CLASS V

Wow, it has been a LONG week (to say the least)! I honestly don't even remember who my patient was on Monday....
Oh yeah! It was my cousing Katie! I finished her cleaning in 1hr 30 mins and didn't miss a single spot! That never happens by the way so I was extremely excited! I have only passed off 3 PE's this semester and need to get my butt in gear! It's so hard to remember when there is so much going on and you just want to finish that patient in your chair so they don't have to come back again! Monday we had a going away party for one of our darling 2nd year professors. I am so sad that I won't get the opportunity to work with her. She will be greatly missed.
It has been such a LONG week seeing that we had 2 test on Tuesday. It was brutal! I did well on my Patho test, and did okay on my Perio test. Glad they are over! This week we have 2 more tests so it's going to be another long one.
I saw my first class V patient on wednesday and it was so much fun. This was my first patient that was a stranger and a lot different working on someone you don't know. It was a great experience! I couldn't believe her pocket depths! I loved using the ultrasonic on her coffee stains, but man those stains are so hard to get off! I am still loving school and getting to learn so much! It's so hard and stressful at times, but its so nice to know that we are all in this together! I love all of my classmates so much! See ya next week!

My bestie AMY

Today Amy came all the way down to WSU from Smithfield!!! I know, she is sucha great friend! We were able to scale 2 quads today which I feel happy about. My instructor didn't find any areas that I missed when she did the scale check (that was a first) and everything went great. Amy was an easy patient though. :) we were planning on going to dinner before this stupid storm rolled in so im kinda bummed. My cute brother Tom was at WSU today for the career fair. He invited me to come down for lunch and it was so much fun hanging out with him for a little minute. Thanks AMY! You are the best!

Heath

Today I got to have the cutest patient! My husband of course! :) And guess who hit a milestone?!?!

I did I did

I completed a whole cleaning! I started Heath and did one quad last semester so today was the easy part. We scaled 3 quads in a little over an hour and a half and I even used the ultrasonic for his lingual bar. I was glad to have our TA Karen's help. He had a lot of calculus behind his lingual bar and I loved getting it off! This is what I am talking about ppl! This is why I signed up for this. I love getting those big chunks of "stuff" off! Today was a great day for me. I felt good about scaling for the most part. I have a long way to go though. Instructor Hafen showed me a great way to get calculus off the retainer by doing a horizontal stroke both below and above that bar. She is such a great instructor and gives awesome feedback! Thanks Instructor Hafen and Heath for being so patient and coming at the last minute! I can totally do this! I am so grateful for today and for this milestone YAY!

Monday Clinic- Katie

Monday was my second first patient :) haha I say that because I saw Heath for one appt last semester and so, my cute cousin Katie came on Monday. I was pretty frustrated because we didn't get to the scaling part. I did complete 4 BWX's and a panoramic X-ray that I was way excited about! X-rays are the easiest thing for me. I feel lucky that I have had so much experience in them because they can be a real pain! I hope that I get faster at all the paperwork side of this. There are so many things that we have to do and write, but I have a positive outlook that those things will come with time... Staying positive!

Let the games begin

School is back in full swing! I can't believe how fast Christmas break came and went. It was so much fun and so hard to get back into the grind. I am excited to start a new year with new goals/dreams. Here are some of my resolutions:

• EXCERCISE!
• Be a better wife/friend/sister/student/daughter/aunt/etc.
• Make time for the little things in life
• keep my clothes off the floor
• Finish cleaning a patient during 1 clinic session
• Get a 4.0 this semester
• Go on a trip to somewhere sunny and warm
• Go hunting with Heath

I know, some are cheesy but I honestly love the beginnings of the New Year. I am excited to the things that this year will bring us.

Clnic started on Wednesday and we learned how to use ultrasonics. I wish I would've practiced instrumentation over the break because I felt rusty. I was excited about learning how to use these because I have seen them used so many times and it just looked so easy... it wasn't at all! It was so hard and I found myself getting so frustrated. We start seeing patients 2 x's a week this semester so we have the stress of not only having a heavy class schedule, but also the stress of finding patients. I am excited, nervous, scared and anxious all at once. Bring on this semester!