Frazzled

Can I just say OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Today was insane. I felt like a rushed crazyperson.
I had four patients scheduled in hopes of a Board patient. I didn't sleep all night last night because I was so worried that if one of them didn't work out, I WOULD NOT HAVE A PATIENT FOR MY FINAL LICENSING EXAM!!!! Poor Sterling, I kept him awake half the night too because I was so upset.

My first patient, hadn't been in to have her teeth cleaned in over 10 years. She was borderline class II, but they called her a 1B. Ouch. I did have fun with her lingual bars though, she had an upper and a lower, and HOLY CALCULUS! So at least that was good.

Then, Alyse, being the angel that she is, switched me patients, took my Class V and I did a full mouth xray on her patient, where one of his quads qualified for Board. So at least I had a foot in the door, but he was definitely not ideal, and I was sketchy about the whole idea.

My patient shows up in the afternoon...solid Class III, which I am DYING for...but too many carious lesions to qualify for boards. ARGH! So I rescheduled her, and brought her daughter into the chair. Can I just say PERFECT BOARD PATIENT! I felt like praying right then---I was SO grateful!!!

So I went off to take a full mouth of xrays on her. Only it was an adventure because there were no correct xrays kits, of the ones we werent issued and so WSU is supposed to provide, so I had to get creative and put tape on other kinds and things to get it to work. But...amazingly enough, no retakes! Unfortunately, it didn't catch her wisdom teeth, so we ended up taking a panoramic, which was fun because I TOTALLY didn't realize that WSU had scanx panoramic! YEEHAW!

Then I wanted to clean a quad of my Board patient, just so I knew what to expect. Yup, she'll need anesthesia, and so it was a good experience. I actually didn't clean the full quad, I only went to the canine. But it went well. I am pumped.

Then they called pod wrap. My unit hadn't been cleaned at all, I hadn't even put my instruments in the ultrasonic. And then they offered to help us sharpen instruments, which I totally wanted to do. So.....I ended up cleaning my unit at FIVE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT when everyone had left. Sigh.

Good points of today beyond the frazzlement:
-Two full mouths, I only need 3 more PA's
-Screened 8 quads of a class III plus Alyse gave me 2 quads, which REALLY helps, and means I only need five more quads
-FOUND A BOARD PATIENT
-did an eaglesoft on my 1B this A.M. now I just have to fill out the paperwork

So. All in all, it was probably the most productive clinic day of my life. Lets just not repeat it. I might not live. Thank everyone for Michelle, who gives me chocolate and water. I love her.

LA Mockboard

This morning was local anesthesia mockboard. This was a good experience because on the real day we have to take the written exam and pass it in order to move on to the clinical exam, and its all on the same day. So...Lindsay hasn't really started studying for the exam yet. I have studied two evenings and four modules...which means there were a lot of holes. But since, luckily, this particular mockboard does not go on our real grade, I was curious to see how I would do. I passed...but barely. Haahaa. But I guess a pass is a pass---lets just hope the studying between now and then makes it REALLY a pass! Then, we have to do two injections, PSA and IA, and I did them on a first year student. I did both injections just fine. But I failed because I touched the back of a card that holds the needle. Its really quite a stupid thing I think....and NOBODY is that careful with needles out in the real world, and my finger BARELY hooked around to the other side of the card, but nonetheless, chalk up another failed experience in my book. I'm just elated that my injections went so well and I was as calm as I was. It was a fabulous experience---and its not graded, did I mention that?

So now...on the big day, I need to just repeat everything, minus the finger touch, and I will be A-OK!!!!

The rest of my day, I had my horrendous patient from two weeks ago that was bleeding so bad before I even touched him, and he told me he hadn't brushed his teeth in years because it bled so much. Due to complications such as gagging, intense sensitivity even after several anesthesia injections, and intense debris throughout his mouth, Dr. Naylor ended up deciding that a gross scale was necessary, and we could do a fine scale later. Well, that 'later' was today.

My patient walks in, holding a floss pick. And he was proud. "I brush twice a day and I use my floss pick EVERY time I get in the car." And I asked him if he still bled when he flossed "Its a little pink when I spit." HALLELUJAH!!! His mouth seemed a hundred times less diseased! He was still very sensitive, I used Oraquix because the problem with anesthesia last time was that it wore off, and with Oraquix I can just reapplying to each tooth individually. It worked almost like a charm. Minus mesial of #8, 9...and a few other delicate spots. Haahaa. But honestly, it made hand scaling(he would have none of the ultrasonic) a class IV almost fun! And it made me VERY happy to see he was actually LISTENING to me! Now, he can proudly present himself to his dentist and get all the restorative work done that the dentist wouldn't do until his mouth was clean. I feel fulfilled.

Happier note, Sterling made sesame chicken for dinner last night, and we had leftovers for lunch today, and it was VERY good. Also, in three weeks I will be completely done with exams. The thought just makes me giddy with happiness. Lets just hope I pass them all! Also....well, not much else. I'm going to skip classes tonight to study. Good luck to me!