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

Didn't finish again!

Okay, so today I had a patient that I've seen before, however, I feel bad because she talks quite a bit and so I feel like I can't just ignore her, so I don't move as quickly and effeciently. Needless to say, she has to come back for me to scale and polish and do fluoride. I feel like I'm never going to get anything done. One good thing however is that she passed for a class 2, so she'll be my exam patient.

I finished a 1B!!!!!

So today was a super awesome day!
I was a little scared because my patient called me last night at 10:00pm and cancelled for this morning. So I begged my husband to come in because he had a meeting in Ogden this afternoon anyways. He had x-rays a few months ago so I was able to bypass that proceedure and was able to finish him in one appointment! I was so excited. I used him as an exam and I think the best part about it was that I wasn't nervous at all! I was able to think clearly and not stop and ask myself what comes next. It went so super smooth! My patient on Wednesday is a lady I work with and I think she's going to be a class 2, so I'll probably use her as an exam as well.

Yay!

Cancellation...almost

My patient cancelled on me late last night, so this morning I was struggling to find a patient. Luckily one of my friends was coming up to Ogden from SLC and he said he would come in. He was a 1b and I used him as an exam, however, I wasn't able to scale him. So he will be coming back. I did a set of BWX, and that was good to get a requirement done. I swear, I don't know if I'll ever be able to finish a patient in one appointment. I haven't done any kids yet either. I'm kinda worried. My goal is to be able to think clearly and know what I'm doing.

Update

I'm not sure why, but blogging is somewhat of a struggle for me this semester. Here is the update on my week.

Monday morning I had an older gentleman from the resource list. Very nice funny guy. He was a class 3! Plus he had a 9mm pocket between 2&3! Cool! So, it's going to be my first time using graceys! Kinda excited. I started to scale just a little bit, but I find that I'm constantly feeling like my angulation isn't right in the posterior teeth.

I need to review Neild! Holy cow! That idea just came to me. Homefully that will help me know what I'm doing, or at least supposed to be doing. Other than that I think it's pretty good. He's coming back so I can scale and finish the appointment. One good thing will be...I will now have the power of an ultrasonic scaler! We learned how to do that on Wednesday, so that will be helpful!

That's all for now!

bye

I finished someone today...

So today was a good day! I finished 4 quads of a class 2! Unfortunately, it was my second appointment for her. But still, I finished with time to spare, so I felt good about that. Now my grand total is 8 quads of Class 2. That's all. So, I've got to get more. I have a lot of pts who need to come back to finish so I hope I'll get them back. I also was able to get my anterior and universal instrumentation PEs done today. So I made some progress. I feel pretty good about today.

My goal for today is to practice scaling on my typodont over the weekend. Keeping the toe in position. That way when I get in a mouth I can know what to do. I stuggled with positions today too, so I need to review that too.

Monday my pt. is off the resource list. I really want to finish him, because Joelle is doing his wife and she'll be done in one appointment and I don't want him to have to come back if she doesn't. It just depends on what class he is. He's older, so he might be more difficult.

Please please please let me finish....

Am I going to get my requirements?

Okay, So today was kinda not so good. My patient came in late. While waiting I was able to evaluate my x-rays from last week. She told me she'd be in at 8:30 and didn't get in until 9 because she thought we were still in building 3. That was a long time ago. None the less, she was really nice and liked to talk a lot, which kinda slowed things down even more. She had a plethura of medications and I think she was taking even more than she put down. Anyhow, by the time we got that all done it was 10:00 and I only had 45 min to get anything done. So, I did 4 BWX and called it a day. I don't even know what class she is. I didn't do extra or intra, nothing. I'm really worried that I won't be able to get my quads done for my requirements if I'm having to bring them back every time. She is rescheduled for March 6, so luckily I'll have the HHX out of the way and hopefully I can finish! At least I learned a valuable lesson that I will implement into my future appointments.

*If I don't know the patient, Call and do their HHX over the phone!

So that's my goal. No matter what; if I know the patient or not, I WILL get the HHX done before they come into the clinic.
Also, today I copied a sequence for appintments from Loni, I think it will be really helpful. I just feel extremly unefficient (is that a word?) in my appointments. When I did my friend last wednesday I felt a lot better and things went very smooth. But today, not so much. I want to be organized and transition smoothly and quickly onto the next step of the tx. Oh, that will be the day!

I've got to get faster!

Today was the first day I worked on a patient that I didn't know. I don't know if I liked doing that so much. First of all, luckily she had pretty good teeth. She flossed daily and brushed at least once a day, so her gums were relatively tight. A couple 4's but mostly 1-3mm upon probing and not to much bleeding. She was a smoker, so that affects how her tissues heal, but the teeth weren't nasty. She said she didn't think she'd ever had a cleaning in her life, which I could belive because she had quite a bit of calculus. She ended up as a class 2 with Generalized marginal gingivitis with localized perio. I still need to review her x--rays.
Second, she was extremely patient, or at least was trying to be. I hate that I'm so slow. Joelle got her patient done from start to finish today. I struggle to get to the OD. Especially with x-rays. I guess it's better because last week I didn't do x-rays and only got the the OD, but today I did them and did got to the OD as well. None the less, it's frusterating. I want things to be clear in my head as to what I do next. I always have to stop and say, okay, now what comes next. I just want everything to flow. I guess it will only come with time and practice.
One good thing about today was I did an explorer PE, so I got one of those out of the way. Until next time...

Another day down

Today I worked on my sister. She was a class 1B. I only got to OHI. Except I forgot what I was doing and disclosed before I did anything so I moved OHI up in the appointment to first thing and then had her brush and finished with OD. If was good. She has some calc that I'm going to reschedule her for to come get cleaned off. I just really feel like I'm so slow and I still don't know what all the terms mean when I'm supposed to record them in the chart. I always forget and then I'm asked well whats the difference between this and that term and I just go blank...I hate when that happens. I need to do better at vocabulary.

Such is life, I'm married now, so who the heck cares right? :) Pretty sure I do!

The semester begins...

Today I worked on my dad again. He came back for round two. I was really nervous because we've been on break for a month so I kept forgeting stuff, but luckily we all survived. My dad was a class 2. I had a chance to scale him so that was nice. First day back and I'm scaling! Prof. Costly said I did really well for my first patient ever scaling and it being a class 2. Hopefully I did. It took a long time to get scale checks however, so I wasn't able to polish or do flouride. RESCHEDULE.

My first patient!!!

Okay, so yesterday is over. I'm slightly relieved. There's just so much you've got to remember. The day started out crazy! I had the send a physicians consult for my patient, MyGREAT DAD!!! I sent one last Thursday and when I got in we hadn't heard anything, so we called and sent it again, and after a while still hadn't heard anything, so called again and still nothing. Finally we realized the fax we listed was for the clinic fax, not ours. So, needless to say, it came in Friday and I had a lot of unnecesary stress! When my dad came in I was really nervous. Luckily I had done his HHX before hand at home and so I didn't have to do it. We jumped right into x-rays. I only had to do one retake so I was glad. I did extra/intra oral, then probed. He ended up being a class 2, so that's good I guess. I was able to get to OHI but wasn't able to scale any. My dad kept telling me to relax, and I'm glad it was him so I could say "I'm not quite sure what to do next" Also, because I don't mind making him wait as much as I would a stranger who was helping me out. So to sum it all up, I survived. That in itself is a great accomplishment! So now, he'll come back on Jan 11 for me to finish up.

Community Health-Public Health

When I started this program the only place I had ever thought of working was in a private practice. I never knew that I had so many options available to me. I remember sitting in class sometime in the first three weeks of class (it was all pretty much a blur to me now) and Prof. Bossenberger told us that we had many options with a bachelors degree to be employed in different areas in the dental hygiene profession. With our community plan and trying to increase awareness in the our profession, I have more and more entertained the idea of working for the state in some way to increase awareness of our profession amongst ourselves. There are so many hygienists who don't know what is happening and they don't feel that if will affect them. I think I would really like to help create some type of media that we could send out with some type of graph or something that would clearly show hygienist what will happen and how it will affect their jobs.

Back into the swing of things!

Whew, after a nice long break it's hard to come back and get back into the swing of things. I seriously can't wait for the semester to be over...only like one more week! I can hear the angels singing now....
Today in clinic we went over emergency scenarios. Very good to know what we should be doing. I was a little tardy to class due to the lack of snow plows in the north. That wasn't so good, none the less, I was there by 8. Yet, I still got in a bit of trouble. I've really got to do my best to be there by no later than 7:30. I think I'm going to start leaving at 6:45. Holy cow! Anyhow, we also did a PSR screening to pass of our LAST PE OF THE SEMESTER! Wow, time sure does fly!

Bye!