Calculus, Calculus, and More Calculus

     This afternoon in clinic I had a patient return to finish the last half of her mouth.  She was a great patient and helpful but I'm glad I'm finished with her for a few months.  When she came back in for her second appointment her brushing and flossing habits had improved a lot and I was excited to see more improvement this appointment but was disappointed when she opened her mouth.  There was plaque all over the right side of her mouth which I had just cleaned a week and a half ago.  I reviewed proper brushing and flossing and went to work on removing all the calculus on the left side of her mouth.  She had so much calculus on the lower anteriors.  It was awesome to get it off because it was coming off in big chunks.  It looked so much better once I had gotten all the calculus off, now if she will just brush and floss properly her mouth can heal. 
     I need to get a little more faster and confident in my scaling technique.  I guess that will come with practice and time.  I think I spent about an hour and a half on just five or six anterior teeth.  My instructor came over and helped me with the ultrasonic and hand instruments a little bit today.  Scaling is starting to get a little bit easier with all the tips and tricks that the instructors are giving me. 
     This morning I was the clinic assistant.  It was fun to see how everything is run behind the scenes.  I was able to restock some supplies, make new charts, check patients in and out, and take payments.  All-in-all I would have to say that it went pretty smoothly for my first time being a clinic assistant.  I was kind of worried about all the things that are on the list to do while you are CA but when I just worked at one or two things at a time it wasn't too bad. 
     For my patient Wednesday morning I'm thnking she will be a class 1B.  She is a new patient in the clinic and I have a goal to get x-rays, OD, and scale at least one quadrant in the appointment time.  If she is a 1B it will be nice to have an easier patient after all the class 2s and 3s I have had this month.