My Class 3 Patient!

Wow...I don't think I really understood the amount of calculus that a person could accumulate in their mouth..until I saw my class 3 patient. I have yet to see a more intense patient. I had so much fun doing this, but it was also such a great learning experience. I used my swivel ultrabend ultrasonic and it removed a lot of calculus, but then I went in with my slim tip and I got even more off! It was such a great experience and I learned a lot. 

Just another day in clinic...

Today was a great day in clinic! I saw a good friend who was a classification of 1B, so generally healthy! I made a goal that I wasn't going to need any re-takes, I was going to pace myself and not rush. I was able to get 4BW conventional done with no retakes! Then I had the opportunity to scale her entire mouth without having one scale check in between, (Instructors were really busy) and I finished her in 1 hour and I didn't miss any spots! I also had time to do the diagnodent PE as well :) I feel like it was a very productive day! 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Today was the first day that I have had a cancelation last minute! My 8:00 am patient canceled at 7:00 this morning! Good thing my husband was able to come in to get finished up! I knew I was saving him for a good reason. :-) He is a class 1B and today we did 2 quads. I finished him in 30 minutes...which left me with a lot of extra time to catch up on blogging and helping others in clinic get done and cleaned up. I learned that I am getting faster at class 1B patients, and I wish I would have known I was going to see my husband today because I would have scheduled a child to come in after! But, everyone has had cancelations, and today it was my turn I guess :) It was still a great day!

Class 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 5..what??

We have different classification in school, based on our requirements, than you would classify in a private practice. Class 1A is a child with mixed dentition or just primary teeth. I still need two of these patients and they seem to be the hardest to find! My goal this semester is to try and get my 1A's done in two appointments. I have 1/3 done, and I hope to find 2 more that I can do in one day! 

Class 2 and 3 Periodontal Patients!

Today was a great day in clinic! I was able to pass off a couple PE's which makes me feel like I am getting a lot done. I set a goal to get both of my quadrants done today. I had one quad of a class 3 and one quad of a class 2. I started with the class 3 and decided once I felt like I got all of the calculus off, I would just be confident and move on to the class 2. I got both quadrants done in an hour and a half with zero missed spots! I felt like I did a really good job! The semester is coming to the half way point, but I still feel like I don't know what I am doing 100%, sometimes I wonder how I will be a hygienist in the field! :) 

My Class II patient..what a day!

Today I saw a class II patient that had a couple 8mm, 7mm, 6mm and 5mm pockets! I made a goal that today I was going to get 4 vertical BW, an an entire OD done with one quad of scaling. After probing I was really nervous because I have only ever scaled a 1B patient before. I did my best to make sure my probe depths were correct, but I was hitting calculus so a few were off. I re-probed after I cleaned him and it felt a lot better. I used my ultrasonic and I was nervous at first, putting this instrument down such a deep pocket! After awhile I got the hang of it! I missed a spot on the distal of #32, a wisdom tooth!! But out of 16 teeth I only missed 3 spots! The best part about it was that one quad classified as a class III :) Wahoo!!!!

Clinic was great!

Today was a really great day in clinic! I saw my really good friend who was also my first patient last semester! My goal today was to get all 3 quads done on my patient and pass off my peer calculus removal PE. I feel like today was very productive! I finished 3 quads in 1 hour!!!! I was so excited! I had a great scale check and I feel more confident every day! I placed 2 sealants on Kierstin's patient and I performed a "scale check" on her patient! Today was very productive and I enjoyed it!