One Semester Down!!!

     I have survived the first semester of the dental hygiene program!  (At least if I make it through this week)  Yesterday morning I had my practical exam in radiology.  It was pretty quick and easy.  The instructors had four scenarios and I had to decide what kind of x-rays to take and how many for each one and then take the x-rays.  I'm glad I had the experience of working in a dental office for three years because it probably would have been a pretty challenging and tough exam otherwise. 
     In clinic we split into three groups and talked about emergency procedures in the clinic, Clinic Assistant duties, and had a general overview of the semester and what is coming up in the next semester.  After we finished everything they told us that we didn't have to come to clinic on Wednesday.  Hooray!
     Now I need to work on getting my patients for January.  I'm kind of stressing out about that detail.  Help me out please if you are reading this and not in the hygiene program.  :)

My First Patient

     Today was my first real patient day in clinic.  It was so much fun.  All my hard work throughout the semester paid off.  I love doing what I have learned.  Want to know what the best part is?...We both survived!!!  I really wasn't too nervous, I was just so excited to get started. 
     One of the requirements today was to take 4 bitewing x-rays to get credit for radiology.  No big deal...except when there is 13 other people who also need to take x-rays and there are only 4 rooms available to take the x-rays in.  I was one of the last few people who signed up for x-rays so I had plenty of time to go over the health history, take vital signs, do an extra/intra oral exam and get my oral diagnosis done.  I had an instructor come over and do my OD check but before I could move on to the oral hygiene instruction portion of the appointment I had to take David's x-rays.  I had to wait almost 30 minutes before I could get my x-rays so I just sat there.  I did get some of my information transfered from my laminated forms to the paper chart during that time.  I even got a lower score for use of time...that frustrated me because they wouldn't let me go take my x-rays even though 2 of the rooms were open, but the others girls weren't ready to take their patient's x-rays.  GRRR. 
     Finally it was my turn to get x-rays on my patient.  YEA.  I wanted to get them done quickly because there was still one more girl waiting to take her x-rays and we only had about 45 minutes left before we had to walk our patient out.  I had David sit in the chair and I got started.  I took one x-ray and was about ready to take the second x-ray when Instructor Vining walked by my room.  I forgot to put the lead apron on David!  Luckily he was cool about it and just reminded me to put the vest on, although he did tease me a bit but thats ok, I deserved it.  Total blonde moment right there.  I finished with the x-rays and developed them.  I had to retake two of them which was a great experience because Instructor Vining gave me some good tips on making sure everything is lined up right. 
     Once that was all done I had 30 minutes left.  I completed the OHI and walked David up front to check out.  I was really hoping to be able to scale one quadrant today but because of the hold-up on x-rays I wasn't able to.  Oh well, David agreed to come back in January for me to finish everything up.  All-in-all today was a great experience.  I am super excited to start seeing more patients, I'm just nervous because I have to find all of the patients.  Please help me out!!!

One Day Closer to RDH

     This morning I was able to be the hygienist all day again.  Once again my patient was great.  I placed a sealant way back on a wisdom tooth and scaled three quadrants.  I even learned how to use the ultrasonic scaler.  I love that thing!  So easy to use and it gets everything off so easily.  The ultrasonic scaler will be my best friend. 
     I love being able to see patients during clinic and I am so excited to be able to work on David on Monday.  Next semester I will be able to work on a patient every Monday and Wednesday.  I'm so excited to work on patients but I'm nervous because I have to find all those patients.  Anyone reading this blog that isn't in the dental hygiene program please come and let me clean your teeth!  :)

Whitnee the Hygienist!

     Today I was able to be the hygienist all afternoon.  It was so much fun.  Madi was an excellent patient.  I was kind of nervous and had a little bit of anxiety because I had to remember everything that we have learned all semester but it wasn't as hard to remember everything as I thought it would be.  I was super nervous for probing but it was so much fun.  I think that was my favorite part of the appointment.  I could totally feel the bottom of the pocket and I didn't even hurt Madi.  I even had time to scale one quadrant.  The scaling was a little rough today, it just felt like I wasn't quite doing it right but I didn't leave any deposit...of course Madi didn't really have any calculus in the first place. But I did it. I can't wait till I can scale a mouth with lots and lots of calculus. 
     Wednesday I get to be the hygienist again and finish all the scaling and polishing.  Then next Monday will be my first official non-classmate patient.  David is so excited.  :)  I just can't get over how much fun I had today.  I have made the right decision on my career.  I love it!!!

A Clean Mouth

     Today in clinic I was the patient again.  Madi finished everything up today.  I even have one new sealant to keep my tooth healthy and sugar bug free!  Monday I get to be the hygienist all day!  I'm excited.  I need to spend the weekend reviewing everything so I don't forget any steps.

Hooper Health Fair

     Yesterday I forgot to blog about my experience in clinic...basically I just relaxed in the dental chair for three hours and was a great patient.  Thats about it. 
     A few weeks ago I signed up for a health fair that was going to be in Hooper for this afternoon.  There was only one senior that was signed up for it and only one other junior as of last night when I left school.  I was pretty excited about that because I was thinking I was really going to be able to practice my OHI skills and giving extra/intra oral exams.  Well in the two hours that I was at the health fair only four adults came to our table and I was only able to perform one of those exams.  Oh well, it was good to listen to the senior and how he gave OHI instructions to the patients and to see how thorough he was with his intra oral exams. 

Sharpening

     Today in clinic we learned how to sharpen our instruments.  It's pretty easy peesy.  After that we took turns being patient or operator and passing off our air powder polishing PE and our flouride PE.  I also had to redue my dental screening PE because I failed it last week.  I think that failing that one was a benefit to me because now I better understand how to chart.  That was pretty much it for the day.  This morning went a lot better than Monday...thank goodness!!!

First Bad Clinic Day

     Today in clinic was by far the worst day I have had in clinic this semester.  I had a great morning in radiology lab but this afternoon in clinic just wasn't going for me.  First of all I feel like I am kind of lost in everything that I should know/do because I feel like the instructors never come over and help me, even if I go find them and ask them for help.  Today in clinic we were learning how to do sealants and we also needed to pass off the selective polishing PE.  I had heard that some of the girls in the morning clinic passed off the air powder polisher PE so I also wanted to get that one done.  So my patient was the one that was used by the instructor to deomonstrate to the class how to do sealants.  She had me write down all the areas in my patient's mouth that could be sealed.  That part of the procedure was done for me, all I had to do was pick the teeth that I wanted to seal and then treatment plan them in the computer.  Sounds easy enough right...NO!  I couldn't get the stupid treatment planner to work on the computer and I wasted about 10 minutes just waiting for an instructor to come over and see what was going on.  I was told I could get to work and the instructors would figure out what was going on. 
     I placed two sealants with little difficulty except that I had too much in one of them and I had a hard time getting it shaved down to a comfortable height for my patient.  The instructor finally came over to help me and guess what?...the sealant popped off!  Which is fine because that means I didn't do it right and thats a good learning experience for me.  So the instructor stood and watched me, which I was so grateful for.  I got the sealant redone and adjusted again. 
     After the sealants were done someone asked the instructor what time we were supposed to switch.  Of course it was in about ten minutes and I still had a PE that i needed to pass off.  The instructor went to another girl to pass off her PE and told me to practice with the air powder polisher while she passed off this girls PE.  That was just fine...until I wasted about 10 minutes trying to get my air powder polisher to work.  Stupid thing!!!  Once the instructors got it working it was time to switch and I still needed to pass off my PE.  So my instructor told me to pass off my selective polishing PE today and asked me if I was ready.  I was, with the exception of one thing that I had to get off of my counter that is right next to me.  When I turned around to start on my PE she was gone.  GRRR.  I had to go ask her again to come over so I could pass off my PE.  Finally I was able to get that passed off. 
     After all this we switched and it was my turn to be the patient.  Of course while I was in the chair being patient, the operator had about as much difficulty and frustration as I did.  I didn't leave school today until 5:15 and clinic is supposed to be done by 4:30.  I'm just glad school is done for the day.  At least I survived.

Sand Blasting Yuck!!!

     This morning in clinic we had the great opportunity to use the Air Powder Polisher.  I hate it!  I will use it as little as possible because it is nasty.  The powder that you put inside the machine is made from Sodium Bicarbonate and it tastes so nasty.  It's not too bad to be the operator using the machine but the patient has that nasty, salty taste from the powder.  I was trying not to gag it was so bad, and I'm not an easy gagger.  Plus, if you are the patient you get the salt all over your face and it just goes everywhere and starts to burn your lips and face if you don't get it wiped off soon.  Luckily we had lovely hair barriers that look like shower caps to wear over our hair so we didn't get the powder all over our hair.  I'm glad that experience is over.  Now I have to prepare myself to be the patient for someone to pass off the Air Powder Polishing PE. 

Practice Day

     This morning in radiology we took occlusal films.  They are pretty easy.  After we took the occlusal films we watched a super boring movie about NOMAD.  NOMAD is a portable x-ray device.  We only took one film with NOMAD this morning so I'm not so sure if I like it our not.  It seems harder to get the angulation and positions lined up and stable. 
     In clinic we had another day of practice and passing off PEs.  I was able to practice getting Plaque Free Index and instrumenting which was very nice to get more practice on those two things.  I passed off intraoral camera and Orar Hygiene Instruction PEs today.  It will be interesting to explain oral hygiene to a real patient.  Especially patients who speak Spanish. 

Patient All Morning

     This morning I was the patient all morning.  It is very tiring to lay in the chair for 2 1/2 hours and try not to fall asleep.  A couple times I found myself dozing off and my mouth closing.  I was able to pass off Eaglesoft Treatment Plan PE and Universal Instrumnentation PE.  I'm glad I don't have to do them Monday. 

Intra-Oral Camera and Practice Day

     Today in clinic we learned how to use the intra-oral camera and then we put amost everything that we have learned this semester together.  It was challenging to remember everything that I have learned earlier because there is so much to remember.  For the most part it went pretty well.  We didn't switch half way through clinic today so I was the operator for the whole 3 hours. 
     I started out by going over my patient's health history and taking vital signs.  Next was the extra/intra oral exam and the oral diagnosis.  We were supossed to get all the way through OHI (oral hygiene instruction) today but I wasn't able to get that far.  We have to stop and get signatures at certain points of the appointment and with only 3 instructors for 7 or 8 people I had to just wait to get my signatures before I could move on.
     I was able to pass off my probing PE today which is a big relief.  Instructor Demmings helped me out a lot today in understanding the correct way to probe.  Hopefully I can remember the tips that she gave me and continue to improve my probing.  I was also able to pass off anterior scaling and adaptation and angulation PEs.  It feels so good to have those 3 PEs passed off.
     Now off to studying...I have so much to do this week.  Multiple tests, assignments due, and requirements for Young Womens.  I hope I can make it! 

Restorations

     Today in clinic we went over how to label restorations and caries.  With my patient in the chair I looked at all her teeth for any restorations she had.  She only had a few sealants which is good for her but I didn't get the opportunity to chart a lot.  Thats ok...the day will come.  That was pretty easy-peesy so I had about 45 minutes just to practice.  I was so grateful for that time.  I practiced scaling anterior and posterior teeth and I feel a lot more comfortable with it now.  I almost got all of my patient's mouth clean.  She did have some tartar on the lower lingual anterior so I had practice removing that.  So much fun to see it all come off. 
     The past few days I have been really wondering if I am going into the right profession.  I was so frustrated because I've wanted to be a hygienist since I was five and now that I am in the program I was starting to wonder.  After practicing this morning it was reconfirmed to me that this is what I should do and I love it. 

Plaque!!!

     Today in clinic was super fun.  We worked on Oral Hygiene Instruction.  So...in order to do that we got to use disclosing solution on our "patient."  Then we figured out their Plaque Free Index Score.  My score for plaque free areas was A LOT lower than I thought it would be. (A low score is not good).  I blame the fact that I didn't floss last night and the fact that I didn't get to brush my teeth after lunch.  Oh well, it was interesting to see.  The disclosing solution turns your mouth a dark bluish/purple and then turns pink where there is plaque.  I want to figure out what I could be for Halloween and use the disclosing solution to turn my mouth blue.  I wanted a picture of it but I forgot to take my camera to clinic today. 
     After we figured out the PFI Score we taught them how to brush properly to remove the plaque that they miss.  I was surprised at how long it really takes to fully remove plaque from your entire mouth.  An eye opener to me.  I will be brushing my teeth better and longer from now on.  After brushing we taught our patient how to floss and remove any remaining plaque that way.  Then...we switched.  Pretty exciting.  :)
     In radiology lab this morning we had 45 minutes to take a full mouth series of x-rays.  I finished in 30 minutes.  Not all my x-rays were perfect but they were pretty good.  I keep getting stuck with Dexter #2 and his mouth is no bueno.  He has a lot of cool diagnosable things in his mouth but to get good x-rays on him in some areas seems almost impossible.  Next time I call another Dexter!!! 

Posterior Scaling

     This morning we learned how to scale posterior teeth.  Soooo much fun to remove calculus and deposit!  I am loving being able to work in the mouth.  I also practiced probing a little bit today.  It's coming a little bit easier but it would be helpful if our new probes would come in so I could practice at home.

X-rays and Scaling

     Today in radiology lab we passed off the Mounting PE and the Bitewing PE.  I was able to mount a full mouth series (thats 16 x-rays) in one minute seventeen seconds!  After that I passed off the Bitewing PE.  Easy-cheesy.  I am getting better at getting open contacts and the right positioning.  Yea! 
     In clinic this afternoon we learned how to scale anterior teeth.  So much fun!  I thought it would be scary but it's not too bad.  I really enjoyed practicing it on my real life patient and on Gilbert (Gilbert is my typodont for clinic, I need to take my camera with me and get a picture of him).  Very handsome dude.  :)  My shoulders and neck are really sore tonight though.  I was way too tense while practicing scaling.  Hopefully by Wednesday morning my shoulders and neck will be in tip-top working condition.   

Practice Day!

     Today in clinic we had a practice day.  It was so fabulous.  I was able to practice using the explorer and probing again.  It came much easier today than it did the other day.  Today we also went through all our instruments and learned what they are for and what areas of the mouth to use them in.
     All-in-all it was a great clinic day. 

Explorer

     Today in radiology we took 1 half mouth series on the Schick sensor and 1 half mouth series using Scan-X and we also passed off two PEs.  My x-rays were really quite good today.  I was so proud of myself.  I think that they were better today because I took a little bit more time to make sure everything was lined up and in the right spot.  I didn't have anyone waiting and watching me to have their turn after me so I was able to take a little more time and understand the concepts that we are supposed to use for x-rays.
     In clinic this afternoon we learned how to use our explorer to check subgingivally for calculus and any other irregularities.  I was so nervous for clinic today after I read the module and the PE that we were going to work on.  The PE said to go subgingivally and walk the explorer around the tooth and reach into the col.  YIKES!  It really wasn't that bad though once we started doing it.  Luckily we had 45 minutes to just practice on our typodont before we tried it on each other.  I was also able to work on my positioning and fulcrums today so I feel so much better about those two topics.  Of course they still need practice but at least I'm feeling better about them.
     After our 45 minutes of practicing on the typodont was up we set up our operatories to work on each other.  I was the operator first and I'm not going to lie, my hands were shaking a bit.  Tori was great at letting me know what felt fine and what hurt.  After I had 45 minutes to practice on Tori we switched and she had 45 minutes to practice on me.  She did a great job.  I'm glad that we get to work on each other before we work on patients so that we know what it feels like.
     I also passed off the extra-oral exam and mirror fulcrum PE today.  Yay!!! 

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

     So in the last week I have taken 5 tests!  Last night I took the last one. I am proud to say I have gotten 92% and higher on all five of the tests!  Wahoo!!   It is so relieving to have them done.  Now I have a week break before I have two more tests.  Today after clinic I decided I needed a break from studying and I haven't done anything.  It has been so nice. 
     This morning in clinic we actually got to perio probe on another student.  Talk about nerve racking.  Going into someone's mouth with a sharp, pointy object not knowing exactly what to do with it.  When I was laying in the chair being the patient my partner did awesome.  She didn't hurt me at all.  When it was my turn to probe I kept hurting my patient.  I felt so bad.  Then Professor Costley came over and started looking at my probe and some of the other girl's probes and found out that the tips were not rounded like they are suppossed to be but instead they were flat.  After clinic Professor Costley had us package our probes for sterilization and she said she would call the company and hopefully get those probes sent back and get ones with rounded ends.  I hoep we can get other ones because I don't want to hurt all my patients with a flat ended probe. 
     I passed off the vital signs PE today.  No sweat.  It is so cool taking blood pressure.  Not nearly as difficult as I always thought it would be.  I was hoping to be able to pass off the extra-oral exam PE today but we didn't have time.  The PEs that I need to pass off are stacking up.  Hopefully soon we will have extra time during clinic so we can all get caught back up and not have so many PEs that need to be passed off. 

One Long Day

     Today has been a long day and I still have tons of things that I need to get done today.  In radiology lab this morning the instructor talked to us about infection control and showed us everything that we need to barrier before we bring a patient into the room to take x-rays.  I thought I was going to pass out.  I don't know what was wrong but just standing there listening was killing me.  Luckily the passing out feeling passed I felt fine and was able to complete the rest of the activities for lab.  Those Dexter's have some messed up teeth.  I can't get the contacts open in the premolar shots no matter how hard I try. 
     In clinic today we learned how to perform an intra-oral exam and what to look for and we also learned instrument grasp and fulcrums.  Getting the right fulcrum and instrument grasp and positioning and keeping good posture all at the same time is challenging.  I hope it starts coming more naturally soon!  I was able to pass off the health history PE today as well.  I'm glad that PE is done.  Confusing!  I hope I passed.  I have 5 PEs that I need to get passed off now.  Too many.
     Now that clinic is over I have to go review the information for test 1 in dental hygiene class and take the test.  I hope I do well.  I feel pretty good about it.  Then I get to go home and study for a test that I have in anatomy lab tomorrow morning.  It's going to be a long night.  I'm already ready to go to bed and it's only 4:30 in the afternoon.  Wish me luck with everything!

Extra Oral Exam and the Mirror

     Today I learned how to perform an extra oral exam.  It was quite fun and very enjoyable when I was the one being practiced on.  A mini face and neck massage.  Loved it!!!  I also was able to practice using the mirror and probe or explorer inside someone's mouth.  It's hard to use the mirror and try to direct a sharp pointy object to someone's tooth.  Thanks Tori for being such a great sport.  Sorry about the poking in the lips and gums.  For anyone reading this that will be a patient for me next semester I promise to be better at controling the sharp instruments by then.  Thats why the students get to practice on each other first!  :)
     After all this we were paired up with someone else in our clinic session that we have never worked on before and we went over everything starting with health history to the extra oral exam.  It was fun to put it all together and work through it all to that point.  MeChel, it was super fun to work with you for a while!

Vital Signs and X-rays

     This morning in radiology lab we took more x-rays.  This time using paralelling and bisecting technique.  My x-rays today were much better than two weeks ago.  Today I told myself to just relax and not worry about it so much.  I think that helped alot.  Two weeks ago I was so worried about having good x-rays that I had really bad x-rays.  We took half of a full mouth series.  Thats 10 x-rays!  It's going to be crazy when I have to do a full mouth and take 20 x-rays, and when they are on a patient, they are double film packets.  That means I will develop 40 films and mount them all.  Whoa...talk about time consuming. 
     In clinic today we went over how to take vital signs; blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiratory rate.  Fun fun stuff.  I figured out how to turn my stethoscope on so I can actually hear my patient's heart beat below the antecubital space.  Last Wednesday I was really frustrated because I couldn't hear their heart beat, but as long as it is turned on it will work.  Who knew?  We also did more practicing in writing in patient's charts.  I feel better about that now. 
     I was also able to pass of the equipment maintenance PE and the patient positioning PE.  Clinic is getting more and more involved and I have to work to know the stuff.  I'm lovin it!!!

Health Histories

     Today was another clinic day.  After a week of no clinic I felt lost.  I'm afraid to even think of how I will feel after Christmas break or especially summer break.  I hope I'm not the only one that feels that way. 
     This morning I learned how to go over a patient's health history and what I need to write in the treatment record.  I can see why just going through the health history with some patients could take the whole three hour appointment.  For each medication that the patient is on I have to look up the drug in my drug reference book, write down the dosage that the patient takes, how long the patient has taken that medication, and any oral adverse reactions that could occur.  So, if I get a patient that is taking a lot of medications it could take a while to do all of these steps.  Hopefully before most of my patients come in next semester I will be able to talk to them on the phone a few days before their appointment and get a list of their medications so I can have most of this information ready.
     I was done with clinic/school today at 11:30 and headed home!  I love my Wednesday schedule.  I didn't have to work today so I looked forward to being able to catch up on some studying.  When I got home I found the house in more of a mess than I thought it was so of course I had to clean things up.  I didn't get as much studying done earlier today as I was planning on but at least I don't feel like I'm living in a pig pen now.  I can't study when I know that there are dishes, laundry, and vacuuming that needs to be done so it's just better for me to hurry and get that stuff done then start my studying.  Which I better get to now, since it is almost time to go to bed. 

Towards Me or Away from Me?

     Today in clinic we learned what I felt to be a very confusing concept at the beginning but by the end I understood it pretty well.  I am taking my typodont home with me this weekend to practice so I don't forget everything that I think I understand now. 
     We learned the proper positions to sit in our chair while working on patients and how to keep the correct posture while cleaning each area of the patient's mouth.  I'm a little sore now from sitting that way today because I'm not used to sitting straight up all the time.  Eventually this good posture will pay off because I won't have neck and back problems during my dental hygiene career. 
     We learned to visualize which surface of the teeth are towards me or away from me and decide if I need to be at the 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 o'clock position.  I also started to figure out how to use my mirror and an instrument in my hands.  This may sound like it would be pretty easy but I would like you to try it.  Not so easy!  Instructor Hafen was great with my pod and really helped us to understand the concept and know which positions to place the patient and ourselves for optimal viewing of the patient's mouth while not compromising our posture. 
     I also passed off two PEs today!  Now I am way ahead of the due dates for PEs.  Wahoo!  Today was a very fun day in clinic.  I am so glad we are starting to learn more complex things in clinic.  In a matter of just a few weeks I will go from learning how to wash my hands properly to cleaning peoples teeth!  I can't wait. 

First Day Practicing Skills

     I walked into radiology lab this morning and sat down thinking that I was all prepared for the day and that the time that I spent last week and weekend organizing all my stuff had hopefully helped.  Well no...I opened my backpack to get out my radiology binder and guess what I found?  Not my radiology binder!  NO!!!  I had spent the weekend printing all the papers and power points that I would need for radiology and now I didn't have them and we were going to be going over power points.  Oh well...I survived. 
     After we talked about the material for the day we headed to the radiology lab to take x-rays on DEXTER (a fake head with real human teeth in the mouth).  We took 4 horizontal bitewings and 4 vertical bitewings.  At Dr. Craven's office I was so good at taking x-rays.  I almost always had open contacts, the film was in the exact right position in the patients mouth and everything was good.  Well not here.  I knew this would happen because I have had hygienists tell me that you will be so good at taking x-rays and then you go to school and you take the worst x-rays ever.  Something to work on and improve on.  I think it was also hard to take good x-rays on a fake patient compared to a real living human being patient. 
     After radiology was over I had a fabulous lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with yogurt and chips and fruit punch Kool-Aid.  YUM YUM!!!  After lunch I headed to clinic for a fabulous afternoon.
     Today was the first day I was able to work on another student in the dental hygiene program during clinic time.  We practiced the air/water syringe with the HVE, saliva ejector, and the Blue Boa.  I had a great patient!  Tori was very clam and patient with me as I kept suctioning up her cheek and her tongue with the HVE.  Thanks Tori, for teaching me a better way to use the HVE.  I have pretty much always hated using the HVE because I would always suck the patients cheek or tongue into it and that IS NOT fun for the patient.  Now I know a few secrets and tips about using the HVE effectively and hopefully I can make it my friend because I will definitely need to use it during procedures on patients.
     I was also able to pass off my Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Progress Evaluation.  Yea!  My goal is to keep ahead on the PEs and pass them off early each time so I don't have to stress about failing them on the day they are due and missing those points.
     

One Week Down

     I made it through my first week of the dental hygiene program.  Phew!!!  I am overwhelmed and kind of confused.  I am already behind in some of my classes and I hope to be able to catch up this weekend.  I have a test that is due this weekend also so I am planning on taking it tomorrow morning and getting it out of the way so I can study the other material that I need to learn. 
     Starting a new job the first week of school doesn't help in the stress level and feelings of being overwhelmed either.  I started working at Office Depot Thursday afternoon doing training as a cashier.  I don't know if I am going to be able to work at Office Depot and keep up with my school work.  The hours that they schedule for are kind of hard to work with because of my school schedule and I think the manager is going to schedule me for more hours than I want to work.  I will try it out for a couple of weeks and see how things go. 
     Now on to a weekend full of studying and cramming my brain full of information that I have to remember forever.  Thats one thing that is hard about the dental hygiene program...It's not like your general courses where once you take each test you can just forget the information.  I have to remember all the information for two years for boards and the rest of my life while I practice dental hygiene.  I can do it...I can do it...I can do it. 

The Blue Boa

     Today was pretty fun in clinic.  We were able to hook our typodont to our chair and practice using the suctions and the air/water syringe and the Blue Boa.  It was fun to be able to do something instead of just standing around listening to talking.  The Blue Boa is a pretty cool invention.
     What is the Blue Boa you might ask...It is a nifty suction that you rest inside the patients' cheek so your hand is free.  Since you aren't holding the suction you have both hands free to hold your mirror and the ultrasonic scaler.  Way cool.  It helps to save your back from having back problems because you can keep the correct posture.  I hope that I can get used to the way it works and use it a lot.   

Day #2-Bad Day

     Today was a bad day at school!  It seemed like everything was not going right for me.  I got to school at about 7:45 this morning so I could get a parking spot and get a few things done around campus before my 9:00 class started.  The first thing I went to go do was return two books at the bookstore that I didn't need.  I got up to the window, took my books out of the bag and gave the girl my receipt.  She looked at the receipt for a minute and handed it back saying "Um, I don't think this is the right receipt."  Dang it!  It was my receipt that I paid my SADHA fees.  I was so mad that I didn't check my receipt last night when I was getting everything ready and that I had carried this bag of books all the way across campus and I still had to keep carrying them around.  Grrrr.
     Next, I went to the Student Health Center to get my blood test results for the Titer Hepatitis B.  The nurse brought me back to her office and told me that my results came back none responsive to the 3 vaccinations I have already had and none immune to Hepatitis B.  I knew this would happen to me.  She told me she was going to talk to the lab that got the results and let me know what I needed to do next but I haven't heard back from her yet. 
     Next, I went to print out a zillion papers that I need for my classes and I couldn't get the computer to work right and open the documents.  I felt like crying.  I kept telling myself, I hope this isn't how the rest of my day goes. 
     I had to get to my anatomy class so I left the computer lab with only a few of the papers that I needed printed.  Class went well and was fun and interesting.  I thought that my two classes that I had today were back to back but I then found out that I had an hour break between the two.  I hadn't brought lunch since I didn't think we were going to have time to eat lunch so I headed back to the computer lab to print more papers.  Again, the computer wasn't working right and I was only able to  print a few of the things I needed. 
     When I got back to my dental hygiene class I found out that I was supposed to have completed the first two assignments and that we were going to have a quiz on the material that we covered in the homework.  NOOOO!!!  I only had about 10 minutes before class started, not enough time to cover everything that was in the modules.  Class started and she handed out the quiz, it actually wasn't too bad for not reading any of the material.  After the quiz she went through it and I did suprisingly well.  I was pretty pround of myself.  Then she announced that she was going to give us all a 100% on this first quiz.  Yea!!! 
     I need to find a way to keep everything organized and know when things are due so this doesn't happen again. 

First Day of the Dental Hygiene Program

     So I have survived my first day in the dental hygiene program!!!  I am tired but I made it.  This morning I had my radiology class for 4 hours.  We went over some basic information and safety and then got familiar with the rooms where we will take x-rays.  After radiology I had a break for lunch.  It was fun to sit and talk to some of the other girls in the program and get to know them better.  After lunch I went to my first clinic session.  While in clinic I got familiar with the clinic area and I got my very own dental unit area where I will practice skills and work on patients.  This is finally real!  I can't wait to start working on patients but I think we don't get the opportunity to do that until second semester.  I got a drawer and a storage box to keep all my instruments in for the semester and learned how to use the scheduling program.  Fun stuff...I'm glad the first day is over.  I'm still alive!  I hope the rest of the semester goes smoothly.    

First Post

I have created my dental hygiene blog!!!