LA written board

Today I took my LA written board exam. Man was it tough!! It was nothing like I had expected it to be. The questions were so weird. I don't feel confident about it at all. I feel like it could easily go either way. I could have failed and I could have passed. It is so frustrating not to know my score right now. I hate that we have to wait for 15-30 days. It is so nerve racking. I would rather know right now what my score is, so that I can either keep studying or move on. For now, I am going to move on. I need to start studying for the National exam. Wish me luck!!

Farewell

Today we had a farewell lunch for Dr. Hanson. I cannot believe that she is leaving us! It doesn't seem real. I will miss her. I wish that I had more time to work with her in clinic. She always has the best advice. She is an amazing clinician and has lots of tricks and helpful hints to share. She will truly be missed by our class. The lunch turned out great though. Our class presented her with an engraved clock for her desk and a dental hygiene scrapbook. I hope that she likes them! I am so glad that I got the opportunity to get to know her and to work with her.

Mockboards!

MY MOCKBOARD PATIENT CANCELED ON ME LAST NIGHT!!!! I felt like the worst had happened!! My heart sank when I heard the news. I was devastated. I have only cried once in the program, until last night... Luckily, I have AMAZING classmates. When I posted the news on facebook and sent out texts to all my classmates about the horrible news and asking for help, so many people replied. It is so amazing to have so many wonderful people on your side. I love all the girls in my class. LUCKILY, Jodie's patient that she saw on Tuesday came in for me today and AMAZINGLY enough, the quad I picked qualified!! HOORAY for Jodie!! She rocks so much! Today ended pretty well. I passed my mockboard and survived the day. Now, on to tomorrow.

Having a hard time...

Today I had a class three patient. He was a really sweet guy. He rode the bus all the way from Salt Lake to come to the clinic. I scaled the lower right quad and gave him 2 injections. I had a difficult time cleaning this quad. Finally, I went over to instructor Wold and asked her, "at what point do I just give up?"  I did not feel confident about this quad at all. It still felt rough to me, but no matter what I did, I wasn't making a difference. Dr. Hanson came over to do my scale check, and while she was checking she said, "you're having a rough time aren't you?" My heart sank. I thought she was going to ask me if I had even scaled anything. I looked at her and sunk my head down and replied, "yes! I really am." She looked at me, with a confused face and said, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the patient." Then she started to laugh. She told me that I did really well, I didn't miss any spots at all. The patient on the other hand, was having a hard time keeping his mouth open and probably would have benefited from a bite block. WHAT A RELIEF!! I am glad I did well, but I need to work on my confidence level obviously. We joked about that for the rest of the day!

First year clinic

First year clinic is so fun! I love seeing the Juniors make so much progress. It has been a really cool experience seeing how far they have come from the first day! I remember being in their shoes. OD appointments were so crappy, but then the scaling appointments were so fun! I remember how happy I was to finish a 1B in one appointment, what an accomplishment!! They all want to be at that point already, but it will come. It is so hard when you want to be advanced already, but it takes time. All of the Juniors are so nice! They have such a great class. I love working with them.

Sealant Clinics

We had our first sealant screening today at James Madison Elementary School. We go to the school and screen first and second graders to see if they need sealants or dental work. It was a lot of fun!! The kids are hilarious. It was so fun to ask them about Christmas and see what their favorite gift was. The screening went by so fast though! It felt like we barely started and then we were done. I am excited to see the kids again up at Weber State to place sealants.

Back in Action!

It's the first day back to school and I had a class III first thing! She is the sweetest lady. I gave her two injections, and they went pretty well! Maybe I can do this whole anesthesia thing! I did my ultrasonic PE today, (look at me go, it's the first day back and I did a PE! Last semester I waited until the last three weeks to pass any off, NOT a good idea!!). In the afternoon, I saw a 1b and got a PANO. Overall, it was a very productive first day back.