Last Mock Board...

Alright... last mock board... real boards here we come!! I really liked mock boards today. it felt like it ran smoothly. There were a few things that i need to remember. One was to give the tissue a little bit of a rest before probing. Continue to explore at different seating positions. Also x-rays should show the distal root of the last molar.

LA

Ok... so did I mention I need more practice with LA. Today I was able to get that... yeah... but I still want more practice. Both of my patients were needing LA. My first patient only had 8 teeth and I was expecting her to be pretty easy like a class V. So I was a little thrown off when she was a class IV and needed anesthesia... It was a great experience but I'd love to be more prepared next time. My afternoon patient needed anesthesia also... I gave this one on the left side... I'm not so comfortable with the left side. Practice makes perfect... I need that practice.

Found my last Mock board

Wahoo... another miracle... I've been looking for a mockboard and haven't been able to find one. Well today... I had patients cancel again. I had just given this spanish speaking patient to Miriam... because her patient canceled earlier that week... well someone scheduled someone else for her so when I didn't have a patient I asked Miriam if she'd like to come in earlier. Well she did and Yeah... she qualified for a mock board and is as sweet as can be. I was able to get a half mouth of x-rays done also. So it all works out in the end.

Mockboard II

Mockboard went pretty well. I used my actual board patient... It made me feel a lot more confident that i was able to clean her with out much of a problem. I learned a few things that I'd like to change for the boards. One is tho explore from different chair positions. The spot that was found was on the Distal of # 31 because Pro. Perry explored from 1:00-2:00. That was a great lesson for me because examiners are all going to explore differently. The next lesson was to only probe the quad... don't add teeth! Don't write phrases describing gingiva unless you really need to go in depth and refer out. If there is any tissue trauma take it off. Over all a great experiance. If I can pass this one... I can pass the real board! That's attitude I need right!?!

Sensitive aggressive brusher

My patient today was again a good experience. She needed LA... I realize more and more how much I need to practice LA. My patient was a class II. She doesn't get her teeth cleaned regularly which is causing the accumulation of calculus. She is very concerned about brushing enough. She brushes very aggressively causing her roots to be exposed and causing sensitivity. We put fluoride on those areas and I taught her a few different ways to hold her TB to lessen the aggressiveness of her brushing.

Working with interesting patients

Today the patient that I saw was schizophrenic and He wanted to be called She. He felt that he was a woman born in a man's body and and now in the process of getting a sex change. It was a very good unique experience to work with this patient. But this patient was very particular about his oral hygiene. He was so concerned that he was brushing very aggressively. He showed obvious signs of abfraction. He stated that the electric toothbrush did it. We talked about ways he could brush to minimize the wearing away of his teeth.
My afternoon patient was interesting because there was a lot of inflammation but very little calculus. We came to the conclusion that even though there was not much calculus he had Diabetes, sleep apnea and was on asprin which all can cause the bleeding and inflammation.

Production Day

Hum... My production day kind of flopped. I was able to see two children and I was just going to do a tissue evaluation and get area's that were missed with a class III patient I ran out of time with at a previous appointment. and then in the afternoon I was going to schedule two 1Bs. Well the two children came and that was a wonderful experience. They were very well behaved. I did struggle getting the 6 yr old to take x-rays but it was a good learning experience... I think I'll try a snapper ray next time. I also learned that there is quite a bit of plaque around a child's molars... so to remember to focus on those areas. My next patient was unable to come because of the snow. In the afternoon the two 1B patients weren't able to come... so to keep my chair full I scheduled class II I was able to take x-rays, OD and finish scaling all in that appointment. Even with a couple mishaps... the air water syringe broke off and I couldn't get the broken piece out... but finally got that taken care of and my suction kept on coming out and falling to the floor... it ended up being quite comical. My patient was a good sport. One other thing I learned was distinguishing between remineralization and actual soft stickiness of caries.