Productivity... Or So it Seemed...

Wednesday clinic was great because we passed off a bunch (3) of PE's... Sealants, Air/Powder Polish, and Instrument Sharpening!

Surprisingly, the air/poweder polishing was much better the second time! Although I did nic the floor of my partners mouth and saw a tiny bit of blood :S eek... sorry Candace!! But when I passed off my sealant PE the instructor told me it looked like I must have done them a bunch before :) That was a great compliment because it was the second sealant I had ever done!

The yuckiest so far....

Today in clinic we learned the air/powder polisher... This is a little device that is great for removing stain...HOWEVER...it tastes really bad, it makes the biggest mess, and it stings a little! Wanna try it?! Well, let's just say I'm lucky that Candace is such a tough patient because I didn't understand how awful it was until I had my turn in the chair! Yuck! It's essentially baking soda, water, and air blasting in your mouth... hence the bad taste(sodium bicarbonate), mess(air+water), and sting(blast)...

Anyway, another not so happy thing today... It looks like I might have yet another cavity! I don't understand how I've never had them, and now I for sure have two, maybe three! I go to the dentist thursday to figure it out, and get some fillings...

Okay, so now that my pessimism about the day is out, there were good things that happened! Today I placed my first sealant! We learned later that my air/water syringe was blowing water when it was only supposed to blow air which put a little damper on the drying of the tooth--(no pun intended) ;) But, I ended up drying it with a cotton roll, and it stayed... We'll see how long it lasts! I also learned how to take a pano today! And, I learned how to duplicate x-rays! So a lot of good things happened today, but starting it out with the air/powder polisher made it a little harder to get going...

This is my group learning sealants in class!
(L to R: Pam, Candace, me, Katie)

Also, I volunteered to try in an aid to keep the mouth dry during sealant placement!
I don't know what made me volunteer for this?! It just came out of me...

Professor Costley trying to help me put it in...

And the finished product... how cute :)

Have a Seat...

Today was a relaxing day... I got to be the patient the entire time! It was good to sit back and not worry about much--except of course if my gums would be poked :) (Luckilly they weren't much today) But I definitely learned a lot from watching Tandem work on me! I always learn so much from the people who work on me! Tandem did a great job though, and I was glad to be her patient. Oh and in other news, the cavity that was so devastating a month ago has gone missing... No one can seem to find it anymore... Is there hope for remineralization?? haha... Probably not... But still, it's weird that no one can find it now.

*p.s. this IS me in the chair, but it is Candace in the background... not Tandem

Whirlwind & It's Over!

Today we had a mock patient day in clinic. I was hoping when I got to class that I would luck out and be able to be the patient for the day... Well, of course, I was the clinician. BUT, in hindsight, I'm really glad I was able to get my turn over with today!
I feel fairly good about it. I worked on Tandem (she's darling), and I felt fairly good in my skills. Probing & scaling are coming along nicely. My prophy angle broke during my polishing PE! haha.. So i put on another one, and a few teeth later, it broke too! Talk about a way to wig out a nervous first year student during a PE! haha
Time is the hardest thing for me. It's hard for me to manage my time and make correct estimations of how much time I will need... Overall, it was a great learning experience for me! It makes me even more excited for Wednesday, when I get to relax in the chair!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the junior WSU dental hygiene class!!

To Polish, Or Not To Polish

Today has been interesting in clinic... We learned how to polish. In class yesterday we learned about how polishing is purely a cosmetic thing, and has little health benefit! It is used to remove stain, not clean the teeth. The big problem is that most patients expect polish, and even don't feel that the treatment is complete without polishing. This is a big dilemma in the dental world because most dentists and hygienists know that polishing teeth can take off enamel, yet it remains a routine part of most dental treatment.

Today we compared the toothbrush polish to the prophy-cup polish, and actually, I think i did a better job brushing Candace's teeth than I did polishing them... Maybe because it was my first time polishing though?? I can definitely see why hygienists would polish in private practice--especially because of the ease, and the saved time and wind (from explaining :))! haha... Anyway, I definitely don't want to lose my enamel, and if I knew that I could, I don't think I would want my teeth polished at EVERY dental appointment. I'd like to educate my patients and give them the option of both in the future!

What would you choose?? Keep your enamel, or have your teeth polished when you don't really have stain in the first place??

That.. is the question

Boring post

Clinic went well Monday... We had a day to practice a lot of the skills we have learned so far. I worked on Candace, which made it very comfortable for me! I'm really glad because I think I'd rather work on her in comfort now and solidify my skills a bit before I jump into other mouths and get nervous! But I felt really good about the way things went. I'm really understanding scaling, and I love it! I always thought I'd love cleaning calculus because it's so nit-picky and detail oriented, and I was right! I love taking a tooth with build-up and leaving it squeaky clean! I also passed my anterior scaling PE off which felt good... I think I did it well, but we'll see when I get my PE back with scores I guess :)