Mockboard #1

Well, I survived it! It was a really good experience. I was able to get a feel for how things will go on one of the most important days of my life!! I got my patient checked in early (due to the fact that I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do with them other than the HHX, so I hurry and did everything after b/c I didn't know we were supposed to do all the extra/intra. Guess I should've read more of the candidate guide rather than the first half.) So he was accepted and I got started. The calculus was really tenacious, but luckily I had the chance to work on him the week before. Finished and got him checked out a couple minutes early. I really felt like there were still a couple spots left, but I just wasn't sure if that's how his anatomy is. I swear, those two patients I had last year with rough anatomy killed me. Now I'm so paranoid that I'm just scraping teeth and I'm going to keep trying to get it off, but it won't come.
Anyhow, although I missed 4 spots, only 2 of them were test sites, so, I only got docked 12 pts. and I didn't mess up on anything else, luckily. So...I passed.

Let's just hope that's what happens in the real thing! For some reason, I think the fact that this is it and the fee of $750 will be weighing on my mind heavily that day. Oh well, amazingly enough, I was actually kinda nervous yesterday... not like me.

I did use some of my tips from my previous post. The montana jack almost everywhere. I used the American Eagle and my Barnhart on most of the areas in the posterior, even pulled out my mini gracys (but I think they were still to big for his pockets). However, after they came back with the spots I missed, I pulled out my McCall, which got them. I'm nervous to use it b/c it's a sickle and when I get deep into those pockets, I'm still a little afriad. I'm glad I did though, b/c it gave me confidence and I think I'll pull it out more often.

Yesterday was the first day I...

Well, I'm here to update.

I was correct in the fact that my mockboard patient was the hardest pt I've ever seen. But luckily he's really great. He's patient and he jokes around the whole time. That's the best part. He knows it's been a 10+ years since he's had a cleaning, so he's understanding that it's going to take some time to get everything off.

We started by giving him some anesthesia; an IA and a bit in the long buccal. That started to numb him up, but when I started to ultrasonic, he kept flinching, so I asked if he could feel that and he said he was sensitive. So we gave him a bit more in the long buccal and that did the trick, until we got to the premolars where we had to do a mental injection.
I was really excited at the fact that I only saw him like three weeks ago and he had 2 carious lesions on #31 and 32, and he said he went in the next day and got them restored. Great job!
So the title of this post is "the first day I ..." It's the first time I did a few things:

1. The first time I've had a pt w/ radiographic calculus.
2. The first time I haven't gotten everything off of the lingual posteriors with the ultrasonic
3. The first time I've had to really hand scale the lingual posteriors
4. The first time I really learned how to instrument back on the lingual posteriors.
5. The first time I've realized that sometimes it DOES take about two hours to clean 1 QUAD!

So I had a lot of first yesterday. It was truthfully a very good learning experience. Instructor Wold came over and helped me a lot to get the instrumentation on those lingual posteriors.

Some tips from her were:
1. Use your non dominant hand to help give you leverage on tenactious calc, especially on the lingual molars and premolars.
2. Use a horizonal stroke w/ the toe pointed apically (of course w/ small controlled strokes) to clean facial anteriors.
3. Use montana jack anywhere! Most distal surfaces to remove calc, or on the lingual anteriors.

I passed off three PE's; acessory fulcrum, unltrasonic and calc removal. I really liked the built up fulcrum on the anteriors, it helps give stability and it can also help give leverage.

I also tried doing the posterior teeth from an 11 o'clock postion to get the lateral pressure on them and I really liked it.

So all in all, it was a very good day. I hope I can remember them. I'm just glad my patient was numb so he couldn't feel. I'm sure I poked him a few times. :) Oops!

One funny thing was that after we finished, he asked if I could give him some of that topical to rub on him gums after the anesthsia wore off, He was serious. Unfortunately, I told him no and sent him on his way with the recomendation of rinsing with warm salt water.

It's been a while

Well, I'm back. Surgery went well in case anyone is wondering. Today is my first day back at clinic. This morning we had a lab, so that kind helped ease me back in. We worked on accesory fulcrums and instrumentation with the L and R ultrasonics. It really helped, I felt a little wierd at first, but it got better. The hardest thing is that my Left eye is still kinda blurry, and on top of that I haven't been wearing my contacts in my R eye, and today I did. My eye is used to the slightly blurred vision in my R eye and of course the blurred vision in my Left. But now, my right eye is really clear and my L is still blurry. I swear, it will be so great when I can see regularly again.

My mock board patient is supposed to come in today so we can work on some other quads. That's who I'm waiting for now. I really hope he comes, I think he'll be the hardest pt I've had yet. He's got radiographic calculus. Yes!

Anyhow, I'll update later.

Requirements, a new term and some scary news

Well, yesterday in clinic was kinda crazy. At least me first patient. I pulled him off the resource list and when I called and asked if he was there he said "It depends..." I told him who I was and he agreed to come in. While I was explaining where to come he's yelling in the background "we need more vodka." I was thinking great, it's 10 in the morning and my patient needs more vodka. Well I spent most of the time while setting up thinking he probably has a hangover and he'll no-show. But he came. Actually quite a nice quy. He manages a bar, which would explain the vodka, but I didn't really believe him when he said he only drinks 4-5 beers/wk. Oh well, not my problem, exactly. He hadn't been to the DDS for 10+ years so we decided to do a FMX, which revealed he had radiographic calc. and the best part...NO RESTORATIONS!!!!!

So, I pose the question, how ethical is it to keep him for boards?

Anyhow, while we were waiting for an x-ray room, I started an OD and got to probe a little bit. While so doing, he asked me how his "dental forskin" was? It took me by surprise. I thought I heard him say forskin, so I asked again, and he said, my dental forskin, you know, by gums. Hello...WHO SAYS THAT, OR BETTER YET, WHO THINKS OF THEIR GUMS IN SUCH A WAY? None the less, I was able to get 14 PA's and 4 BW done. He'll be back next week, hopefully he'll leave his creative terms at home.

In the afternoon my grandpa came in. He's so great! I love him tons! He was a class 5, pretty healthy, but did have some boneloss, but mostly a lot of recession. I spaced that we needed a class 5 exam, otherwise I totally would've used him, because truthfully, it couldn't have gone better. I didn't think I'd get done in one appointment, but I did, and early too.

So now for some scary news...I went to the eye dr the other day to get an exam and get contacts. He found that I had a tear in my retina and wanted me to see a retinologist. So on Monday and went and saw him and he told me I needed to have surgery. They think the cause was trauma, but I don't know what I did. It's fairly recent in nature, but they are worried that if I trip and fall, or get in an accident or hit my head or anything that it will tear more and that is a risk they don't want to take because if it's bad enough I could loose my eyesight. SCARY!

So next Thursday I'm going in...I've never had surgery before, so I'm kinda scared. It's out-patient, so I won't be staying over night. The only thing is that it will make my vision blurry for 2wks-a month. That makes cleaning teeth a little hard, so I'll have to miss clinic for 2 weeks. I had to talk to Prof. Bossenberger before scheduling the surgery, and she was so great. I will admit I was a bit nervous, but she made me feel a lot better. I'll just need to make up maybe on some Wednesdays, or some time during Christmas break.

So that's the news thats happening in my life now...

Today wasa good day.

Today was a pretty good day. I started the day off with a patient with heavy calculus. I convinced Instructor Jones to classify her as a class II. I guess I didn't really have to talk her into it, but I took a look at that calculus and I said to myself "there is no way I'm doing that for only a 1B requirement." She did have some 4's in the posteriers, so that classifies as a II.
My afternoon pt. was great. She was a 5 last time, but even though she has quite a few crowns in the back and she's 70+, she has super healthy gums and her teeth looked great! We classified her as a 1B today. Great huh! So I finished with that pretty quick.

On another note, I'm slightly concerned with the fact that we have UDHA this Friday. I have to present a table clinic and to say the least, I don't know what the heck I'm going to say. The truth is, I feel so unintellegent because I can't understand Kami for the life of me! I wanted to look over the girls' thesis from the last year to hopefully understand it in a lanuage that's more on my level. Well, next time I blog, I'll let you know how it goes...hopefully we'll survive the rigirous judges questions, I just hope we don't look like idiots. Pray hard!

Back to the grind...

Well, Here I am back at school. Today was my first offical day back at clinic. I went last Tuesday, but arrived two hours late, due to the fact that I thought I had it on Thursdays, but that's not until next sememster.

Anyhow, today was a good day. I worked on my brother who's leaving on a mission in 4 weeks. He was a class 2 last time, but we classified him as a 1b today. I guess he's been doing a little better. He didn't have a lot of deposit , but he did have quite a bit of demineralization on his straight facials due to his braces. He had a spot on 12 that I think should be fixed before he leaves. He was great and we finished early even, so that wasn't too bad.

In the afternoon my Grandpa came in. I wish I could say that was a breeze too, but it wasn't. I felt so bad because we ended up having to do a physician's consult that we never got back. Apparently he went to a Dr who told him he had a heart murmur, but no other doctor had mentioned it to him, and he'd been to two since. Regaurdless, we had already turned the paperwork in, so we couldn't change the verdict of having to do a consult. We rescheduled him and in the meantime he will get a consult from the Dr who told him he had the murmur.

Although we weren't able to do anything, it was a good learning experience and it was good for me to explain why a heart murmur would require antibiotic treatment.

My goals for next clinic are to finish both patients and get some requirements completed.

Until then...

Good times must come to an end...

My cousins from Cali have been here for the last 3 weeks and we've been having a lot of fun with them. They come every summer for 2 weeks, but extended to 3 weeks this time. We ended their trip here with a bang on Monday the 24th at Willard bay.
Rob took the day off and we all went boating at Willard Bay. We had a blast, but are all really sore from some muscles we didn't even know we had in some places. I tried water skiing and I finally got up...after much work, and went about 20yrds which I call an accomplishment!
My cousin's who have the boat have this huge tube "Great Big Mable" that can hold 4 people....so 4 of us would get on and hold on for dear life! The best thing about it is that it doesn't tip over because it's so huge (see photos). We all had a blast with that! My fingers even hurt from holding on so tight, but to no avail I still got thrown quite a few times, mostly because my cousin Lauren was flopping all around and knocking everyone off. But we definately had a good time and were plum tuckered out at the end of the day! My cousin Brooks would ask if we had a good time every time we got back in the boat and of course we did. At the end of the day Lauren said, "all good times must come to an end" thus being the title of this post.
Until next time...

It really meant a lot!

Last week Rob and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary. YAY! We're half way through a year together, and we're loving it! Our anniversary was Thursday and so I made steak on the grill at my parents and we had a little candle lit dinner on their patio. I think I did pretty good, if I do say so myself. :)
On Saturday we were planning to go to dinner and do something else, we decided to go to the drive-in, but by the time Rob got of work and we got done visiting with family, it was too late to get ready and to the drive-in. This summer I feel like all we do is run, and by the weekend we're so pooped we just want to relax. Needless to say, I feel so frumpy a lot because I don't ever have anything to get all dressed up for. I hate getting all cute to sit at home, so I usually bypass the makeup and jewlery, all the things that make you feel pretty.
With that said, I was really looking forward to saturday so that I could get all cleaned up and go do something fun with Rob and some good friends! When we left Rob's parents I decided that we should just go play tennis because I didn't want to go anywhere without showering and all that jazz and we didn't have time. I told him that I felt gross and I had been looking forward to it, but we could do it another time. (It was a super hot day and I was sweating like a pig!) Rob, as cute as he is said, "how about this, you go get showered and cleaned up and then we'll go out to dinner." I was so excited...I know it's so pathetic, but it seriously meant to much to me! We left our house about 9:30 and got to Chili's (open late) at 10:00 and got dinner and dessert! It was like the best night! It felt like we were dating again! But now...we come home together. We haven't done that in a really long time! It's crazy how busy you get when you're married that you forget to do stuff like that. I had a blast and I'm glad I have such a great husband to do fun stuff like that with!
(Sorry my stories are so long! I don't know why I feel like I need to add all the details, but I guess it's just more for you to enjoy!)

Bet your bottom dollar

Well, with summer and not having to do homework, I've taken to the opportunity to get caught up with some much needed lesiure reading. I'm reading a very funny book called "Bet your bottom dollar" by Karin Gillespie. It is hillarious and really good. It takes place in Georgia and so it's got tons of southern humor. I highly recommend it for a great laugh and a good read.

Oh Beautiful for Spacious sky....

Well, we've celebrated our country's freedom for this year! I was a very fun time. Perry always has a really big small town celebration that I just love! They have a big softball tournament the couple days proceeding in the evening and then they have the games going all day on the 4th.

Rob and I decided to be spontaneous and set up the tent in my parent's backyard (we don't have any grass at our house) on Monday night. That was fun. We woke up to the loud speaker at the park announcing the flag ceremony. We participated while still in bed. ha ha! They have a big breakfast for a killer deal! Tons of food for #3.50. So we did that, then my brother had a softball game we watched. After, we watched the parade, they had a lifeflight helecopter from the U come fly over us a whole bunch of times then landed in the church parking lot across the street for all to see. We went over, but not until after the car show. It was fun, there were only about 20 cars there, but there were some nice ones. This was the first time they've done it too, so I'll assume it will grow in the upcoming years.

After those festivities we settled down and watched Nanny McPhee and took a tiny nap until we were off and running again. We went to Rob's parents house for the "Riley firework show" They had a few other families come over and we had enough fireworks to have chaos and keep everyone entertained for a good hour and a half.

So that's the story of my 4th of July. We had a really good time and it was exciting to see Rob for the whole day. Him and my brother had a good time together too. I think Tyson, my brother, is just really excited to have another boy in the house! I'm glad they had fun!

People never cease to amaze...

Today I got an e-mail from my "long lost" cousin. Let me begin with a little background, might I add that this will probably make me look like someone who has a totally one track mind, but anyhow, here I go...
Back in the days of high school when homework was a heck of a lot easier, I had a super awesome friendship w/ my cuz. She was more like a sister! It was like the bff type. :) Anyway, she was just fun to be with cause we were both super outgoing and had a good time, but we never had to worry about being put in a scetchy situation with each other, we knew what was right and we did it...most the time :). Anyhow, she seriously was a great example to me. She had a strong will to do what we've been taught we should. So when she graduated and moved to school, I really missed her a lot. We would talk often and she would update me on the boys she was dating and so on.
Once while she was updating me she informed me that she had two prospectives, yet one wasn't someone who would be able to give her the things she's always wanted and desired. So it was with great shock that I got a letter one day after not talking to her for a couple of months telling me that she had moved in with him!!!
Now, me being the niave child I was wrote her back and told her that I couldn't imagine she was living with him and not giving of herself...completely. I never heard back, so we'll just "assume" (Hello! Red lights started flashing a little to late for me, but I caught on).
So she's living with this guy who hates, along with his family, everything our family has ever lived for. Somehow things just weren't clicking in my head.
Truth be told, I was very dissapointed in her. I guess maybe I just haven't forgiven her and I need to, I'm sure. It's just hard when you look up to someone so much and they have so much potential, yet they make stupid irrational mistakes. So I yes, I struggle with her. Truly I do, I think it is SO sad! Yet we all have our agency.
So because of this I do better to just keep my distance, probably not the best think I can do on my part. She did marry this guy recently and I did show my support, and with all my heart, I truthfully wish her the best and I really hope she IS happy.
The thing that amazes me is when I think I know all the suprises with the choices she's made, she gets in contact with me via e-mail, or phone and lets me know just one more. Come on! Give me peace!

Sorry for the vent, but I just had to do it! I think one of the hardest things for me to see is someone with such potential, such determination to fulfill their dreams, just loose sight of what they've been doing and give it all up. That's something I struggle with. It's really hard for me to understand.

Moab was fun!

This past week has been great. I got a 96 on my stats final! Giving me an A in the class. Then on Thursday I started a Gerontology class. "Elderly care in rural areas" or something to that effect. The class entailed us going around the state of Utah to rural areas so that we could see the options for the elderly in those areas. The professor started the trip to give WSU students to opportunity to see what is availible in rural areas and possibly spark and intrest so they would consider a career in a rural area. (Very smooth considering the last day of class...) Thursday we started in BC! My dear old home town! We stopped my the Senior center and learned some stuff about the serives offered there, then we went to Tremonton, Rob's home town. (More than likely, I'll be working in a "rural" area, that's where we're from) The senior center there is a bit behind BC, but it stinks that there in a condemed building, they should hopefully get that fixed soon.
Later we went to Logan and toured the Sunshine Terrace, a nursing home that has a foundation that includes an assited living facility as well as an adult day care. By far, they were the most impressive. Very organized, and had a lot to offer their residents.
We met in Price on Friday morning at their Senior Center, and I have to say, I was most impressed with theirs. Very organized and had a lot of opportunities for their community. Later we met at the Moab community center and that was way nice, they just built it and they added a hall for the seniors. Ceramics was big in all the senior centers, except Tremonton.
Anyhow, the focus of the trip in my opinion was the river rafting experience we got on Saturday.
As Dr. VO says "You can't go to Moab and not go down the river." So we had to throw that in.

Summary, 3 credits in 3 days, resulting in my completion of all elective courses for my Bachelors in Dental Hygiene next year! Yippie!

And the summer continues on...

So, this week has been quite busy. Luckily it was a three day weekend so I was able to see my hubby for one extra day, that was nice!

Saturday:
Okay, I haven't been able to remember all week, but it just clicked, on Saturday morning I went shopping all morning w/ my sister in-law Marie. That was fun! Got quite a few fun things! We stopped by Don's Furniture and used up the last of our wedding $ to buy a sofa table that we don't have room for now, but liked and plan to use in the future. Then we went to SLC with Rob's brother and his date. Ate at the Blue Iguana and went to see the Joseph Smith movie @ the JS Memorial Building. It was really good!

Sunday:
We have church @ 9:00 (too early!) so we went and taught our Primary lesson on Moses and the plagues. Then we skipped our sacrament mtg and went home to prepare our talks for my parents sacrament mtg. (My dad couldn't find anyone else b/c of the long weekend everyone was going to be gone.) We gave our talks to quite a small crowd and then went up to my G&G Pete's for a BBQ with my whole family. It was good to see aunts and uncles and cousins! It's crazy how big we're getting, yet small at the same time b/c everyone is growning up and moving out of state with their families, and we're just all busy.

Monday:
It was finally somewhat sunny on Monday, which was really nice! In the morning we went over to my parent's and went running w/ my sister. Then we went home and got ready to go to Rob's parent's for Walker's (0ut nephew) B-day party. It was fun. We went over to their property that has a fire pit and some trails behind it where we went 4-wheeling.

All in all, it was a really busy, but quite enjoyable weekend!

Ah Summer

So, it's May, and almost the end of it! Time is kinda flying by. I'm taking a summer class. Statistics! I was a little scared, I haven't taken a math class since high school. Crazy! But it's turned out ok so far, I had to dig deep a few times to pull out my old skills, like how to square something without a square button! But don't worry, I remembered, you just times the number by itself... it took a whole afternoon of stuggling with my husband's TI-89, but when it clicked, I got rid of that sucker and now I'm just sticking to the basics!
I must admit summer has been treating me well. Yesterday I found out I got a job in Tremonton managing a grill/concession stand for the city recreation department. I finally had to give up the pool, after 5 years with the kids just getting younger and younger than me every year, I had to get out of there. With much sadness, I will not now be getting my dark tan I've had summer after summer for the past 5 years.
Last thing, I'm listening to the new Dixie Chicks album, and I must say, it is quite good....I think I might have to go buy it...we'll see, I've been looking forward to my shopping spree this weekend, so I don't know if I want to get a CD instead of a new shirt. Well, that's all for today. Have fun in the sun!

What a day!

Well, today was the last day of clinic, and it sure was a busy one for me! I did morning and afternoon clinic to get all my patients in. A total of 3! I did two in the morning and one in the afternoon. I was able to pass of the rest of my PE's and all my patients were 1b's that I just had to finish scaling. I started with my sister, then my friend Windsor, then my friend Jimmy came in the afternoon. He almost no-showed on me, and that would've been the worst! But I called him and he diecided to come. It was such a relief! So now...I'm done, met all my requirements and it's such a nice feeling to go on summer break! After two more tests that is...

Two more sessions of clinic

Okay,

So today I was able to clean a 1a. She was only 5 1/2 and had sheet calculus on her lower linguals! 5! She only brushed at night and I don't think it was daily. I disclosed her and showed her mom the areas she is missing. All of her other teeth looked pretty good though. She was super cute. I also took 4 PA's on one of my classmates to fulfill my radiology requirements. Now all I have left are 3 1b patients that I've just got to finish scaling on. I've got a few PE's however, that I really hope I can get done. I hope all goes well!

Crunch Time

So yesterday I worked on my niece, Sydnee. She was way awesome. A 1a patient who I was hoping to do a sealant on her, but her 6 yr molars are just starting to erupt. Instructor Carter showed me to drag my 204 along the posterior teeth keeping the toe adapted and it gets quite a bit of plaque off, so that was a good tip. None the less, Sydnee was benificial because I was able to do a pano as well as get two PE's passed off. I felt bad having her mom bring her all the way up on short notice however, so I bit the bullet and paid for her. $42. Ouch! Oh well, I guess it's it's worth the grade. I'm getting a little nervous however because I've still got to finish my class 2 exam (scale) 4 1b pts (scale) and a new 1A all in only 4 more clinic days! Yikes! I'm double scheduling all of them, but I hope I can finish. I still need to get 4 more PA's somewhere. I don't know where though. Hopefully I can do them for someone. I really hope that I get through this.

CA

Today I was CA, and it was killing me! I would've liked to be working on a patient. I don't know if I'm going to get them all done! It's worrying me! Megan had an elderly patient from a nursing home who needed a lot of help, so Prof Cartr asked me if I would be her assistant, so that's what I did most of the time, not really CA stuff, but it was a good day, I just wish I could've done a patient. Oh well, Monday I've got a patient that I switched with Michaelene, so hopefully she's a good one.

My first 1a

Today I did a child for the first time. It was a good experience. THey are a lot easier because you don't have to probe, only around permanent teeth, and she only had her two mandibular 1st molars, however, one was still coming through. I was able to do a sealant on her however, so it was a good day. She was a cute girl off the resource list and like I said, a good experience.

My brother

So today my awesome brother came in for a cleaning. It went well, however...Let me first mention my Wednesday patient from March 15. I was very frusterated because all I had to do was scale, polish and fluoride. Not to hard, I figured 2 hours AT THE MOST. Well, I kept going around her teeth and they felt rough, and nothing was coming off. I didn't want to ask for a scale check and have like 20 missed areas (not good) so I just kept scaling well, 2:30 came and went and I was still trying to get stuff off. The linguals had a lot of build up and I was able to get that off with the ultrasonic scaler, really cool. But I couldn't get the posteriors smooth. Finally I just gave in and asked for a scale check and you want to know what the diagnosis was...Rough Anatomy! It was her teeth. They're just like that. So I scaled for an extra hour for nothing.

Now back to my brother, you would think I would learn from my first experience, but I didn't. I didn't scale for an entire hour longer than I needed to this time, just a half hour. Hopefully next time I'll just stop and ask if that's how the anatomy is. Anyhow, I did finish him, being that he was only a class 1B. So that was good. Now all I really need are 1A patients. Oh, I was able to do a sealant on Monday as well, so only 2 more of those.

Bye