Pictures

Class Picture

Fall 2011

First day practicing local anesthesia.  This day was so much fun.  Thanks for being my patient Heather.

Class Picture

April 2, 2012

Excellence In Service Luncheon

Thursday April 5, 2012

Emily Petersn, Whitnee, Kayla Whitney, Jodie Story, and Heather Tau'a

Before the Welcome Event for the new Junior Class

April 9, 2012

April 9, 2012

Pregnant Girls

April 9, 2012

Tanya Stephens, Julie Barneck, Michelle Bott, Marianne Moody, Kelsey Romph, and Whitnee

Graduation!

     On Friday April 20, 2012 I graduated from Weber State University's Dental Hygiene Program.  I can't believe the two years of the program are over.  It all went so fast.  I had great professors who prepared me to work in a dental office as a dental hygienist.  Now I just get to find a job!  Here are some pictures of the big day. 

Outside the Dee Events Center

The College of Health Professions Graduating Class

The Dean said there were over 900 graduating from the College of Health Professions!

Top: Whitnee, Kayla Whitney, and Adrienne Warner

Bottom: Karlie Nichols, Sam Lindeman, and Ashley Nelson

All Graduated!

David and Whitnee

Thanks for all your support Babe!  I couldn't have made it through the past two years without you.

Riley, Whitnee, Mom and Dad

Thanks for all the support you guys gave me while going to college and especially while I was in the dental hygiene program!



I Can Do Hard Things

     Now that I have completed the dental hygiene program I have learned that I can do really hard things.  The past two years in the dental hygiene program have probably been the hardest years of my life so far.  Some days in clinic I just wanted to give up.  I feel like I had a lot of no-show patients and last minute cancellations but even with all the frustrations of finding patients and having to count on someone who you don't know at all I was able to complete all my requirements both junior and senior year.  I'm grateful that everything works out, just like the instructors always tell us they will. 
     The last month and a half of clinic I really felt like everything clicked for me.  I felt more confident about going out into the real world and practicing dental hygiene in a dental office.  I even started to get really excited to be done with school and move on to a real job.  Now I just have to find that "real job."
     As I have gone through all my stacks of paperwork and power points of all the information we covered in the dental hygiene program, I have realized how much I learned during the past two years.  I know that I don't remeber everything but I feel like I remember the majority of it.  I'm grateful for the great professors that teach dental hygiene at Weber State.  You prepared me so well for the national board exam and for the dental hygine profession. 
     Thanks to all my classmates I was able to make it through everything.  I loved that the Class of 2012 was so united.  We all wanted to help everyone succeed and help everyone in the class feel welcome.  I'm glad it took me four tries to get into the dental hygiene program because I got to go through it all with you.  I will miss all you girls! 
     Graduation is tomorrow and I can't believe it is finally here.  I never thought I would finally be graduated from college.  I think I will miss school a little bit but I'm sure I will be able to find something else to fill my time with.  Thanks for all the memories and I look forward to creating more tomorrow at graduation!   

Requirements DONE!

     After a day of late arrivals and last minute cancellations from my patients I have all my clinical requirements complete!  It feels great.  I just wish that today was my last day in clinic but I have to come Friday since my VA group is short a clinic day.  I really wish it didn't matter I was short a clinic day.  Oh well, once last thing and then GRADUATION! 
     Last night was the Welcome Night for the class of 2014.  It felt so good to be sitting in the auditorium as a senior.  I can't believe that just two short years ago I was there as one of the new people.  I didn't know anyone and felt really awkward.  Last night I was surrounded by 29 other seniors who I have come to love and respect.  After the meeting it was a lot of fun to sit together and eat and just chat.  I love when we are all talking and laughing together.  As excited as I am for graduation and to be done with school, FOR-EV-ER!, I will miss all you girls a TON!!!  Thanks for all the support you gave me and all the memories we made together! 

A Day of Class 3 Patients

     Yesterday was a very tiring day.  I still needed 11 quads of a class 3 patient.  I had 5 quads scheduled yesterday and was planning on just getting as much done as I could.  My day in clinic went differently than I had planned, but it all worked out for the best. 
     At 8:00 I had a class 3 patient coming back that needed to have 2 quads finished.  Michelle ended up coming to clinic to make up for a day. She had a class 3 patient that still had 3 quads that needed to be cleaned.  Michelle only needed one more quad to finish her requirements so she was kind enough to offer the other 2 quads to me.  That really pushed me to finish the 2 quads on my patient so I could hop over to the other chair and finish Michelle's patient.  The timing was B-E-A-utiful!  I was able to finish Michelle's patient, which dropped me down to  needing 7 quads of a class 3.  A little more manageable. 
     Heather had seen a class 3/4 patient last week and was kind enough to reschedule him to come back this week for me.  I wasn't really looking forward to seeing him because she said his calculus was so hard but beggers can't be choosers at this point in the semester.  He ended up cancelling his appointment right before lunch.  I wasn't really too disappointed but slightly stressed about my requirements now. 
     Kayla had a patient coming in at 1:00 that she was pretty sure would be a class 3 and since she already had her requirements she gave me the patient.  When I pulled his chart I noticed that he hadn't been in in about 4 years and they had mentioned in his chart that he was going to have artificial heart valves placed soon.  That means he needed to have pre-med which I found out he didn't know about before the appointment.  I eneded up waiting until 2:00 to receive a physician's consult back and then had to release him because it would be 3:00 before I could even do anything on him. 
     What a waste of an afternoon...not completely.  While I was wondering around waiting for the physician's consult Marilyn called me into the instructors pod and asked if I had seen any class 2 patients during the semester that we could possibly bump their classification to class 3.  I logged into Taleval and started checking.  I found one of my mockboard patients that was classified as a class 2 but was extremely difficult.  I had to bring him in 3 times to finish everything on him.  Marilyn pulled up his x-rays while I went and got his chart.  As soon as she opened the x-rays she said, "He is a class 3!"  She looked at the probe depths and ended up changing his classification to 4 quads of a class 3.  YES!  That meant I only needed 3 more quads of a class 3. 
     My board patient was waiting in the waiting room for his wife so I decided to go out and see if he wanted me to clean the rest of his mouth since I didn't have anything else to do for the next hour and a half.  He agreed.  I brought him back and took the chart to Marilyn to review and sign.  He was classified as a class 2 but she checked his probe depths, recession, and x-rays and changed his classification to a class 3 patient!  It was my lucky day!  I was able to finish 2 quads on him and am planning on bringing him back to finish the last quad.  That means I will have my class 3 requirements finished! 

Feeling More Like a RDH

     I'm really starting to feel more confident with my dental hygiene treatment.  Each week after clinic I'm actually excited to be working in a dental practice in just a few short months (hopefully I will find a job anyway).  I feel like I am getting better at feeling calculus and removing it completely.  When I do miss areas of calculus the instructors stay and help me feel it with the explorer and then give me great tips to get the remaining calculus off.  I'm also learning that I can use instruments in different areas of the mouth than what we learned in first year.  Today I used the Nevi on the premolars and on the line angles of the molars...AMAZING!!!  I felt like I removed so much more of the calculus in those areas.  I can't wait till I will be able to just treat patients and not worry about requirements and who I can and can't see.  Only 3 more clinic sessions and then GRADUATION!  I can't wait. 
 

Clinical Board

      I am so glad boards are over!  I hope that I never have to go through that stress again.  I keep telling my husband that if he wants to move somewhere for work it has to be a state that accepts WREB results.
     I really wasn't too worried about the clinical board.  I felt like I had a patient that had more than 12 solid clicks of calculus and he seemed really dependable.  I found him about 3 weeks before boards and I was able to get in contact with him each week to make sure he was still able to be my patient Saturday morning.  He always told me yes and seemed really excited to get his teeth cleaned.  The Thursday before my boards a Spanish translator came into the classroom and asked if anyone wanted him to call their patients for boards.  I wasn't going to have him call because my patient spoke and understood English pretty good but I figured I might as well have someone who spoke Spanish get in contact with him since boards were only a day away.  The translator texted me a few hours later letting me know my patient would be there for my boards.  That was good to hear but I was still worried about him really showing up on Saturday. 
     Friday night I didn't sleep well at all.  I was laying in bed running through the process of what I was going to do with my patient for boards.  My phone rang at about 7:45 and my heart dropped when I saw the phone number.  It was my board patient.  He told me that he couldn't be there at 11:00 anymore and wanted to meet me at school right then so I could clean his teeth.  I explained to him that this was an important exam and I could only take it at my assigned time.  He still asked me just to clean his teeth earlier and I told him I couldn't because of the time schedule.  I asked him if he could still be there at 11:00 and he told me he would try.  He hung up and I started to panic.  I started trying to remember who had taken their boards on Friday so I could see if there were any back-up patients that I could call.  My patient called me back again and told me he could be there at 12:30 and asked if I could just see someone else at 11:00.  NO, I CAN ONLY SEE YOU AND I NEED YOU TO BE THERE AT 11:00!!!  I stayed relatively calm while I was on the phone with him and I explained again how important this exam was.  He still wouldn't tell me for sure that he would be there at 11:00. 
     By about 8:15 I had sent text messages out to everyone that I could think of that took their board Friday.  I also called the translator and asked him if he would help me out and call my patient again and see if he could get a "Yes, I will be there at 11" or "No, I can't be there at 11" out of him.  The translator called me back and said he had called him twice with no answer but left him a message about the importance of this exam and reminded him that he had been telling me for 3 weeks that he would be there.  He said he would keep calling him throughout the morning and let me know if he heard from him. 
     To make a long story short I got the name of one of the Friday back-ups, had the translator call him, he couldn't come in because of work.  Finally the translator and Ashley's husband was able to get a hold of my patient and he finally told them he would be there at 11:00.  I could calm down a little bit.  I had my husband drive me to school because I was in no condition to be driving.  When I got there my patient was already there waiting for me.  THANK YOU!  The next stressful part was submitting him and having him be accepted.  He was accepted and I got to work cleaning the quadrant.  The two hours flew by!  I felt like his calculus came off pretty easy (I just hope that it realy did and that I didn't leave a ton of calculus behind).  Now I just have to wait about 3 more weeks for the results.

Local Anesthesia Board

     The LA board was the one that I was really nervous about.  I didn't pass either of my injections for the mockboard and I never had a chance to do any injections on patients inbetween mockboards and real boards.  That was a little stressful.  Luckily my husband was a great sport and let me practice the angles on him with a q-tip.  There was no way I was going to get him in the chair with a real needle though.  My dad was more than excited (not) when I asked him to be my patient for the LA board.  He actually had a great attitude about helping me out with it, he even got up at 2:00 in the morning to go to work so he could be there in time for my exam time.  I think that I was a lot more calm having my dad be my patient instead of having a classmate or friend be my patient.       
     I passed on my first chance but not without some difficulties.  I had osseous contact with the IA so I redirected and got to the proper depth and redirected again.  I then had a very positive aspiration.  Withdraw, get a new set-up and start again.  I had osseous contact again but was able to redirect and get to the right depth.  "Oh please, oh please don't get another positive aspiration!"  Success!!!  I deposited until the examiners told me to withdraw.  I felt really good about the IA injection.
     The PSA was what I was the most worried about.  I could not decide which side I would do.  I felt more comfortable with the left side but the instructors and other students are always saying that the right side is so much easier.  I caved into peer pressure and decided to try the right side.  I was having the hardest time getting the right angles and depth.  I kept getting osseous contact and looking back on it I don't think I was high enough in the mucobuccal fold so that was probably my biggest problem.  I finally got to where I felt ok about it, had a negative aspiration, deposited and withdrew.  I really wasn't feeling good about that PSA and was hoping the examiners would come back and ask to see the PSA on the left side.  Luckily they did.  The PSA on the left side was easy breezy.  I was able to get right in with the correct angles, negative aspiration and I felt like it was relatively perfect. 
     The examiners told me I could release my patient and clean up my operatory.  I was also really worried about disassembling my syringes and now I had 4 that I had to do!  I was worried that the needle prop cards would fall into the sharps container which is an automatic fail.  The pressure was on.  Luckily the examiners weren't really even watching me clean up.  WHEW!  I didn't end up having any difficulties though.  The next step was to wait for the results to show up in the basket. 

     I PASSED!!!  I was so happy I didn't have to pay $120 to retake it again and go through the stress.

Clinical Boards Are So Close!

     It's crazy to think that this was my last day in clinic before boards next weekend.  YIKES!  It is finally here.  I can't wait until all the stress of boards is over.  I take my National Written Saturday.  I am so excited to have the written tests done.  I'm getting to the point that I don't know what else to study to prepare so I sure hope I pass. 
     Today in clinic I think I was able to get everything ready for next weekend.  I'm taking all my instruments home with me and bringing all of them to boards.  I think I will feel a lot better if I know that I have all of my instruments in case I need anything.  Now the big stress is hoping my patient shows up, which he is really reliable so I'm trying not to worry about that too much.  The thing that I am worried about is the examiners accepting him.  I keep telling myself to just think happy thoughts and just keep swimming!  We are almost done girls!!!

A Crazy Day in Clinic

     Whoa, what a day!  This morning I was able to finish up my class 4 patient.  She ended up being 30 minutes late but I was able to clean 2 quads and do her tissue evaluation on the left side.  It feels great to have that requirement out of the way.  Now I just need to make sure I have everything entered into the computer correctly and turn the project in.  One step closer to graduation!
     This afternoon I had my board patient scheduled.  I was hoping to be able to clean at least one quad of his mouth today before boards but I ran out of time with everything else I had to do.  I did use the ultrasonic on a few areas and the calculus seemed to come off fairly easy.  I was able to have 2 more instructors check for calculus to make sure he would qualify.  I'm 95% positive that he will qualify.  I took the x-rays that I need on him and after all that it was time to check out.  It feels good to not have the stress of looking for a board patient anymore.  Now I just have the stress of hoping he really will show up for my exam and that the examiners will accept him. 

3 of 3 Complete!

     Tuesday was my last mockboard ever!  Wahoo!!!!  Thanks to Marcy I had a patient.  I had seen and screened quite a few patients that hadn't been to the dentist for years but none of them qualified.  Marcy had a mockboard patient and ended up finding a patient that qualified for mockboards and the board exam last week.  She was kind enough to let me see the first patient that qualified for mockboards.  THANK YOU!  The lady that I saw was really nice.  Her calculus came off fairly easily and she was really cooperative.  I hope I can find a patient like that for boards.  I passed the mockboard exam.  That helps me to have confidence for the board exam in March.  Now I just need to find a patient that qualifies.  Hopefully I can find someone tomorrow at the screenings.  I hope everyone else who doesn't have one can find one too. 

Another Week Down!

     I have survived another week.  This week was a lot less busy than last week was.  The LA mockboard went pretty good on Tuesday.  I didn't pass either of the injections but I received some good feedback on what I can do to improve my technique so that I can pass the clinical LA board.  Tuesday afternoon I saw a patient that was a class 5.  I think he was the hardest class 5 I have ever seen.  He had quite a bit of calculus and plaque build-up that took a lot longer to remove than I thought it would have. 
     Thursday I was at the VA.  I had two really nice patients.  My afternoon patient was a 75 year old gentleman.  He was very nice and LOVED to talk.  Everytime I took my instruments out of his mouth he would start talking again.  I finally learned to just leave the mirror in his mouth if I could.  It took forever to do his probe measurements since I didn't have anyone charting for me and I had to keep taking the instruments out of his mouth to chart.  His favorite thing to talk about was politics.  He had some strong opinions about the democratic party.  It was kind of funny listening to his theories and opinions but I was glad when I was finally finished with him. 
     I have one more week to get ready for the Process of Care board exam.  I will be busy busy studying this week.  I hope I can remember everything!

A Long Week

     I am so glad this week is over.  Class Monday, clinic Tuesday with Young Women's Tuesday night, work Wednesday, Posters at the Capitol Thursday, 2 sealant clinics Friday, and Give Kids a Smile Saturday...all while having a cold.  Not exactly my definition of fun.  But I survived it all. 

A Day of High Classifications

     Clinic this week was great.  My morning patient was a class 4.  She came in last November and I took her x-rays and cleaned one quadrant.  When I took her x-rays I didn't know she was going to be a class 4 and I ended up taking conventional x-rays.  They were some of the worst films I had ever taken.  She wouldn't bite down all the way for the life of me.  Even though the x-rays were pretty much worthless my instructor ended up accepting them.  Because she was my class 4 patient I needed to have digital x-rays to use her for the assignment.  I was dreading taking the x-rays again on her but this time went relatively smoothly.  I told her to bite together with her teeth and she did.  What was your problem last time woman!?  I was just glad they were clinically acceptable this time.  I took intraoral photos and cleaned another quadrant.  I let her go a little early because I didn't think I would have time to finish another quadrant before check-out time.  That was nice though because I was able to enter in her charting to the computer.
     My afternoon patient was a class 3 that I had also started last November.  He was an easy going guy.  I was able to finish his cleaning and pass off 3 PEs.  I missed a lot more areas that I wanted to.  It was discouraging because when I was passing off my PEs with Dr. Hanson she said my angulation and technique was perfect.  When she did the scale check I had missed a lot.  It was frustrating to have her tell me I'm using the instruments correctly and then miss so much.  She stayed at my unit to help me finish the cleaning.  When she was watching me that time she did notice some things that I can do to improve my instrumenting.  I hope I can remember what she taught me so I will pass my board! 

Mockboard #2

     One more clinical mockboard down, one more to go!  I felt like I was more confused and nervous for this mockboard than I was for the first one last semester.  I'm just glad it's over.  My patient was a few minutes late and I started to panic wondering what I was going to do if I didn't have a patient.  Finally the patient arrival indicator turned to yellow! 
     I got him checked in and got topical on the injection sites.  I found an instructor to come watch while I gave the injections and then I contaminated the needle by touching the patent bib.  Darn!  I had two syringes set up but I didn't have another long needle so I had to get up and go get another one and then wait for another instructor.  Note to self: have an extra needle at my station so I don't have to get up and get another one.  He had so much calculus and I was having a hard time removing some of it.  I was running out of time so I finished up as good as I could and then took him to the front desk. 
     When the student examiner brought him back to me I had missed four areas.  More than I wanted to miss but I was surprised that it wasn't more.  I had missed all the distals on the lower right side.  Alexader came over to help me and she asked me how I was sitting and instrumenting those areas.  I showed her and guess what...I had been sitting in the wrong position the whole time!  No wonder I couldn't get those areas clean.  I need to remember that for scaling the distal buccals of the lower right you can sit at the eleven o'clock position. 
     I am grateful for the mockboard experiences and how great our instructors are.  I wouldn't want to go into the clinical board not having the experience of how the whole process works.  Good luck Thursday girls!!!

A Good Day...FINALLY!

     Today I had a great day in clinic.  To start with, both of my patients showed up!  Compared to last semester, that is a huge accomplishment.  My morning patient mentioned that her wisdom teeth have been bothering her and it had been almost 10 years since she went to the dentist last or had any x-rays.  I talked to the patient about how important x-rays are and she agreed to bitewings, 2 anterior PAs, and a pano!  Once I finished x-rays I did the Velscope PE on her and then cleaned her teeth. 
     My afternoon patient was 32 and hadn't been to a dentist for most of his life.  I had a great feeling that he would qualify for at least mockboards for next week.  I took his bitewings and 2 anterior PAs and had my instructor check them.  She told me that from the x-rays it looked like he might qualify.  I brought him back to my chair and did the charting.  It was looking good!  I had my instructor come and check and she agreed.  I took him back to get the additional PAs that I needed for mockboards.  I was able to clean one quadrant today with local anesthesia and the calculus came off pretty easily.  The good news is...he agreed to help me out with my mockboard exam and will come back next Tuesday! 
     For you girls still looking for your mockboard patient good luck!  I will send good vibes your way.  :)  Everything will work out in the end. 

Back to School

     Back to school today.  15 weeks and counting!  I am very excited and nervous for what this semester will bring.  I just hope I make it through everything. 
     Clinic this morning got off to a bad start.  I hope this isn't a sign of what the whole semester will be like.  When I scheduled my morning patient yesterday she said she couldn't come in until 9:00.  I was ok with that, I was just glad I had a patient scheduled.  9:00 came and went and no patient.  I spent the morning helping other students and helping with some things at the front desk.  Luckily my afternoon patient came.  I was able to get some x-rays on her and clean her whole mouth.  I was kind of disoriented when I first started this afternoon.  I felt like I forgot how to hold my instruments and how to use them.  It came back to me after a few minutes though.  I'm just glad I survived my first day back.