probe. While observing dental hygienists in private practice, they make it look so easy! It is definitely not as easy as it looks, let me tell you! I feel like I cannot get a good feel for the probe with the typodont, but  I do like practicing on the typodont for posture, angulation and fulcruming. I hope I am ready and able to pass this off when the time comes! I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed with inraoral PE's. Hopefully going home and practicing on my husband will help my confidence!

Intra-Oral Exam

Today we learned how to perform an Intra-Oral exam! I thought the extra-oral was very involved, but it's a cake walk compared to the intra-oral! There are so many landmarks and anatomical areas that you have to remember to check and note. On days like these I feel like I will never get it all down, but then after I study it a little bit more I get more and more comfortable! I am definitely ready to start doing things in the mouth. I understand that all of this is the foundation, but I just want to start getting into the mouth and scaling and probing! All in good time :)

Extra Oral exam feels GOOD :)

Today we learned the importance of the extra oral exam. When I am sick I can feel when my lymph nodes are swollen and tender, but now I have a better idea on how to locate the areas. It feels like a mini massage and I loved letting Instructor Caldwell and Kiersten practice on me. :) We were able to pass off some of our PE's and I feel like I was able to keep up/get ahead so that I am not as stressed. I really appreciate having a few different Instructors and TA's because they add something different to the environment! I love clinic!

Normal BP 120/80

Today in clinic we learned how to do vitals. I learned how to do the pulse, respiration and blood pressure on a live patient. I was really nervous to learn how to do blood pressure manually because I have always had an automatic blood pressure cuff and it always looked so hard. I actually enjoyed learning how to do it and I did pretty well :) It was kind of hard at first because you have to really listen and be careful not to bump the stethescope, but after a few tries I had the hang of it!This was the first clinic that I didn't have a head ache after, just fyi :)

HHX/RX/OE..ETC..ECT..

Today we had a pretty good time in clinic, learning about the importance of the proper health history recording. I think it's important to remember that we are health professionals and it is our job to show our patient that we are educated and well informed. The ways we go about making sure they are getting the proper treatment and not endangering them, is by having an updated thorough health history. I learned a lot today :) However, I don't know that I will remember all the abbreviations listed in our clinic manual, holy moly! Maybe someday :)