9/30/09

Today was a more layed back day. We really needed one of these after the high stress levels with probing and exploring. We started to learn the instruments dental hygienist used. We learned the terminal shank, functional shank, and the working end. We went over the primary use of each instrument and if to use it subgingivally or supragingivally. I though it was interesting that they could be a rounded toe or a pointed tip. I had no idea and just thought they were all pointed. I will have to definitly review these instruments and the functions of each. I still need to practice probing and using my explorer. I passed off instrument fulcruming and intraoral exam PE's. Overall, today was good and was nice to catch up on everthing!

9/28/09

Wow it has been a busy and kind of stressful day. I'm glad that we finally get to use the instruments, but hope to become better at using indirect vision. We used our explorers today. It is alot harder then it looks. Dental Hygienist just make everything look so easy! I started to get the hang of the procedure for using the explorer. I need to work on putting my pinky in and a lighter grasp. I know that the lighter grasp will make it alot easier to feel calculus. My goal is to practice using both the probe and explorer effectively. I will practice on the typodont a little, and then on my lucky husband! I passed off the extra-oral exam and mirror fulcruming PEs. The extra-oral exam was a great way to end the day!

9/23/09

Today was an exciting day! We actually got to probe each others teeth. As always its a lot harder then it looks. We had a full hour to practice on each other so we got a lot of practice. The hardest part for me was being able to see the probe and maintaining my posture. The positioning of the probe started coming to me after awhile. I tried out some loupes and my posture was so much better, and I could actually see the probe marks. I'm seriously thinking of getting myself a pair. They are expensive, but I'm sure they are well worth the money. Overall, I had a fun day and hope I didn't hurt Ashley too much! I hope that with practice it can become easier for me.

9/21/09

Today we stayed very busy learning how to do intraoral exams, fulcruming with an instrument, and passing off our health history PE. There were quite a few things I never recognized in the mouth such as the Parotid Papilla and Stensen's duct. I hope to learn all of these soon. Fulcruming with two instruments is a lot harder then it looks. I can't wait until it becomes natural. I know I need to work on using indirect vision and concentrate on my posture. My goal this week is to practice vital signs a little more and to pass that off on wednesday. I'm excited to start probing this coming wednesday. Hope Ashley is excited too:)

9/16/09

Wow today was an exciting day. We actually got to use our dental mirror and learned to fulcrum. Dental Hygienist make it look so easy! Now I understand why dental hygienist can have bad posture. It was very hard to hold the mirror in my nondominant hand and fulcrum. I'm sure that the mirror will become my best friend when I get the hang of indirect vision. It will be very useful when it comes to posture. We also got to do extra-oral exams on each other. I got like four great massages, it was a great way to start out the day:) It was nice going to Midtown Clinic because I got a headstart on these. I will definitly need to work on using my mirror and good posture, because I still need to add an instrument in. My goal for this week is to get a headstart on indirect vision. I could try using the mirror at work while polishing. One of the dental hygienist I work with told me to try that out. So I think I will give it a try!

9/14/09

Today in clinic we learned to take vitals on each other and continued to practice doing health histories. It was a good refresher to take blood pressure. I have not taken one since highschool. I found that most of the students were around the normal ranges. I second guessed myself a couple times, and I think that with practice I will have more confidence in my readings. I'm sure my family is going to love me practicing on them all weekend. I think it is very useful doing a health history every once in a while to keep us up to speed when we really have to do one on our pts. I would like to go over the conditions that premedication is needed a little more. It sounds like it is always changing so I would like to get updated on that. I passed off my postioning PE. I think it will be very useful once we get started on the typodont or on real patients. Overall, today was a good productive day!

9/9/09

In clinic we learned all about the health history forms and filling it out correctly. This is a legal form and it is very important that we don't make any mistakes on it. I think it is great that we go into so much depth on each persons health history. Some patients don't think that a knee joint replacement would have anything to do with going to the dentist and may find it unecessary to tell. At Weber State we are more aware of the pts. health by having them fill out the questionare and doing an interview. We would never miss that important medical alert. I also think it is a great idea to stamp the pts. chart and putting medical alerts in the corner of the health history. This will be very useful when seeing the pt. for a second time. It was very helpful to fill out the health history of our pod partner, and I think the case study will be good practice. I hope to learn all the abbreviations and the technical terms we should be using as hygienist. I'm really slow at doing health histories now, but I'm sure with studying and practice I will get the hang of it. I'm sure I will be uncomfortable the first time I actually have to interview a patient and look up medications. I think acting this out in class will be very good for us as students.

9/2/09

Today in clinic we learned of the musculoskeletal disorders seen in dental healthcare providers. We talked about the things we could do to prevent these from happening. My goal is to start using these methods right from the beginning so that it can become habit. I work in an office where a few of the dental hygienist are complaining that they are soar. I don't want to be one of them! We also talked about the four clock positions. I think they will be very helpful once we start working on real patients all day long. We talked about charting afterwards, and what type of things we should make note of. It is important to remember if the pt. has an artificial heart valve they will need to premed. Making phone calls to the pts. physician may be required. Charting seems a little confusing to me right now. I hope to pick up on all the papers needed in the chart and what information should be recorded.