To polish or not to polish?

In class yesterday we went over polishing and today in clinic we practiced with a prophy angle and a toothbrush. I wish somone would have told me how to brush when I was little. Its not like my teeth are horrible but it would have been nice to know. I definitely want my patients to know this early. I never knew til yesterday that polishing with prophy paste actually removes enamel! Yet we still do it all the time. It does remove stain and plaque though so I am trying to decide how I am going to go about this when I am in private practice. The prophy cup seemed to get more plaque off than by toothbrush polishing. We tried both today. It wasn't a drastic difference though so I am thinking of maybe trying to just polish with toothpaste instead and see if I get the same effect without removing tooth structure. I am glad I got to learn about this instead of just doing something because everyone else has for such a long time.

First day working on braces!

Today was cool cause I got to work on braces for the first time. It was alright I hope I did a good job. It is so nice to have people around to help you know what to do. I need to get into the col area further. I wasn't quite getting it. I guess I just need to be more agressive about that, but nice at the same time of course! I really want to just do this for homework and practice. I really like it a lot. Well whoever reads this I hope it wasn't too boring, and that you have a good day. =)

Posterior Instrumentation

Today we did posterior instrumentation for the first time. It was weird at first, but after awhile it got better. I really like that we always have someone there to help us out. It helps so much or I'd be practicing the wrong way and not even know. I am glad I am here its been a really good thing for me and Ive just loved it! The girls in the program are way awesome too! Its fun to do something Ive wanted to do for such a long time!

Practice

Today in clinic we used the disclosing tablets and then practiced scaling anteriors. It was good practice. It was also cool to get to use the intraoral camera those things are so good for patient education. I like it when they can see what you can. I think it will make OHI so much more effective! Anyway today was crazy cause I drove from my parents house this morning and would have been on time except for the fact that I either missed the exit to get on 89 from Legacy or Legacy only connects to I-15. Anyway it set me back and I was late sadly, so I am sorry for anyone who was impacted by that. I will have to plan for that type of thing next time, if I ever drive back from home before class again.

Oral Cancer Screenings

After clinic today I went down and helped do oral cancer screenings in the union building. It was a really good experience. I felt like we helped make people aware that oral cancer is out there. I don't think it is something most people really think about. I also feel a lot more comfortable doing intra and extraoral examinations. It was awesome and I realized again how much I love what I am going into. Its great to help people and I just love helping out this way. I think I like it even more now than I did before.

Instruments

Monday we went over all our instruments. It was good to actually find out what they are I was kind of wondering. Im sure by the end Ill know what they are just at a glance, but for now I will just have to study them. It was also good to go over exploring again. That definitely helped.

1st day scaling!

Today was our very first day of scaling anterior teeth! I was pretty excited. I told my dad what we were doing today on the phone last night. I think I did okay I need to work on getting up on my fulcrum and being parallel to the tooth I am scaling. It was getting better by the end. I think I definitely am going to have to do exercises for all my muscles and maybe marry a massage therapist. =) No, I think itll be fine after awhile.

Marathon

I decided to title this one marathon cause it felt like we had to do everything today in a short amount of time. It wasn't too bad though, in all honesty it was probably pretty good practice to work within a time constraint because that is what we will be doing later in private practice. Lately I have been paying very close attention to how I brush and floss my teeth they feel cleaner already! Hopefully my PFI will go up soon. It was good to go over things again. I think if I just learned it, passed it off, and didn't do it again or for awhile I would forget it. Well ta ta for now.

Purple teeth!

Today we disclosed the plaque on out teeth it was interesting to see where I need to improve. It was also fun to see everyone with purple and pink teeth! I think this is going to be good with patients because they can see for themselves where they need to improve. Now if I could figure out who my first patient is that would be good. =)

Charting

I liked charting today. I am so glad I was an assistant before coming into this! I just feel more comfortable with the whole atmosphere. What a blessing! We had our second SADHA meeting today it went pretty good I hope that the oral cancer screening activity coming up has a good turnout. I think clinic is one of my favorite parts of this whole thing its cool to get into it and actually practice skills I will need for the rest of my life. Well I guess thats enough random thoughts for now. I am sure I will come up with some later.