Last day of clinic

I can't believe it! I never thought this day would come. I distinctly remember writing "First day of clinic" on my very first blog, on my very first day of dental hygiene. Now its the end! Surreal....
Today luck was in my favor. Coming into today I only needed four more quads of class III or IV. Maren gave me a patient that turned out to be a class III and she was willing to come in in the morning and in the afternoon! Four quads - check! I think everyone in clinic had success. We all seemed to get our requirements and we were all super willing to help one another.
I'm super excited to go out into practice. At the same time I'm going to miss the communication between my peers and how we all support one another. I'm going to miss my pod and all the good times we've had! This is bitter sweet for me. I know so many of us are ready to be done, and I'm ready! Believe me! At the same time, I'm going to miss all of you!!! Luvs!

Bit by bit

I'm slowly but surely getting all of my requirements. I finished a class III this morning, so now I only need 6 more quads and Mike was my patient later this morning. Whenever I have something to pass of he is the one to call! I did sealants and the diagnodent experience on him. He is so good to come in and help me out!
My class III pt this afternoon cancelled on me, but I was able to clean a walk in patient. She was 16 and she ended up being a class II. She had radiographic calculus! I felt so bad and I tried to do the best that I could with the amount of time I was given. Unbeknownst to me, she had to leave by 2:30.... Also this afternoon, Maren let me place Arestin. So now I need 6 quads of a class III and one more perio medicament placement. C'mon VA! Don't let me down! ha ha :)

Beastly Day!!

Well, today royally stunk! I was totally off of my game and I was not focused at all. My board patient came back this morning and I was able to finish two quads, so he only has one left. He is a tough patient and I missed a few spots today, but the good news is, Marilyn checked the quad I was working on and she only found one spot! That's always a plus! Lets hope the board examiners find the same thing.
My afternoon patient was a new patient and she ended up being the toughest class III I have ever had. One of the teeth had three individual radiographic clicks! I was only able to get one quad done and I was working forever. I am physically exhausted! Don't worry...next week I will be doing the exact same thing. Board patient in the morning...difficult patient in the afternoon. I must be crazy! I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars that all of these class III patients are streaming in.
Aside from being a crazy hard day, I was able to accomplish a lot. I refuse today anything tomorrow! It is my birthday and I am going to relax!!!

Speedy Gonzalez!

This morning I saw two patients, count em...TWO! The first pt only had two quads to finish and my second patient was Michael, but I'm still quite proud! ha ha My first patient this morning had nitrous and local anesthetic. She was a joy to work with and we were able to get her out of here at a decent time.
I wanted to get Mike in before I graduated because he doesn't have dental insurance. That and he needs his teeth cleaned before the wedding! ha ha His appointment didn't last long.
By the time this afternoon rolled around, I was ready to be done. My patient this afternoon was half class two and half class three. I was only able to complete the left side today, but that was fine with me! I need to start packing all my supplies for boards! Egads! Can you believe this is my last clinic day before boards? I can't believe its here!! AHH!
Deep breaths Karlie, this will be over before you know it!

Emotional Roller Coaster

I am an emotional wreck! The smallest things throw me into a tears and this morning didn't help! A few weeks ago I found my board patient. Well, this morning she came into tell me that she can't be my board patient anymore. She is going to Disneyland.... The water works started shortly there after.
My morning patient was this super sweet lady. She wanted nitrous and I was able to get a few quads of a class three...so the morning wasn't a total bust. I'm grateful I was able to get through her treatment.
Not to worry, the morning ended well. It just so happens that Julie's last patient qualified for boards. Prof Alexander came up to me and told me he was mine! The water works started again, but this time for happy reasons! I must be living right!! He is the nicest guy and he is super flexible with this schedule. Hopefully I can hold onto him!

Final Mockboards!

Eee!! Can you believe today is the last mockboard? Never again will I have to stress about my patient showing up, or whether they will qualify....oh wait! I still have to take my REAL board! Good feeling gone....
Ha ha There is still reason to celebrate though! Three mockboards down brings us one step closer to graduating. In the past couple of days I have realized something, time still goes by. Each day passes from one to the next. All I can do is keep moving forward, doing the best that I can. Everything will work out. If I have to jump through a few more hoops to graduate and get my license, so be it! Each day will pass, then each week, and pretty soon it will be the end of April and all of this will be behind me!
I haven't worked this hard to give up on the home stretch. Its the final inning and bases are loaded, time to bring on the strikes!! (Its a sports metaphore...)

Class IV

My class IV patient is such a trooper! He came in this morning and we did both quads on the left side. This afternoon he is coming in to complete the right side. A few weeks ago we did the lower right and we're finishing the upper right this afternoon. Its pretty nice being able to complete a patient in one day. This way his whole mouth is in the same state and we can give him a fresh start.
Today, I fell in love with my curved inserts. I hadn't really used them until today. Instructor Wold helped me to use them on the straight facials and linguals and it was so nifty! I also loved how they wrapped around the distals of the molars. He has his 3rd molars and it was so easy to clean back there with the inserts. I love finding out new things!
Wish me luck this afternoon!

LA Mockboard

Mercy! I wish I would have been first on the list this morning. The worst part of the LA mockboard was the waiting.And the waiting...I was one of the last ones to give my injections. Once I was able to sit down with my patient I feel like things went well. If anything, today was a good learning experience. It was good for all of us to go through this and to share our experiences so that we could make sure NOT to do that!
I passed! Woot! Woot! But they did tell me to watch the final degree on my PSA injection. That blasted 45!! It will be the death of me! The IA went well too. I felt like today was a good learning experience. Now I know what to work on!!!

Busy Day!

This morning I saw my friend Jordan for a cleaning and then Mike came in for a full mouth series. Bless his heart...he is my little guinea pig!  Things went well this morning, but I feel like I've been running a marathon! I'm so tired. At lunch I was ready to call it a day.
My afternoon patient ended up being my class IV! YAY! Last year I saw this patient and Instructor Hafen classified him as a Class III so that I could get my requirements. She mentioned that he should be a IV, but that she would give it to me. This time, when he came in, I was able to get a class IV requirement. Thank heavens! I was only able to get one quad done today, but he is scheduled to come back.
Miracles to happen!!!!

One of those days...

Do you ever have those days when you call a new patient and your hoping that they will be a difficult classification? Then lo and behold they sit down in your chair and they're a 1B....Great. Such is my life! It seems like every new patient that I have come in is either a 1B or a class V. I have class II's and V's coming out of my ears! My patient had never been to the dentist before, so my hopes were high! Alas, my wishes were in vain. I am in desperate need of class III/IV patients and injections. I'm hoping that the dental hygiene gods will send some harder classifications my way. Keep me in your thoughts!!

Mockboard Day

Oh goodness...its mockboard day....I don't know why I get so nervous for these days. We have wonderful teachers that prepare us and I'm so grateful that I have this mockboard experience to prepare me for the real deal. Still, its super nerve racking!
I felt much better once I got in and got started. As soon as I sat down to scale I felt more confident. Its all the waiting in the beginning that gets to me! I feel like things went pretty well this morning. Now I'm just sitting here waiting to her my results. Cross your fingers for me!!
I just have to remember that this is a learning experience. If I miss something I have to remember that his is put together so that I can learn. Way to think positive Karlie! ha ha 

Success!

I went into today being so stressed out! I didn't have a mockboard  patient for next week and I was starting to feel the pressure. My good friend Charlotte came in this morning and she was a really quick cleaning, but she loved me enough to chew on a piece of wax and let me do a couple pe's on her. So, the morning wasn't a total waste.
AND....Julie found a patient that was a mockboard pt and I made sure to go over and introduce myself. She agreed to come in and I was able to take 12 xrays in 10 minutes with Julie's help. Record time! With no retakes mind you... :)
This afternoon I had a new patient that was a Class II but he didn't have enough calculus to qualify for boards. I was hoping to find someone for Jodie or anyone that didn't have one. Darn it! He was a great patient and he wanted to make sure that when he came back in three months that he had me for a hygienist. It always makes you feel good when your patient WANTS to come back and see you! ha ha

Last Semester of College!!!

Oh... its been a long day. Its always tough coming back after a long break. But...It is my last semester of college and I am stoked! Only 15 more weeks til we graduate!!!
This morning I saw two children. The 11 year old was bleeding more than my perio patients. Needless to say we talked about her OH habits and the importance of flossing. She was a super cute girl, but man! I was able to get a pano with her too...Only two more to go!
Her older brother was  my next patient. I took xrays before I did the OD. While I was taking the films I noticed that he had a cold sore....so his appointment was over pretty quick. I scheduled him back in a couple weeks.
This afternoon was pretty basic, yet another class V. Story of my life... She was a super nice lady though. She was 83 and in excellent health.
Today was a good day. It went by pretty quickly, but man am I beat! I'm so excited that I don't have class tomorrow! Woot! Woot!!