LA mock boards

What a night mare. We had our Anesthetic Mock boards and I failed both injections. I feel like i haven't been doing it right the whole year and have been allowed to continue in my bad habits. I am grateful that we had time this afternoon to practice on each other. I have more information, more confidence and more direct instruction on my side. I think it will go well.. the written test wasn't bad at all.. in fact, i hope the written is a lot like that.. i hear that the real one is harder... time to get serious about the studying.

Clinic today

I am just about there on my requirements and good thing. My pts are canceling on my left and right. I only need 2 quads of a class 3 and 2 kids. I am nervous because i can't get a hold of my mock board pt. She is scheduled to come in today at 1:30pm to get xrays and a little screening for my own benefit. This morning my pt was a class 5 but her DDS told her that at her 3mo recalls she only needs to have the right side cleaned!!! WEIRD. I told her that 3mo recalls include cleaning all the teeth and she didn't believe me.. oh well.. she went home with only her right side clean today..

National Boards

This Tuesday was national boards. I have been studying since January and I am pooped. I was surprised that the test was less tricky than I expected. I was grateful, my adrenaline was rushing my brain. I wish we didn't have to wait so long to get our results but at the same time I am just glad that it is all done. Now i have to get going on Anesthetic boards.. I am getting so tired.

done with PE's

Today felt like a production day. I had my class 2 at 8am but she was half hour late and then needed LA without me knowing. I was done at 10am but my second pt had been there since 9:30am. I was running like crazy and couldn't make up for that half hour. I found that i was REALLY careful about each stroke because I knew that i was behind. My afternoon was a lot smoother with just my class 4-only one quad. He was pleasant and easy going. He was easy to numb up and the calculus was fun to remove. I finished my PE'S today and that felt great!!!

ONE QUAD ALL DAY

Today I had 2 of my 3 pts cancel on me. My morning pt was a simple tissue eval and we were done well before 9am. I wasn't too upset about my 9 o'clock pt not showing up because I then was able to do my Eagle soft assignment. My afternoon pt was a class 2 and he couldn't come.. bummer. so I called my class 4 to come in and he could only be there for about 1 hour and 15min. I was able to numb him up and finish one quad and get him out with plenty of time.. but yes, he was my only QUAD all day. I'll take it. Can't complain too much, i have been super blessed this semester-i haven't cried once-knock on wood.

been quite a while

It has been a while since i have written in my blog. I feel my time is short and getting shorter. We are given more and more to accomplish. My MOCK board pt was awesome. He showed up 20 min early and called me when he arrived. I was feeling right on top. The appt went so smooth and my pt and I was talking and enjoying the time. I was finished scaling about 1/2 hour early and had time to re-evaluate my work, probe and do all the paper work. I was ready to go with 10min to spare and feeling pretty good. the student examiner was looking all serious when she brought him back after the check, but right behind her was my pt with two thumbs up.. I missed zero spots!!!!! Instructor Perry told me to do a repeat performance for the real deal.

screening for mock board

So last week, my cute pt came in and ended up being perfect for mock boards. He is super responsible and just awesome. It was great to feel so on top of things. I had already dedicated today as a screening morning so i didn't change my plans. I was able to get a few people scheduled and only one showed up. But she qualifies for MOCK BOARDS and she is also very reliable and awesome!! We got some xrays taken and her calculus was blingin! Janet will use her for mock boards next week and then she will be my second mock board pt in April.. feels so good. .the only problem is that because i have been doing so many od's and screenings, i really don't have many quads done.. time for a change of pace. after mock boards are done, i'll have to really get to work.. it should be perfect. this semester is a million times better than last-i was crying almost every night last semester.. this one so far has brought no tears.

great day for 2s

This morning on my way to clinic my husband called to tell me that my spanish speaking class 2 called to cancel!! pooh! so i started calling my resource list to find that one was a wrong number, another was a pt who got sick of waiting so he went and got his teeth cleaned elsewhere.. bummer.. I looked at a woman in the foyer and talked to her about getting her teeth cleaned.. she almost cried because she was so excited.. I almost cried because i was so excited.. she was great. I told her that i would cover her xrays if she would cover the cleaning (she mentioned that money was an issue). She is a class 2 and seems very reliable.. i hope so.
my afternoon went even better. My super awesome family from Pakistan sent their son who ASKED for a FMX and then after the OD we found that he will qualify for mock boards... yay!! and the best part is that he is SUPER RELIABLE!! his family is GREAT..
I feel so lucky and blessed.. OH and I was brave and did the fmx on phosfor plates and no retakes!

better on class 3

today i had a sweet class 3 pt whose teeth cleaned up so nicely. I was so excited to see her and i hope that she will do better on her home care because her mouth really hurts her. LA went super smoothly and i was able to see what it is like to get 2 positive aspirations. I learned a good lesson, go more Medially and take the angel over to the premolars on the I A.

my class 1b came in and I thought i was going to do such a great job, guess what, not so. I jabbed one of her papilla pretty good and then missed 4 spots of calculus. I was a little shocked. and not sure what went wrong. my instructor said to avoid papilla damage i should basically stand on my head to get direct vision if indirect isn't working. I should pay more attention to the calculus in a 1b as well.

and we're back..

this is the first day at clinic. I have developed a love hate relationship with clinic. when it is good, i love it, when patients come, i love it... when it is bad, i hate it, when patients abandon their appointments, i hate it.. the stress and anxiety is awful!! today, so far, i love it. My pts have shown up, on time and ready to get xrays and cleanings. I am grateful for responsible people. I am excited for this semester to go fast.. there is a lot to do. but i am excited to keep moving.

this stinks!

this morning my pt was a six year old boy. He was a bit grumpy and wouldn't really talk to me. I went to get a professor's signature and when i came back my operatory stunk! I didn't know who let one but it was bad. I took this little pt to get some xrays done and when i came back from processing the radiology room REALLY STUNK!!! This little guy was letting them loose!! Unfortunately we needed to do retakes and so i was stuck in there with him.. I invited Jessica to come in and smell and it made her gag!! haha.. My afternoon wasn't so stinky. My pt was early and ready for tx. She was willing to have Blood Glucose taken on her. And the LA went smoothly. I was grateful for such a trooper of a pt. She wasn't a jumpy person at all and that got her out early. Love it!!

mock board miracle

Last week was mock boards. At 3pm the day before, I was crying to my husband because i still didn't bave a pt. By about 5pm, a fellow classmate called to say that someone was coming in at 8am to be my pt. I was relaxed and happy. I got to clinic the next morning a tad late and felt super unorganized. By 8:15am, that pt still hadn't shown up. I was panicking inside. Prof Alexander said to start calling people to be my pt in the afternoon. As i went to the locker room, i could feel tears starting. Luckily, Camille came up and told me to find a pt in the foyer of Midtown. I was doubtful but I went out and told the three men there my story. The 26yr old said that he could stay as long as i took a pano on him. I gladly agreed and we got started... I sat him in the chair and realized with only being in the mouth for about 20sec that this kid was going to have plenty of calculus for me to remove and might even qualify for Boards!!!! I rushed him to be checked and he QUALIFIED!! everyone was amazed.. The calculus seemed to come off with such ease-we were chatting and laughing together and pretty soon i was finished and had 30 more min to go. I probed and then sent him on to be checked again.. oops.. i didn't do any of the paper work!! I only missed 3places of cal. and with having no xrays and no probe depths i felt good about that. I got my score back.. 72/100 wow.. that was exciting to know even when i didn't do the paper work. that was a great experience and i felt that this pt was a miracle.. ps.. the pano turned out great too.

Extra VA day

Prof Hanson was feeling sorry for me and, with some luck, got me in for an additional day at the VA. I was sosososo grateful to have someone else on my side. I was able to get so much accomplished too!! The morning consisted of 2quads of a 2 and 2quads of a 3.. and I got to do Local Anesthetic on both the UR and UL.. then the afternoon was pleasant Mr. Hogge with 3 quads of 3 with 11 injections!!! what a day.. I was so happy and grateful for prof hanson and besides that, she was an absolute delight to talk to at lunch. She made the whole experience positive, open for learning and organized.

my professor is worried

I just had my semi semester interview with my professor and she is worried about me. I haven't seen very many pts with perio and we are running out of time. I am super excited about my two pts today. both of them have perio to some extent and i am grateful. My after noon pt was 2/3 and I got to use local anesthetic on her ur quad. It made me super nervous but with my prof's help i got through. I think i was a little shaky. She was super numb though.. so that felt good..

just as planned

OH.. I am so grateful for good days like today. My sweet pt came a little late-but she came!! She was very patient and kind and we had a good time communicating in broken spanglish. She didn't have #30,29,28 nor 19, 20, 21. So instead of BWX we took 4 PAs. The first set were going to be perfect but the film that was set out for us to use was duplicating film and so didn't create an image. SO the second set had to be taken. They were pretty good considering the missing teeth-but not perfect. Because of time, I was only able to get 1quad done.. but because she is so relyable, i was ok with it.
My afternoon pt was right on time, and when i went out to get her she was gone!! The clinic manager had sent her to get a parking pass and she got confused and didn't come back for 30 min. Finally we got started and since she was a recall pt, I got right in the mouth and cleaned her up. It went pretty smooth. I was amazed at how much better I am adapting the ultrasonic and using the gracies... i saw several large pieces of cal removed by hand scaling. she was out the door in just a little over an hour.

VA day

I finally had a really great day at the VA. Not to say that all the other times that i have been there have been bad.. just that i finally saw some perio! it was a relief to see some pockets deeper than a 4mm and I got a really awesome view of calculus coming off in chunks. I was really grateful for the lesson we had on ultrasonic instrumentation. I was able to better adapt the insert to the tooth and the calculus removal went much smoother. Both of my pts there were considered class 4 perio pts.. because of the gravity of their situations, i was only able to complete 2 quads on the first and 1 quad on the second. I also had a good learning experience; i broke an instrument tip in the sulcus of 2D. I was totally blank as to what i should do. all i could remember is what i shouldn't do.. don't get the suction, don't stress out.. I had him keep his mouth open while i went to get an instructor. she tried many instruments, including the proxy brush and finally it came loose.. wow.. we were just about to take a PA too. I was glad for the learning opportunity..

interesting afternoon

Last week's morning appt was a stress. The pt couldn't find the parking pass ticket box and ended up being more than 45 min late. we rushed to get her started and in the chair. her 4bwx went smoothly-we took a supplimental to get the very back of a 2nd molar. then she was dx as a class 2. Because i know this pt is reliable, i made it my exam pt. it went pretty well.. i did miss some spots which is hard to take sometimes. My afternoon pt was a 16yr old and her mother was my pt in 3 weeks. after several conversations about fees and bleaching, i went to set up the xrays and came back to see that the office manager had given the mother to another student without any consent of mine.. I was furious and it showed in my scaling of the daughter. the mother ended up being a class 2 which is what i needed. During all this, I also had a first year student observing the clinic session.. she learned a lot!

busy morning

I am trying to focus on the possitve, since, so far, i feel pretty unproductive. I am grateful for the little 7year old boy was such a joy. Our goal was to get 2bwx and clean his teeth. He only has 2 permanent anterior teeth and 2 of his 6year molars. We also had his molars 19 and 30 evaluated for sealants and he needed them. So after the cleaning we were able to get that done. I had my second pt out in the foyer waiting-so i was a bit hurried-but they turned out great. My second pt came at 9:30am and I didn't get to him til 10am.. i was worried about time. Good thing he didn't need xrays. He is really cool for a 15yr old and we laughed some.. that was good. He had obviously more plaque and calculus on the right side and i found out that he is right handed.. he has flossed a few times since our last apt. He's learning. My afternoon pt didn't show up and she didn't answer her phone the 3-4 times that i called her.. I even tried calling her husband. i am surprised because they were so wonderful last year and so reliable. I hope all is ok.. especially because her husband is my pt next tuesday!!! so I got a walk-in pt who all she wanted was xrays.. for many reasons, it took me quite a bit longer than normal. oh well, they turned out great and i even challenged myself and did conventional films.. i'm happy about that.

first pt as a 2nd year

I am so grateful that I brought in my little brother (a 1b) to be my first pt. I feel SO SLOW!! I am super frustrated, because my pt in the afternoon just canceled AGAIN!! I don't know what i am going to do.. i guess i better start calling people.. ARG!! that is the worst part of this-you never know if your pt is really going to show.. well.. I hope it all works out.

first week back

I am writting this a week late, but I still feel that i am adjusting to being back in school. I a surprised at how much i have forgotten. I am also surprised at how much i have remembered. I really am not thrilled about being back so soon. I want more time to play, but such is life. It is really good to see everybody though.