Air Powder Barf!

Today we learned how to air powder polish off stains. That stuff is straight up salt and it was pretty awful...i was kindof dramatic about the whole situation but it turned out being a fun day it kept us laughing, with our fancy hair nets and all! We also learned how to rubber cup polish.(which i learned yesterday is only for looks, it has nothing to do with the actual "cleaning", which is actually the scaling part...i had no idea). I also learned that it is a whole lot harder than it looks! Once again i am being too soft and timid because i am worried that my speed will be too high, and that petal is touchy!! But it was fun, i am feeling more like a hygienist each day and i know i am gonna love it!

More Practice

Today we did more practice with scaling which i really needed, i got some great pointers from Proffessor Hansen, and she told me i was doing really good and not to worry cause it takes a while to get the hang of it, so she made me feel better. So all in all today was great except for i am sick and i felt like i was gonna die the entire time....My immune system has the fighting power of a flee! Its not working out so well for me during this program! Only 5 more weeks of school though after this week and i can hardly believe it........WOOT WOOT!!!!!!

The Patient

Today was freakin sweet...i just got to lay there! Karen did the same thing on me that i got to do on Monday and it went great...i feel like i always learn a lot from whoever is working on my teeth, and today was no exception...i have so much to learn from these girls who have all had a ton of experience in an office. It has been really really hard not having the experience that they do and i know i am having to work harder, but its good for me and i know i will get through this! I passed off scaling the posteriors which used to be mission impossible for me, i just need a ton of practice still. Well just 2 more days of this crazy week and one big fat test on Monday! EEEEEK!

The Dental Hygienist

Today i got to be the clinician and Karen was my patient. I loved actually getting to practice the OD steps in order and learning how to write them and where to write them etc. We went over the extra oral and intra oral exam again (which i had kinda forgotten) as well as the tx planning, the gingival descriptors, charting, probing, etc. It took me the whole time to do this! I realized that i really need to step us my game and step on the gas if i ever want to finish on a real patient. But it was fun and i cant believe we are only about a month away from our REAL patient day....0h boy i cant wait!

Today we learned how to chart on the "green sheet". Mine ended up being pretty intense with my veneer, bridge, baby tooth and randomly missing premolars! Then we had the rest of class to practice and pass of PE's. I redeemed myself and passed off that dang exploring PE. I am feeling a lot more confident about that now...Now its just the dreaded probing PE that has been haunting my dreams for weeks and weeks! I just need to get that beast over with!

Disclosing Agents

Today we did the disclosing agents in each others mouth's which was actually pretty fun! We had to find out where the plaque was and teach our "patients" how to get it off. That stuff is serious! Very serious and very purple. I had a hard time believing my tongue would ever turn back to pink! It was pretty enlightening to learn which places are getting missed when i brushed. I realized i am missing the lingual side of my very back molars...and i found out the reason for that is cause its right near my gag reflex! So i will have to work on that one!! I am excited about a short week this week, however, deep down inside i know it would be the smart thing to do to use it studying for the next week since we have tests!! We'll see how it all goes!

Scaling the Posteriors: Misson Impossible

I cant do it! For some reason, nothing about scaling the posteriors makes sense to me! The blade angle does not make sense, or the doorknob motion with my wrist, nothin! I am going to have to do some serious practice on my typodant for this one and hopefully a light bulb will turn on...i thought the anteriors were just dandy so lets hope i was doing that right last time! I am excited because we are at midterm in the semester meaning that pretty much the rest of the semester, we are just practicing what we have learned this far and adding on a few more, simpler skills! Time is flying by!!!!!