Dah! I am so unbelievably frustrated right now! I am having a really hard time with exploring and it's hard for people to help me because I'm a lefty. I don't really know what I can do because working on my typodont is so much different than a real person and we don't have that much time to practice on each other in clinic. I hope i can get the hang of it soon or I'm in big trouble!

Time to Explore!

Today was our first day practicing with explorers and I definitely have a lot of practicing ahead of me. Right now I'm mainly struggling with fulcruming and which end of the explorer to use. I'll definitely be taking my typodont home so I can figure everything out. I also passed off my intraoral exam, which was pretty easy. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment with everything we're learning so I'm just hoping that it'll eventually come to me and become second nature!

Slip n' stab!

Today was the big probing day! Dah! It was a little nerve-wracking, but still very fun and exciting. I feel like my first probing experience went very well. The only thing that was a little more difficult for me was finding the accurate depth for the col areas and getting the distals of the maxillary second molars...oh and don't let me forget indirect vision! Oh my word that's definitely going to take a while to get used to. I was also able to pass off my dental mirror and extra oral exam PE's with flying colors. Another successful day in clinic!

Fantastic Fulcruming!

Today in clinic we went through the intra oral and fulcrum/instrument grasp process PE's. I had no problem with the intra oral exam other than familiarizing myself with all the different structures in the mouth. The fulrcum and instrument grasp was a little bit more difficult for me. I'm still struggling with what positions to be in for what surfaces. The other thing that was tricky for me was learning not to fulcrum with my pinky and just letting it go along for the ride as Costley would say. I also had trouble with wanting to grasp my instrument too tightly. I think if I just learn to relax my whole hand I can easily solve both those problems. I will definitely be practicing these techniques at home! Mare and I did a little more practicing with our mirror positions and the extra oral exam. I feel pretty confident about both of those now. I was also able to pass off my vital signs PE today, which went really well. I've gotten a lot better at hearing the heartbeat and coming up with an accurate reading. Now it's off to take the dental hygiene test..wish me luck!

Massage Therapy!

I'm pretty sure the extra oral exam PE made today the best day ever...who knew going to the dentist could feel so good! Although the oral screenings basically feel like a massage for the pt. I do understand the real importance of them and helping the pt. to understand the overall purpose too, but it sure does feel good, which is a definite plus. I got to practice on a couple of people and have started getting familiar with what feels normal so that if I do ever run into any abnormalities I'll know it shouldn't be there. I actually got to do some of them previous to this at the Women's Clinic for community service. It was cool to actually see people in the community and get out of my comfort zone a little bit. We also went over the positioning of the dental mirror and once again it was a little hard for me to get used to where I'm a lefty, but thank goodness for Kirsten or I'd be lost! I still need lots of practice on how to hold and where my mirror should be at specific positions and for certain surfaces. Next clinic we begin probing! Super exciting! I also got to pass off my HH PE, which went really well. I feel like I've finally grasped that concept and could do one for a real pt.

Vital Signs!

Today we went through the vital signs PE and took each others vitals. It was a little difficult for me at first because I haven't done it manually in quite some time. At my dental office we had an automatic one and only took the pt. BP for major surgery like extractions so taking it for every procedure will take some getting used to. We were also given a mock pt. HH and had to go through and copy it into the tx record. It's starting to make a little more sense, but it still takes time to make sure I get everything recorded and in the right place...and I just have to say it's absolutely positively pouring right now and I love love it! Toward the end of clinic we went through the HH together and Miss Mare and I did pretty well on ours, with only a couple changes to be made! So ends another day of clinic!

Drug me up!

Today was the big dental drug reference day where we were given a list of drugs that we had to look up in our reference books and practice writing them down in the tx record. We also went over our HH with our pod partners to make sure they were current and all the information was correct. I was able to pass off my maintenance PE and pt. positioning PE after a more practice with my pod partner. Overall, I think today was very productive.

One o'clock, two o'clock, three o' clock rock!

Today we went over pt. positioning in class. It was a little hard for me to catch on at first since I'm a lefty because I had to do the opposite of what everyone else was doing. It also took me a minute to think about what surfaces I should clean in what positions because in my dental office I'm pretty sure I stayed in one position the whole time, bending and twisting my body in all sorts of awkward positions...just one of my many horrible habits as a dental assistant. It was wierd getting used to the different positions combined with the proper posture and use of ergonomics, something I'll definitely have to get used to. It's going to be a goal of mine to make proper posture/positioning a habit so that I can be in this profession for a long time. I've heard a lot of horror stories involving dental hygienists and work related injuries and I want to do everything I can not to be a part of that statistic. I was also able to pass off my exposure control set-up and tear down. So far, all of the staff has been very helpful and I've enjoyed working with each one. I especially like working with the TA's because they kind of have more of a feel for what we students are going through right now, since they've all recently been through all these same things the previous year.