This is a test...beep....beephttp://skyethompson.blogspot.com/
I think I am confused...?

I'm Back!

Sorry for not writing in awhile. I have been busy moving and stressing about my Dental Hygiene exam scores. Luckily I no longer have to worry about passing because I received my last passing score!! Quite a relief! Right now I am waiting for my licensure to come through with the Ohio State Dental Board and then I will be ready to enter the work force. Sounds like fun!
Dustin and I are buying a home in Bay Village which is about 20-25 minutes from downtown Cleveland. The home is a Cape Cod style and is white with black shutters...very charming! The guy who owns it was remodeling the whole interior for resale. Once he heard we wanted the home he let us pick out all our colors. We pretty much used the same colors for the paint, tile and carpet that we used for our brand new townhome in Utah that we had to sale. We even get a two car garage and two full baths which is quite an upgrade in Bay Village. Our home was built in 1940 and back then they only needed one bath and a garage for one car. My how times have changed!!
As soon as I can get my cord that hooks up my camera to the computer I will upload before and after pics of the home. Until then, I will just keep you posted!
Much love,
Dena

Last 1A

This morning I saw my last requirement, a 1A. I saw her 6 months ago and she was a little terror. Of course, I did 8 sealants on her at her last appt and that is probably why she was such a difficult patient. The cleaning went really well, but the digital x-ray was iffy for me. I couldn't figure out how to print them and I was really struggling. Luckily Mrs. Campbell knows what she is doing!

Mockboard

Last week we had our last Mockboard and I didn't pass. In a way I am glad that I didn't because I passed the first two Mockboards and was feeling really confident. This allowed me to reflect and to realize that I really need to check with my explorer when I feel that I am done. Also, I still had an hour left where I could scale, but I was too lazy to keep going...I guess I should have kept going. Oops! I learned that I still need to come up on my fulcrum a little bit more when I am using my explorer.

Today at Clinic

Today my board patient came in for 6 PA's. I am so glad that she showed up and still wants to be my patient! What a relief! Also, I had Shane check her calculus and he also thought she was a great board patient. She does have some 6's around her molars, but as long as they don't progress to an 8 I think she will still qualify. I thought about giving her some Clorahexadine, but I am afraid this might tighten up her tissues and cause me to get more tissue trauma! I don't know...
This afternoon I finished up a class 2 patient. There was alot of bleeding, but it was great to see the black chunks fly of his tooth. Whoppee! Tomorrow I have the VA. I believe that I only have one more quad of a class 4 that I need.
The semester is winding down and it feels pretty weird. I am not always looking around for some sort of board material to study. I just stare at walls now...I also thought that my dog spoke to me at 4:30 am. I could have sworn he said something, but I guess that's impossible...or is it?...

Patient from Hell

Today at the VA I had quite an experience! I was the "chosen one" to deal with a patient that was c-r-a-z-y. First, I brought him into the room and said, "Take a seat." He replied, "Where?" I then told him to sit in the dental chair and he said I wasn't clear in my first request and he thought I may have been referring to my ass as a possible "seat." WOW! Quite a weirdo! It clearly was a joke, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction...and I really didn't think it was funny either. I don't like it when dirty, old men talk about my ass!
Next, while I was trying to place the digital x-ray in his mouth he raised his hand and told me that he would be critiquing me throughout the appt and that I wasn't to take offense to it. I just shrugged my shoulders and said ok, but I think he was looking more for a response like, "Oh! You are so funny. I am a dumb blonde who needs all the help I can get!"
And then....while I was using the ultrasonic (on the first tooth and only tooth) he flipped out. I lifted his chair up to go talk to Kami to see if maybe she could explain to him the benefits of the ultrasonic (because I don't know what I am doing, of course), but he told me that last time they only did half his mouth and I should save the other half until his next visit. My reply was, "Sir, you can't even handle me working on one tooth! How do you expect me to clean half your mouth?" He didn't seem to like that response...
After that I was called away to do an injection and Kami spoke with him. He told Kami that I was "over confident." I guess that is a bad thing to be?! I DON'T THINK SO! CRAZY OLD MAN! I guess I should be more timid and let people just say whatever the hell they want to me! Have some respect!
Anyway, I refused to go back into my treatment area and so Kami had to finish his appt. He has a crush on Kami so I am sure he got his "kicks."

National Board Day!

Wahoo!! I am done with studying board reviews!! Today I spent about 7 hours taking a 2-part test and I think I did okay! I feel really good about the first part of the test, but the case study portion was kind of hard. You really couldn't study for the case studies...you just had to hope that someone in clinic pointed to an object on an x-ray and said, "This is what this is!" Also, my brain started to lose function as the end approached. I am just elated that this is over and I know in about 4 weeks that I will be waiting for the mail to come everyday.
Now I just have to focus on making sure I have a good board patient. I am starting to doubt myself and it drives me nuts. It will be a great sign if she shows up for her appt next Tuesday!

Grossness at the VA

My past two VA days I have come home at about 4:00 and have gone straight to the shower. I have seen Class 4's these past times and I am completely appalled at the grossness of it all. I almost upchucked in my mask.
My first experience was with this man who told me that he was sick of this shit....I was too!....and to get my damn instrument out of his mouth. I lifted the back of the patient chair and told him that he needed to "cool off." He left after that... haha
My next experience was with a really nice man. He wanted to have nitrous and I was all for that because I needed to pass off my nitrous PE. However, I feel that I was getting some of the effects from the nitrous. At the VA, the scavenging system is inserted into the high volume evacuation and is connected at the other point with scotch tape. I started to get light-headed and then a huge headache resulted. I guess I should have put myself on straight oxygen when his appt was completed!
So, regarding the calculus of these two patients...it was quite interesting. There was one tooth that had this odd sheet of calculus across the whole tooth. The way it came off was just mesmorizing! Wish you could have been there. The rest of the plaque and calculus was really stuck on there and I had to go over it and over it and over it. I still missed some when Kami did my scale check, but I am going to blame it on me being somewhat high from the nitrous...haha JK...My skills aren't as awesome as I thought they were...
Anyway, I have been studying all day prepping for the national board.
Also, I am a little annoyed because my board patient hasn't been returning my calls. Not a good sign I guess. Oh well, it always works out in the end.