Last day and Reflection

Today was an exciting day because it's our last clinic day of the semester but also kind of a sad one because we won't be seeing each other for a month. Our instructors kept us busy with a clinic manual test, an emergency prodedues module, and also teaching us the duties of the clinical assistant. It was super busy but lots of fun! We were told that real patient treatment will begin our second day back in clinic which is Jan. 7th. That made us all super nervous!! We are incharge of finding and scheduling our own patients. So... if anyone knows anyone who needs their teeth cleaned for a super low cost, please contact me and let me know!! My clnic experience was Amazing. I learned so much! I've really enjoyed working with the other girls and with all of the instructors. Dental Hygiene is an Amazing program and I reccomend it to anyone!!

Real Patient Day!!!

Today was Awesome!! We were able to work on our very first "real patient". In other words... someone besides a fellow classmate! My mom was willing to be my guinea pig and she did a Great job! It was so much fun to show her the "in's and out's" of the clinic. I was able to finish and complete her OD and get one quad scaled. All of my probe depths were within 1mm of my instructor which means I passed with flying colors! I took 4 BWX on her and did great with them too. It was a lot of fun to work with her and to put all that we have learned thus far into practise. After the appointment, we went out to lunch with Casey and her mom. It was tons of fun!! I'm so glad today was such a success! It was great encouragement for the upcoming semesters and patients! :)

Final Mock Patient!!

Today I had my first and last official mock patient. I had the opprotunity to work on Sarah and she was marvelous!! She was so helpful with my charting and she cleaned my unit. We had a fun time talking and getting to know each other better too. I had a really fun time working on her and doing the whole thing. I was really nervous at first because I had to treat her like an official patient but once I got started, things just started rolling. One of my instructors complimented me on my sclaing. She said that I have really good technique. I was super excited to hear that. Thank you Mexico!! Today was a complete success!! I really had a wonderful day!

I was the Mock Patient!

Today in clinic was so fun! All I had to do was lay in the chair and keep my mouth open wide! Sarah was my hygienest and she did a great job! We had lots of fun together. I helped her with her unit clean up and instruments. It was a pretty relaxing day! I really enjoyed it!

PSR

Today was a good day.... we learned all about PSR and how we probably will never really need to use this index! :) It deals with probing and how we can just probe a few teeth to determine whether or not we need to probe the full mouth. It's been interesting to learn. I was also able to pass off my sealant PE on Casey today. She was a Great patient and it was fun to work on her! She's the Best!!

Air-Powder Polisher!

Today was super interesting. Jess was my patient and she was wonderful. We had a fun time together! We got to practise using the air-powder polisher on each other. It was easy to use to it tasted nasty. It's a mixture of salt, water, air, and mint flavoring. Not the best thing ever! We both had some fun spraying each other and getting salt everywhere! It was great! After we did that, we both passed off our fluoride PE and we both passed with flying colors. We had to do a half mouth varnish and the other half foam/gel. It was another tasty treat! After that Jess practised doing a sealant on me and I did one on Denver. It was lots of fun! However the consistency of the sealant bugged me and I got a little too think on the distal of Denver's. She thought I missed a spot but luckily Kim agreed with me and it was just fine! Today was busy but it was fun! We only have a few days left of clinic and I can't hardly believe it. My mom will be my first patient in 2 weeks from today and I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a wonderful experience!!

Mexico Adventure

I am sitting here in a beautiful home in Casas Grandes, Mexico. Me, my dad, who is a Dentist, along with my brother, came down to Mexico yesterday for a service trip. An Opthamology team of 3 came too. Today was our first day to work in the clinic and it was a very humbly yet happy experience. We saw a bunch of people who needed teeth extracted or others who have never had there teeth cleaned in their lives. My dad allowed me to scale as many people as I could and this was Amazing. I felt terrible that people were living with all the buildup and sore gums but it was an incredible learning experience for me to work on them. I actually got to click tartar off and see results of my work. I couldn't believe all that I was seeing. Fluorosis is a Huge problem down there and it was sad to see how it has affected the color and strength of some of these people's teeth. I am so thankful to be here and to help so many people in need. Tomorrow we will be working at the clinic again and I can't wait! I love to help others in need and especially those with dental concerns. I will never forget this trip and the many things I've learned here in Mexico.