wouldn't be the last day of the VA unless....

It is sad when you are contemplating getting in a car accident just so you don't have to go to the VA but that is how I felt every other Wednesday.  I am so happy that I never have to go there again and if I ever return, I wouldn't be a student.  For future senior students, be scared....be very scared. 
For my last day at the VA I had 1 quad of a class IV and 4 quads of a class V.  My class IV patient was very interesting and wasn't rare at the VA.  I think that she was hitting on Kim and I.  She told us that she held back some inappropriate jokes from us.  It was very creepy.  She was schizophrenic with major dental issues.   She could only hold her mouth open for a few minutes which got progressively better towards the end of the appointment and probably hadn't brushed in a few years. She was a difficult patient who took a lot out of me by the time I finished 1 quad.  All I can say is bring on the 1B's and those that come to their appointments every 6 months.  Bring on the patients that brush 1-2x/day and floss 1x/month or after they eat corn on the cob and need to floss.  Bring on the patients that are a little unnormal but isn't one right after another.  I feel for those at the VA but it takes someone stronger than me to be able to work there.  I have a lot of respect for those that continually work there and I will miss a few of those that were sweet to me.  I will miss Connie and Shara.  They were fun to work with and I think that Shara is an amazing person.
Well, so long VA and I won't miss the dreadful drive, the crazy days, and the people that treated me like a dumb student that could never do anything right. 

1 day left

Only 1 Pano left and I am done with all of my requirements.  Last year at this time I still had 5 PE's and bitewings and 2 quads of a class II.  It was a pretty nice day. I was able to clean 8 quads of a class II today and it was pretty amazing to get them both done in one day.  I have come a long way.  Last year a class II took me two appointments.  Today it took me 2 hours. It feels a little crazy and not real.  I think it is due to my progression with the ultrasonic. 

On my own?????

After today, I am not sure that I am ready to be on my own. What if I miss calculus or who do I talk to if I have questions? I have millions of stupid questions and I am not going to feel comfortable asking the doctor. The doctor will know that I am not ready to be away from school. "Fake it till you make it" sounds really good but I am unsure if I will be able to fake it. I just hope that I work for an awesome dentist who will be more than happy to listen to my dumb questions.

The other issue I have about being in a dental office is can I get things done in 45 minutes. There are so many things that you have to do especially if they are a new patient. I really struggle with x-rays and this slows me down a lot. I try to be fast but it just undoubtedly slows me down even more. I can be fast at probing but writing them down is another story. I hope that I have an assistant that rocks at x-rays and is really good at writing down what I tell him/her.

I had a really good day. As of today, I only need 7 more conventional PA's and 1 conventional Pano and I am done. I have no other requirements to do. It feels amazing, especially, after last year when I had to pass off 5 PE's on the last day. I cleaned a very difficult class 5 patient with 7mm of recession on the anterior lingual teeth and severe crowding. Then this afternoon, I had two of my bestest friends come in and I cleaned their teeth. I felt so bad that it took so long but they were out after 2.25 hours. Not too bad. I need to speed it up just a little more. I am sure that it didn't help that I choose to do conventional x-rays. That slows me down ever since they put the view boxes on the x-ray machines. I much prefer a dark room. I think that I had better vision with the dark room.

Well 2 more Weber clinics left and 1 VA day left....It is amazing to be able to see an end. I thought it would never come.

I just might throw up

So I brought in my board patient. There are definitely 3 missed areas. That is why I just might throw up. Where might I have missed these beautiful calculus spots? This is the big kicker....Mesial of 25, Mesial of 27, Distal of 26. Yes, I do feel like a huge failure. Why? Because I know I had tissue trauma. I am sure that they saw the tissue trauma and failed me right on the spot but to know that I missed on the anterior teeth, really? Who does that? Usually people miss on the molars or premolars. Not me...I like to make things more interesting for myself and totally screw up on what is supposed to be the easiest part to clean on teeth. Yes, I used my ultrasonic and yes, I scaled there. I think the thing that made it bad for me is that my patient was bleeding so much that I really couldn't see or feel what I was doing. I remember slipping off of her teeth and struggling so much but I really didn't think that I missed that many spots. I am just hoping that WREB will know that it was difficult with the amount of bleeding and will be somewhat nice. (that was a joke). I definitely need a miracle and won't be suprised when I am told that I have to take it again.....but not until I do 40 hours of remediation. So, today wasn't one of my most favorite days.  It was difficult cleaning her after feeling like a complete failure.  I really struggled on this patient and really hate cleaning class II patients.  I would much rather clean a IV or III.  Dr. Hanson told me that today my performance was a B.  Not good when you are about to graduate.  Doctors don't want to hire a B performer. 

I love a day of 1B's

I loved today.  It was a beautiful day of just 1B's.  I used a total of 2 mirrors, 2 explorers, 2 probes, 2 nevi's, 2 SN135's, and 2 nebraska's for 2 patients.  I don't know why I busted out the SN135's instead of the barnhart's but it brought me back to 1st year. I also used a total of 4 2x2 gauzes...It's a miracle.  I am a little more excited about working.  It was nice getting a cleaning done in 15 minutes and my hand doesn't hurt. The tight tissues were the most difficult part of my day.  I am so used to the flabby tissues that flop over and blood gushing from the sulcus. 
I do wish that my board patient would have come in.  I really wanted to feel and see how much I missed, but it is probably for the best that she didn't come.  I probably would have started signing up for WREB clinical in Idaho in June. Two more weeks and I will know my fate.

Lost at the first 45 degree

Seriously...I am just learning that my last 45 degree is off when giving the PSA.  I wish that someone would have stopped me about 4 months ago and not two weeks before the boards.  I really don't even understand when they say 45 degrees from the midline.  I think that it is time to start freaking out and the instructors act like it will be ok.  I learned something very important today..... Don't put the needle on before the cartridge.  It isn't pretty when the needle inside is bent and nothing comes out.  Luckily, everything that could go wrong just went wrong on the PSA.  The IA was beautiful.  I started out over the canine and fixed my angle.  I need to remember to focus on those premolars and I should be good.  The next two weeks are going to be *#%* trying to figure out the stupid 45 degree rule.  I think my next suggestion for next year is for the instructors to treat every injection like it is a mockboard maybe we wouldn't have so many problems two weeks before the board test.

The other great part of LA boards was the fact that I had to remove the rubber stopper with my stupid pliers and it took forever.  I really hope that doesn't happen on boards.  I really hate having someone sit there and watch as I struggle to remove what seems like a fish hook out of the thickest rubber you can imagine. 

The one good thing that did happen to me today was that I found a board patient and I think that she is going to be awesome.  I need to add two teeth but it is due to the fact that I am neurotic and can't be docked 4 points because I am missing one piece of calculus. One day this will all end.  I just wish that it would be soon.  I need a life and my husband to love me again.   Right now he is wondering what kind of monster he is married to.

Much to learn young grasshopper

So that is what burnished calculus feels like.  oh, I really hope that I do not burnish calculus on my board patient because I did a really good job of that today.  So, in my board plan....files.....files.....files...... These are going to be my best friend.  I am going to use my files on every little piece of calculus and ultrasonic for an hour. I cannot believe that I missed so many spots today.  I felt like I was in first year again and I was learning how to remove calculus all over again. Seriously, that is a nightmare. 
I also learned a little more about my curved gracey's.  Luckily, someone still passed off my PE for me but seriously, the curved gracey's can be used on any surface of a tooth.  You just need to adapt it and you are fine. 
The other thing that I learned and I am going to work on is holding the saliva ejector in my hand with the prophy paste and the prophy in another hand to selective polish.   I am sure that there are many that can do this but selective polishing with the rubber cup is one of the most awkward thing for me to do.  I am clumsy as it is but it might help with the saliva flying every where.  I just hate having to rinse after every quad.  It is a waste of time.  So this is something that I am going to start doing on every patient.  I think that it might speed things up for me.  I am still really slow and wondering how I am going to see a patient in 1 hour when I get into private practice.  I hope that I have really easy 1B patients in my future.

Mockboard 3 out 3

I can't believe it but the only thing I missed was one probing depth.  It is seriously a miracle.  I cannot believe that was all that I missed on my mockboards.  I hope that I can do that for boards. 

So here is my suggestion for boards...

1. ultrasonic until I think that I have removed a lot of calculus
2. use files if I still feel boulders, if not, SCALE, SCALE, SCALE
3. ultrasonic again using the slimline
4. Fine scale again
5. probe and mark recession
6. relax, stretch, walk around and think of something other than how my eyes are about explode
7. explore, and scale any missed areas

Maybe I can do the same thing for boards but hopefully I don't miss a probing depth.  That is ridiculous to miss. 

I love my dad

This morning was awesome. I was able to get so much done on my dad.  He let me do injections and I was able to do a pano on him.  I did struggle with the PSA injection. I think that my dad had some tuff tissues or his bone was really long but my needle did not want to go in.  I did do a great job on the IA.  My dad told me that I gave him a "zing".  That means that I was able to locate the nerve.  

I also was able to finish my class IV patient.  I really struggled today though.  I wanted to pass off my curved slim ultrasonics PE but I had difficulties with using it on the mandibular teeth.  Using the backside of the curves is almost awkward. I am definitely going to have to practice them a little more.

I can't believe how fast this semester is going.  I am taking Process of Care exam this friday.  Seriously, I am not ready for boards yet.  I need for things to slow down and then speed up after boards.

Don't underestimate the patients that are on-call

It is a miracle.  I finally found a class IV patient and he has four quads of a class IV.  I cannot believe that I found a class IV patient at weber.  I never thought that it would happen.  Unfortunately, I was only able to clean 2 quads and he might move back to Texas before I can clean the other 2 quads.   I learned about class III furcations and the importance of the curved slimline ultrasonics.  I have a huge appreciation for them and I really like them. I never thought that I would say that but they actually make sense now and I feel like that I might use them more. 

I also was able to practice injections on my board patient.  Oh, how I love my husband that the many things that he will do for me.  I am excited that I was able to practice it and feel a little better about giving injections.  I really need to work on the IA and feeling for the external oblique muscle.  

Mockboard 2 out of 3

I cannot believe that I passed my mockboards.  First of all, I didn't think that I was going to find a mockboard patient and then to find one on 3 days before and pass I feel so much better.  I just hope this is how the real test goes.  I am ok with an 88%.  I just need to remember to really clean the anterior teeth.  I tend to forget the anterior teeth on mockboards.  For some reason I hurry and clean the anterior teeth and then focus most of my attention on the posterior teeth.  I think that I would have done better if I would have tried to take the full amount of time.  I kind of ended early because I just wanted to be done.  I just need to remember to really smooth the teeth as much as I can and take as much time doing it.  I was happy to hear that my probing depths were good and my recession was right.  It is really crazy to think that I only have 1 more mockboard before the real deal. I hope that I find my real board patient before the next mockboard so that I can get a feel for what it is going to be like before boards.

Like butter

Today I learned that some people can generate some awesome calculus that falls off like butter in less than 3 months.  I am so grateful for KaDee.  The name was wrong and I ended up stealing her patient.  I definitely owe her a class III easy patient if I can ever find one.  Today I had to remove a lot of calculus and I think that I am getting better at detecting calculus with my explorer and going deep enough to get the calculus off.  I am learning to love my ultrasonic more every time I use it.  I am usually against using my ultrasonic but It has really started to help me with removing calculus especially the tenacious calculus that has been attached to a tooth for many years.  I just can't believe how young my patient was and how many teeth he had missing.  He was in his 30's and was missing at least 9 teeth, not including his wisdom teeth.  I think that is the hardest part about being a dental hygienist.

Some patients are Evil (like the fruits of the devil)

I have learned that sometimes people are just going to act bipolar and I can't do anything about it except for not to let it get to me.  It was a difficult thing to learn but probably not the last time that I will learn something like this.  I am just grateful that my father-in-law could show at last minute and be the best patient, especially after one of the emotional day of my life.  It is really the only thing that I learned today but I am glad that I learned this now instead of latter in my career.

Mockboard patient....Gone

Sometimes I question why I am going into this profession.  I had a patient that I would never want to deal with.  She was one of those patients that felt that she knew more than me and wouldn't listen to anything that I would tell her.  She continually told me that she needed a scaling and not a cleaning.  I asked her if she could be my mockboard patient and she told me yes and then after taking x-rays and getting her ready for mockboards she decided to tell me that she couldn't be my mockboard patient.  I seriously do not need to deal with patients like that this semester.  I have to find two mockboard patients and one board patient.  I don't need to be wasting my time with people who do not understand that they are coming to a learning facility and that is why it is cheaper than a normal dentist office.  She wanted the deal but she didn't want to go through the steps that I had to go through. Then she complained to the front desk about how slow I was.  Not the fact that she had a HHX that was ridiculously long and I had to continually tell her that I was saving her right side for mockboards and I was going to do her left side when she came back after mockboards.  I learned an important lesson today....only call people from the resource list because they know what they are getting themselves into.  People who are referred from a regular office expect the school to be just like a regular office.