I know this may sound dumb, but here we are towards the end of Fall semester of 2nd year and something has finally clicked. Today I think I figured out the "towards to toe" part of scaling. I had some terrible habits that Dr. Hanson was bound and determined to fix today in clinic, and I am proud to say that we got a good start on that task. Once my lateral pressure was applied I was scaling in more of a rocking motion towards the tooth and not towards the tip of the instrument. It was exciting to finally understand what I had been doing so wrong when I scale the mandibular anteriors. I found that I literally had to slowly say these steps out loud to get it down, but hey it worked...
1. Up high on fulcrum with the toe being the first thing sub-g.
2. Apply the lateral pressure towards the tooth.
3. Scaling strokes up toward the toe!
4. Now listen to that beautiful scratching sound that is removing subgingival calculus.
My patient may think I am a weirdo if I continue to say these steps out loud so for now, until I can re-train my hands, I will be saying these steps in my head constantly. It was a good day and I ended up getting 2 quads of a class III, which we all know is precious as gold at this point in time.
1. Up high on fulcrum with the toe being the first thing sub-g.
2. Apply the lateral pressure towards the tooth.
3. Scaling strokes up toward the toe!
4. Now listen to that beautiful scratching sound that is removing subgingival calculus.
My patient may think I am a weirdo if I continue to say these steps out loud so for now, until I can re-train my hands, I will be saying these steps in my head constantly. It was a good day and I ended up getting 2 quads of a class III, which we all know is precious as gold at this point in time.
Ha ha ha! That is so awesome Jamie! I love lightbulb moments.
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