Gobble!

Yesterday I finally got a break from school and from homework! I love thanksgiving! I got to eat dinner with my family and just relax. I had a nice 2 hour nap and saw movies. I actually kind of felt bad after because it was such a waste of time. But I am making up for it today. Already this morning I have completed my study of another module for dental hygiene, and as you can see I am finishing up my blogging for this semester. Oh man, it will be so nice to have this done. I think I kind of like this those. I like blogging when it isn't just venting my issues with clinic. Maybe is should blog every day. Then I could print it out every day and make a journal out of it. Well, maybe not every day. That would get kind of boring. Maybe just every clinic or whenever something exciting happens like thanksgiving, or whenever I just need to let some thoughts out. Last night I went and saw the movie new moon. It is the second movie in the twilight saga. I never read the book, but everyone is raving about the movie so I thought I would go see it. Wow, I felt like that movie was the story of my life. This girls true love had to leave her and while he was gone she started to hang out and fall in love with this other guy and found that this other guy eased the pain of her love being gone. Well, her honey comes back and it is difficult I'm sure to tell the other guy that all along she loved the first, but she tells him and he runs off. This is the story of my life because I miss my missionary Thomas quite a bit, but am found that my pain is eased when I hang out with this other guy. But in the end, I know I will choose my missionary. It has always been him. Anyway, that was interesting to make that connection. Well, that is it! I am done with officially with blogging until next semester. Hurray!

First Day of Break

This first day of thanksgiving break has not been a break at all, but this doesn't upset me in the least bit. I have been getting so much done today. All day I have been studying my dental hygiene modules and putting together my OHI Kit. It is coming along really good. I made a huge list of everything I needed to get done over the break and I've just been going through and what do you know, I'm almost done. Well, not quite. The dental hygiene modules will still take me a long time, but all the other little things are getting checked off my list which makes me feel really good. And yes, this is one of those things that I get to check off my list when I am done. I won't get to check it off until tomorrow though. This is blog number 24 and I need 25 in order to check it of my list of things to do. I'm getting pretty close though. This morning I got to go to the temple too and I already finished my scripture study, which is strange for this early in the day. Usually I have to save my study for late at night when I am done with everything else and I forgot to read earlier in the day. Can I just say that I got up at 6:30am! That is highly unusual for a day that I have the option of sleeping in. I'm feeling very proud of myself at the moment. It is kind of nice. I have a sense of satisfaction from the days accomplishments. Well, I've got one more entry for tomorrow and then I'm sorry to say (or not) that you won't be seeing another entry until school starts up again in January. I get a month off. Yahoo!

Nothing to Write about

I really have nothing to write about. I just have to get my 25 posts in. I guess I could say that I'm excited for the first semester to almost be over. I have a lot of studying to do for finals, but it isn't overly stressful. Today's dental hygiene class was nice! We had a short review and were out by 12pm! Usually we are out by 2pm, so this was a good day! I just spent the last hour trying to complete all of the end of semester course evaluations. Yuck! That took way too long. Why do they have to have two evaluations for every instructor...and why do they list some instructors more than once? What a waste of time. The only part I care to fill in is the comment section anyway. I kind of felt bad. I wanted to be helpful, but sometimes the truth hurts. I hope some of the comments I made weren't too personal. I just kind of let some of my frustrations out and hope that it will be of some use to the instructor who gets it. I hope they don't take offense. I'm just trying to be helpful. I mostly hope they can't tell that it is me that wrote it! I don't think they give them our names, but still I think the instructors could maybe tell by what I said who it was that said it, just because they know my style of speech and they know what most of my frustrations are. Well, to late to go back and change things. Wow, this blog turned out to be longer than expected. I just want to mention a couple of goals before I leave. My goal for next semester is to get frustrated less and have more of positive attitude. Okay, that is all for now. I will write something useless tomorrow and the day after that. I think this will be entry number 23, which means I only have two more to go. Hurray!

Real patient day

I had my first real patient day, so naturally it was a day of much learning! All I have seen in this clinic so far are 1b's. Well, today I got a little more than a 1b. I got a 2. Not that this is a big difference except when it comes to probing. I guess I was hitting calculus instead of bone because most of the readings I got were not quite as deep as the instructors. I guess that is why it was a good experience. I learned that there is such thing as something deeper than a 4, which thing I have never come across until today. I think things ran really smoothly. I was a little worried when it came to taking x-rays, since radiology seems to be my biggest frustration on Monday's, but things just went really smoothly. I am blessed for this! I feel like I know what I am doing for the first time. I felt kind of professional, although that is something I definitely need to work on. I think a goal I have for myself is being able to probe faster. I feel so slow and often times if I do more than one tooth I forget the number. I think it will be my new goal to work on remember numbers and probing a bit faster. All in all I think the day was a success. Now I can finally get some sleep rather than stay up all night going through every procedure in my head, haha. That will be nice!

Mock Day 2

Where to begin. How about this morning when I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I really have nothing to say other than I'm pretty sure I did everything wrong today. And the good news is, I get to learn from this experience and do things right when my real patient is here. I will probably have to re-due a PE for the first time and my chart, but at least I will learn how to do it this time. I am a little upset about the PE. I thought I new it and I have always been very successful with sealants. Things just went wrong this time and I couldn't think with the professor looking over my shoulder. At least they went wrong on my fake patient so I know what to do in the future. I'm really done with this blog. I am exhausted and mostly writing things mindlessly. That's all for today.

Patient Day

I expected today to be a really easy day with no frustrations. I planned on just showing up and falling asleep in the chair. Boy was I wrong. Well, for the most part my expectations met, but then the instructor got after me for not being a good patient. I guess I was talking to much, but I can't just keep quiet when I have a yucky taste in my mouth. I wanted to be helpful. If I'm pocking my patients gums or leaving junk in their mouth I would want them to tell me. So that was frustrating. Then I had to pass of my PE, which I also thought would be a breeze, but it turns out that some instructor didn't teach me everything I needed to know and there was one part of the PE I missed. I still passed, so that is good, but I still left frustrated and upset. Monday is just not my day. Good thing we only have a few of them left.

Wednesday's Clinic

Yep, I'm a day late again! There isn't really much tell to when it comes to clinic yesterday. It was really nice and laid back I thought. I had lots of time to pass off the needed PE's and also had lots of time to practice scaling. It was really quite a nice day. Clinic will never be the same again though, I'm sure. Monday I don't really even have clinic because I am just someone's patient. Then the next time times I get to be the operator. I'm really grateful we get to have a practice day before our first real patient. My goal is to read over the order of things before next week so that I will feel prepared for my first practice patient. That way things will hopefully run smoothly. That is all for now.

Sealants

Today was a crunch because my partner was gone and I was put in a group of three. Not a problem because we finished in time, I just felt a little rushed and maybe a little flustered. I'm feeling a little stressed right now, but I think that is normal for Monday. I'm usually feeling a lot better on Wednesday. I think I did pretty good on the sealants. Everything really went very smoothly. I just got in a little argument with the instructor on one of my PE's because she wasn't understanding something I was trying to explain to her. It happens sometimes. I'm a little frustrated that the instructors aren't all on the same page, but I think that is just something I'm going to have to get over. I just need to be happy with getting threes even though I know all the information. I just need to take a deep breath and get over myself. I think if I focus more on others I will be a lot less frustrated with my own life. Maybe I should make that a goal. Okay, here is my goal for future clinic days: I am committed to focusing more on the needs and concerns of others than on myself. There you go. That is all for today.

Polishing

I hate the air-powder polisher. Not doing it on someone. I like that. I hate having it done on me. It taste sick, it gets all over my face, and it hurts my tongue. I just think for the sake of my patients I will never do it on them. Mybe if they have really bad stains or something. Today wasn't hard, and for the most part it was fun. I don't think I did the best on my Dental Screening PE, but I still think I passed. We will see. It has been a good day. Lots of learning and polishing came pretty easy for the most part. It suprises me that they only have course and medium paste here when we hear so many bad things about it in class. It is hard to control the rheostat. I try and make it go slower and it just turns off, so then I push it in the slightest and it is going too fast. It is definately hard to control. I'm really glad I got to have a fluoride varnish done. It just feels discusting on my teeth. I don't think I'll keep it on too long. I like the bubble-gum flavor though. Well, that is all. No frustrations. It has been a good day.

Oct. 26, 2009

Today was a combination of fun and relaxing. I didn't feel rushed and it was fun to use the ultrasonic. Like probing, I have a more difficult time with the ultrasonic in the cole area, but I'm sure with time and practice it will become my favorite instrument. That is really all I have to say. Today was just normal and great. There was little frustration and I felt like I kept on task really well. That's all.

Practice Day

Today was great to kind of review over everything we have learned so far, but I kind of felt like I didn't get to practice what I REALLY needed to practice. We had to review over health history and treatment record stuff to see how far we get, which was good, but I didn't get a chance to practice scaling, which is what I feel I need the most practice on. It was kind of a more relaxing day. And MY INSTRUMENTS CAME BACK!!! Hurray! They aren't lost anymore! I think one of the instruments punctured a whole in the bag, so they had to re-bag it and send them through again. I had a feeling they would turn up. Now I am complete. I don't really have much more to say. I think I need to continue review the skills that we have learned and maybe look over the order of how to do things so that I am prepared when I see my first patient. There is a lot to remember and so much that I have forgotten. I get worried sometimes, but I have a feeling we all feel the same and I 'm sure everything will work out in the end. I'm sure I'll get through the program! Everybody makes it through. I just give it my best effort and I really can't worry about the rest because it is just wasteful to worry. Anyway, that is all for now. It was a good day. Not as productive as I would've hoped, but not bad.

Oct. 14, 2009

I'm actually n0t sure what day of the month it is right now, haha. The days are going to fast. All I can tell you is that it is Thursday. Yes, I'm a day late again. Can I just say that I feel so much better after venting all my frustrations! So much better! I'm not longer miserable and suffering, but instead joyful and full of excitement and confidence. I'm felt a lot better about this last clinic day, except for the fact that I am missing almost half my instruments. I'm not worried about it though. I'm sure they will turn up. I just got to remember to email everyone and ask them to be on the lookout. I'm hoping they just got put in the wrong bin and hopefully someone will notice. Anyway, I faced yesterday with much more confidence and professionalism. I got three PE's done!!! Oops, I think we are only allowed to do two a day. Well, but here is the thing, Julie (the instructor) forgot to grade them, so I may end up doing them again anyway. Kind of funny, I graded myself and gave the papers to her half way through clinic and Megan found them at the end of clinic near her pod after Julie left, so there is nothing I can do about it except hope that someone will pass me anyway. What will probably end up happening is that I will have to do them again for someone else. I would just give them to Julie to grade next week, but they are due on Monday, so that doesn't really work. I can't believe the are seeing our first patient on the 23rd of next month! It is going by so fast. At least we have plenty of time to practice. I have nothing more to write really. Life is good and clinic is fun. I'm grateful to be in the profession I am in! The end!

Oct. 7, 2009

Haha, so last post I only got out half of my frustrations. Here goes the other half. I was so frustrated today in clinic because I had a yes or no question that I was trying to ask an instructor and she kept not answering in a yes or no way, but felt like she had to explain it over and over again and waste my time. I just want a "yes, your right!" I know what I'm doing! I'm not confused! I don't need it explained to me a thousand times! I just want a "yes!" Is that so hard! Wow, I'm kind of glad nobody looks at this blog. I have to be honest. I usually hate blogging because nobody reads it and I think it is a waste of time, but I'm kind of grateful for it today because I really think I just need to vent to something right now. I do feel a lot better. I'm just really stressed with life right now. We all have our ups and downs. Life is a rollercoaster. My is just on a down right now, but I am enjoying the ride. Sometines the downs are the funnest parts of the ride. I just need to get it all out and maybe do some yogga and I will be going up again in no time. Well, that is all. I think my goal is to do yogga once a week, preferably before Monday clinic. That way I can get my head on straight before I come in. Well, that is all. I hope we get a day to practice all these new skills soon because I'm getting a little worried that we see our first patient in 6 weeks! Ttyl

Oct. 7, 2009

So, I know I'm writing this almost a week late, but I can't miss any more days. Wednesday was less frustrating than Monday. Actually I don't think I was that frustrated on Monday either. The instructors were great at being at my side as I learned how to use the universal scaler on the posterior teeth. The days seem to go by faster and faster. Maybe it is because I am half asleep in the chair for half the time. I really don't have much more to say. Nothing really all that exciting happened. I'm just feeling a bit frustrated because I feel like we don't have any time to practice these skills. I try to practice on my typodont at home, but it just isn't the same as a real mouth. I feel like I'm being to pestimistic. I suppose compared to the confusion I felt at the first of the semester, things are a lot better. I just get frustrated when I know what I need to know and there seems to be no way of doing it all in the amount of time that I have. I need a break. Don't get me wrong here, I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be in the program and I love the people I am working with. I just feel a little burnt out right now. Good thing we have fall break this weekend. It came just in time. I really need it!

Oct. 5, 2009 (I think)

Today's clinic was the scariest of them all. And I thought an explorer was bad. Today we had to use the scalers on each other. I'm always so nervous about it and I get frustrated all throughout clinic, but then by the end of the day I think, "that was so much fun!" I think it is great because, yeah, I'm frustrated at first, but then once I get it down I get really excited about it. I have a sense of accomplishment. I definitely still need to practice though. I'm going to take my typodont home and practice probing so I'll be ready to pass it off by next clinic. I really can't think of anything else to write. I swear these entries get shorter and shorter. It is just kind of the same every day. Clinic gets shorter and shorter and we do more difficult tasks every time. And I'm loving every minute of it!

Sept. 30, 2009

I was pretty proud of myself in clinic today. I passed off two PE's when really there was probably only time for one. Clinic went way fast today! Same with Monday. Usually it seems like they drag on forever. I guess I've just been staying busy. And look, I remembered to write in my blog today right after clinic. Today for the first time, I experienced my goggles fogging up. I think it was because it was snowing outside!!! It wasn't really all that cold, but I guess it was cold enough. I really don't feel like I have much to write today. I think I did alright today. My goal for next time is to pass off the probe PE and hopefully the explorer one as well. I'm just doing alright!

Sept. 29, 2009

Wow, I have done really bad at my blog lately! But I guess we only need 25 of them total. I hope I'll have enough at the end of the semester. I don't really see why I do this blog anyway. I never read any from anyone else and nobody ever reads mine. I don't know how to put cool pictures on or change the template. This blog really is kind of useless. Clinic has been really fun lately! This week we have had the chance to probe and explore our pod partners mouth! Kind of scary. I think both me and Sarah were shaking the first time we put the explorer under the gum line. I actually thought exploring was a lot less painful than probing! I think I actually fell asleep in the chair while Sarah was exploring my mouth! Probing however is more of a poke then a sliding motion, so you kind of feel that one more. Over the weekend my new perioptic loopes came in the mail! I was as giddy as a school girl! It felt like Christmas! I got to bring them to clinic with me for the first time yesterday. They are so awesome! I love it. I wish I had had them to practice probing on Sarah. I brought my typodont, my loopes, and my instruments home to practice. That will be the best part of homework I'm sure! Well, I really think that is it. My obvious goal is to remember to write in my blog everyday. Once I get that down I will comment on other blogs (if I can figure out how) and then I will feel like this thing is worth my time. It is just, I don't even like checking my email if it is my best friend, why would I want to look on someone else's blog? We talk enough about clinic to one another to know what the other one would write. All well, I'm done venting about it. Everything else in my life is fabulous, so why should I complain? Tell I write again.

Sept. 16, 2009

It's kind of silly that I am writing these when nobody looks at it but me. I guess I should look at and respond to other blogs. Today in clinic we need extra oral exams and they felt sooooo good!!! I'll volunteer as a patient for those any day. I kind of want to go home and practice them on people now. I'm going to have to work on all the names of the objects that I am palpating. I remember what they are called from Anatomy when I hear them, but anatomy was a long time ago and I have forgotten many of the names. We also got to practice using the mirror in our pod partners mouth! That was fun, but I really have no idea what I'm doing. I know what the mirror is used for, but I'm struggling with where to put a folcrum. The TA reasures me that such know-how comes with practice. I forgot to clock in today until just know, so I'm going to have to ask the front desk if that is okay. I'm not sure if clocking in is for the purpose of just showing that we were here or if it is to show how long we were here. I will ask Dr. Solomon to be sure. I passed off two PE's today. I got done with my vitals and positioning. Next Monday the Health History is due. I'm kind of nervous about that one since it is so long. I'm going to take it home and work on it over the weekend. I hope I remember everything I'm supposed to do. I've done enough practice with it you'd think I'd be confident, but there is just too much to mess up on. Well, that is all. It has been a good, fun, and productive day and I'm loving every minute of it!

Sept. 14, 2009

Wow! Today I am tired. But it is still a good day. We have been practicing taking vitals and doing health histories. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I was way excited when I was finally able to hear out of my sphygmomanometer! I've never been able to hear out of it before, but I just switched ends and there you go. I think it is so fun to practice! I feel so official! There is a lot to remember on these PE's though! I'm going to have to take them home and really study them. That will be hard since we have so much to do this week. We have a quiz tomorrow in Anatomy and a test in radiology and dental hygiene. There is so much to study and so little time to study. This week is going to be tough. I really hope I find time to do all the things I need to do in order to be ready for class and the exams. I'll be staying up all hours of the night for the next week I am sure. Bring it on! Here we go! I'm just going to hit the ground with both feet running and keep going until it is finished. That's really all. It is actually the middle of clinic right now and we are waiting to check how we did on our health histories. Hope I did okay. We'll see. I have a new goal. Study over the weekends, get enough sleep, and come to clinic more enthusiastic and awake than I have been. I'll try to remember to follow up on how those goals went. Well, that is all. Have a good one!
Sharli

9/9/09

Wow! I'm finally writting my blog right after clinic. I usually get it done the day after but today I'm still in the clinic. We did Health Histories to day and right now we just have a lot of time to get PE's done, but I already did most of mine last week, so I'm good to go. I was kind of worried about doing health histories. It all seemed so confusing. I was stressing because I thought there would be a lot more to remember. Well, there still is a lot to remember, but it isn't as bad as I thought. I think I'll be all right. I still make a lot of mistakes, but I'm learning from those mistakes. I got to open a new bag of gloves today and guess what?! They are pink! Yeah, I love pink gloves. I'm going to only wear pink gloves when I get out into the real world. I love them! Well, not much to do today. I think we are going to get done a little early. That's all. I guess my goal for next time is to practice my positions PE and maybe get that passed off. That's all!

Sept. 2, 2009

Hey Everybody! Well, anybody that reads this. Today's clinic was interesting. I quite enjoyed it! We got to learn all the positions for viewing a patients mouth as well as how to fill out a health history. We also got our own charts. I decided today that there is a lot to remember. I also decided that I'm not going to stress about it because I'll get it all down eventually. I accomplished two of my goals from last time. One was to write on this blog day of clinic and the second to make use of the extra assistance I get on Monday's with the TA's. As I said, both goals accomplished. I was able to pass off three PE's today, almost four, and as you can see I am writing this blog on a Wednesday rather than a Thursday. Excellent! I really appreciated our lesson about posture. I have pretty poor posture, but I'm trying to break the bad habits. I'm a sloucher for sure. I'm not so sure about getting the magnifying glasses. Oh, I guess you class them loops. Anyway, that is a huge expense and I'm not sure if I need them yet or not. I think they are a good idea, but I'm not sure I want to spend that much money on them. I'll think about it I guess. I'll have to talk to other people and see what they plan on doing. I'll have to take a good look at them when I go to conferences. To sum it up, I felt pretty good about clinic today. I feel like I got a lot done as well as learned a lot and as always, it was a blast!
Sharli

Sept. 1, 2009

I'm late yet again. I am making a new goal, get blog done day of clinic. I think I will remember what I did in clinic and how I felt if I record right after. Anyway, Monday clinic was good. I got to pass off my first PE (eaglesoft) and passed with all fours. I'm sure the next PE's won't be quite as easy, but I'll practice. I noticed that it is more difficult to get help on Monday. There are less instructors and TA's so I'm going to have to really take advantage of that on Wednesday. I just had to wait a long time to get my Eaglesoft done, which is probably why I mastered it, I spent so much time going over it while waiting for my turn. I feel bad for the girls in the "forgotten pod". They only have 1 instructor looking at the 8 of them while I feel like I got 1 to 4. Anyway, I'm just going to have to really study models at home so that I'm ready to pass them off first thing when I get the chance. I still love clinic though! I got rinse out my pod partners mouth, which included splashing her face all over and vacuuming her cheek. Handling the equipment is going to take a while to get used to. Overall I feel good about my lab experience.

Aug. 27th, 2009

I forgot to blog yesterday, so here is the scoop on yesterday at clinic. The TA's and other instructors are really nice! Love them! I got to practice eaglesoft a bit and am feeling more confident in it. I'm sure I'll be able to pass it off no problem on Monday. It was way fun to work with the air/water syringe and HVE (is that how you say it? The suction) for the first time. What a blast!!! I loved spraying off those teeth in my typodont (is that what you call it?)! It was fun looking for different angles to view the mouth and practicing sitting up straight in the chair. That will for sure take some work because I slouch all the time. Everything was just so fun and exciting! To be honest, I wasn't to fond of the video. I saw a few students nodding off next to me and I was really tempted to do the same. Not the most exciting video, but I think I learned a thing or two about protecting myself against the spread of infection. I still am confused about what I'm supposed to be studying for classes and I guess what is excepted of me in general. I guess the first week is just easy because I don't know what to do for homework. I guess reading but I'm wondering what to read. Hopefully I'll get things figured out soon. Well, that is about it. I had afternoon clinic so it was really nice sleeping in. Until next time. Loves!

Aug. 24th. First day of School

Hey Ya'll,

Today was crazy fun, ey?! Loved it! And lets hear it for the teachers! Aren't they great and fun! So far I'm loving this program. I still don't know what is going on, but I'm sure that will all come in time. The seniors have been telling me it takes a couple weeks. My pod partners are amazing! I don't know much because I don't have much experience, so they are great to show me around. I love them already! I loved putting my instruments away in my drawer. I felt so official. Radiology was a blast too! My first film, sweet! Man we have great instructors in there. I've only taken one good slide in my life and two altogether so they were great to help me. My goal in radiology is to get better at the angle in which I take the film, if that makes sense. There was a little overlapping with the teeth and I'm, to be honest, a little confused as to where to line up the cone with the film. I hope my terminology was okay. That should be another goal for me. I want to learn this terminology quickly so I can be more professional like and people will know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately I have found that my computer is not wanting to let me see or print off modules, so I'll have to take a trip to the library tomorrow. No problem. It'll all work out. I was having trouble access this blog sight too for a while, so that was scary, but as you can see I got it figured out. So, yeah, overall it was a great day. I look forward to practicing eaglesoft on Wednesday and getting this whole system all figured out. Right now my only frustration is not knowing what books to bring, but that will come in time I'm sure. I'm looking forward with great anticipation to class tomorrow. Head neck anatomy, oh yeah! Bring it on! Hope ya'll had as fun of a day as I had! Loves!

Sharli

August 19, 2009 - Orientation

Today is orientation. I feel like a dear in the headlights. Too much information! I'm pretty sure I forgot most of the information that has been shoved into my head already. I'm not stressed though. I'm a believer in taking one step at a time. It is a relief to know that there are many people that are here to help. I'll be fine. We'll all be fine.