THE FINISH LINE!

IB, 2 panos, 1 no-show....and that's it!  Kind of sad actually.  Here's to hoping I've taken advantage of this amazing opportunity I've had to complete my education in this program and become a great clinician out in the real world...because ready or not....HERE I COME!

April 5, 2011

Saw my cute, cute little sister to finish off my IA's.  THANK YOU FOR COMING IN, HANNAH!  Finished my class IV as well.  He was a fun patient.  I hope he gets on a good recall schedule and is able to keep his teeth.  He is only in his late-thirties and has severe bone loss.  I educated him and hope that he was able to understand the severity of his disease and take control.

March 29, 2011

Saw a sweet, sweet lady (class V) in the morning and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her.  I'm so excited for that part of my job.  I also LOVED that she is 85 and asked about bleaching.  She's a cutie.  Luckily she is in PERFECT oral health.  Probably one of the best well-kept mouths I've seen.  Saw another class V in the afternoon.

March 22, 2011

Today my patient was SARAH!  It was so fun and a nice break after a heck of a week. (yes, I survived, yes I passed the all the ones I've heard back from.)  I saw a class IV in the afternoon.  Having a IB and then a IV reconfirms the fact that I LOVE WORKING ON PERIO PATIENTS!  Is that sick?  Am I weird?  I totally enjoy working on the people that need me the most.  Maybe it's all a selfish thing because I feel needed. ;)

March 8, 2011

I can't believe next week is our boards...

Update:  found a different board patient; one that I am 100% confident about.  The only problem is he has HIV so I need to get a physician's consult.... :O

Today I saw a class III in desperate need of dental hygiene care.  She also came with the HHX from heck.  And when I saw "came with" I mean she literally came with pages of medications and allergies and problems.  After over an hour, we worked through it and finally cleaned 2 quads.  I scaled the other 2 quads in the afternoon.  WHAT A LONG AND EXHAUSTING DAY.  Praying hard that things go well next week.

LA mockboard, March 1, 2011

I feel like a complete failure.  I failed BOTH injections on our mockboard.  I felt so confident so it was a huge blow!  Apparently I haven't technically kept my "window" open as much as I need to.  I always have it facing me, but apparently when board examiners are watching, I need to have it straight up.  Can't believe that constitutes failing, but it was a good lesson to learn at a good time!  I have been giving injections the same way all year so I'm glad I found out before the real thing...still doesn't feel very good though.  Saw a recall pt in the afternoon.

FOUND A BOARD PT!

I screened all morning and guess what?  Found a board patient!  His calculus is great, but I have to add several teeth to make it the solid 12 clicks so I'm a little concerned about how strong of a candidate he is.  I have no alternate submission...  I took a FMX series and I feel so much better.  Saw a much needed IA in the afternoon. I seriously feel like I'm pretending to clean when I see a healthy patients, especially IA's.  I know that I'm making a difference microbially but it's hard when I can't SEE the difference I'm making.  I guess I just have to have faith in the science!  Good day!

February 15, 2011

Mockboard.  Luckily Emily let me use a patient of hers for mockboard.  He was great and I got 100%!!!!!!!!  Wahoo!  I felt like I had all the time in the world and that things went so smooth.  I felt confident too, which is a great feeling.

February 8, 2011

Getting down to the wire.
No time to do whole appointments until I find board patients!!
Screenings in the morning...no success.
Brought my husband in for me to practice anesthesia and pass of nitrous.  He handled it surprisingly well!

I learned a lot I didn't know yet about giving injections:
One thing I learned is:  touching anything with the needle while in the path to the site of injection is contamination.

February 1, 2011

Still need a mockboard AND a board pt... :S

Today I treated a class V and a IV!!! Love treating IV's.  Things went really well and I felt like I was really helping the patient control the disease and increase her overall health.  That's my favorite thing about cleaning severe periodontally-involved patients:  I feel like I'm really doing some good!  Hopefully I'll be able to work in a periodontist's office or at least a office with a population of perio patients!  That is if I pass boards...so sick of studying and stressing.

January 25, 2011

Mockboards...
Rocked em!
My patient had heavy, heavy deposit and I only missed one spot so received a 94 on my exam. Hopefully this means I have improved and refined my skills from last semester where I received a 74 on the first mockboard.  I also really felt great about my speed and exploring skills.  Things just went so well!!! Hopefully this is how the real boards will go...more stress to come...