The third day

April 29, 2014

Today was a very special day, today was the day my mentor would show me how the X-rays on your teeth work. She had told me she didn't want to take me to do the X-rays each time because every time she shots the picture it gives off a lot of radiation. Not to long after I arrived her patient got their and it was time to begin the process. First she put this thing that looks like a huge bib but it is a lead apron to prevent the radiations from effecting your cells. She also places these pieces of plastic that you need to bite down on in order for the X-ray to take the proper picture of your teeth. Then she exited the area and told me to get behind the wall so the radiation wouldn't effect us. She clicked the button outside the X-ray room and got the picture. So what do we take X-rays for? We'll my mentor explained to me they are very important because they show us if there's bone loss, cavities, tooth decay, or any gym diseases.  Overall today we worked on three patients and she preformed regular teeth cleanings where for each I got to watch and learn how to preform an X-ray in the future.

Time logged for session: 2 hours

Time logged in total: 22hours

Another day in the office

April 28, 2014

Monday was my second time coming into the dental office and I felt a little more confident going into the office and communicating with my mentor and her coworkers. Before she began on any patients she did the process of cleaning in her work space that I explained from the first time I came in. This time my mentor told me to focus more on the way she speaks to the patient. She told me it was very important to explain things clearly. When she spoke with a patient when explain things she used a lot of hand gestures. Also when explaining your teeth and gums she gave a really cool example. She told the patient to pretend her hand was their tooth and pretend her glove line was our gums, she then used this example to teach the patients how to brush properly of show them the effects of gingivitis. Another way she explained things to the patients was with booklets she had and with models of the mouth that were in the office. I also noticed the patients asking her questions about different brands of tooth paste, tooth brushes, mouth wash, and teeth whitener. It was interesting to me because she knew the answer to each of their questions. Later when I asked her about she told me a dental hygienist is not only someone that cleans your teeth as she had told me before they are also researchers. What this means is you must take time off the job to look up studies on things your patients ask you about. She also said sometimes when she hears of a new dental item she goes into the store and buys it to see how it works. Another thing I caught onto other than her explaining things was the questions she asked the patients and how they responded. Today not one of her patients said they flossed regularly and more than half of them were close to having gingivitis. When working on patients teeth she also measured how deep the bone was which was pretty interesting because deeping on how far her tool goes until she hits the bone is how much bone in your teeth you have lost during the years. She told me that it's okay to lose some bone but it is dangerous to lose to much and if you have lost a lot you most likely have peridontitis. It was also really interesting because today I got to see her do a deep cleaning. For the deep cleaning she had to give the patient four shots on each side. You only get a deep cleaning when your gingivitis is getting really bad. Overall today was very interesting and I can't wait to go in one more time. 

Time logged for session: 10 hrs

Total time logged: 20 hrs

For the first time

April 23, 2014

Although i've been in a dental office many times Wednesday was the first time i was their viewing the dental visit from my hygienists perspective. When you are just a patient you never realize that a dental hygienst isnt only a "tooth cleaner", they have many other responsibilities they must first conquer before completing or even starting the process of cleaning your teeth. Today my mentor and I focused on one of the most basic things but also the biggest thing you must do before you start working on the teeth of a patient. That super important thing was cleaning, you must make sure everything is cleaning because in the end it not only benifits your patient but everybody in your office including you. First she thought me that each time you are going to begin work on patient you must get new tools. The tools get put onto a clean trey but not directly on the trey, you must put a sheet down before putting all the tools on the trey. She said it was super important to grab new tools each time because it prevents the spread of bacteria and diseases. What happens to the handpiecce tools that cannot be removed like the vaccum and water? Well my mentor showed me how you must get a tube filled with solution and the tubes thwe hand tools run through are disconnectable. Once you remove the tube you out onto a piece where the cleaning sloution comes out, turn on the tool, and the tube will suck the solution in and filter out all the bacteria inside. Last but not least we had to disinfect the place where the patient is going to be and that was the chair we used clorox wipes to wipe down the chair and the light that flashes into your mouth. I also sat throw my mentore actually working on a few patients. Todya she only preformed regualr teeth cleanings but she told me next time i came in she would show me how a deep cleaning was. My mentor also provided me with a book about all the different roles dental hygenist have, i think it will be very interesting.

Time logged for this session: 10 hrs
Total time logged: 10 hrs