Saturday October 22nd, 2011
Today was our first day of class and it was so fun to meet all of the teachers and all the students!!! All of us women are going to have so much fun getting to know each other and learning how to be amazing dental assistants! It was very exciting to finally find out exactly what the next 12 weeks are going to be like!!! Today we went over the basics of the mouth: the different surfaces of teeth, the numbering of teeth, and an introduction to charting. This will definitely be the foundation for the next 12 weeks and I can’t wait to learn more!
Thursday October 27th, 2011
Tonight was our first Thursday night class, and I am so excited for labs each week!!! We were able to use a mouth mirror and observe the teeth of our partner! Then the 3rd member of our group recorded all of the information on the patient’s chart. It was so fun to act out the roles of the dentist, the dental assistant, and the patient. We didn't really know what we were doing but we will learn in time as we get more comfortable.
Saturday October 29th, 2011
We got to practice a child prophy on our partner! I did not realize how nervous I would be to sit in the dentist’s chair and use all of the instruments for a cleaning! I think I speak for everyone when I say that brushing another person’s teeth is much more difficult than brushing your own! I am not sure what the proper technique for a child prophy is but we are seeing what is comfortable. We also got to experience the important role of cleaning for dental assistants….no wonder dental offices are always so clean! Dental offices are lucky to have us to make sure that everything is super shiny and looks nice for all the patients! I definitely am going to need to practice brushing on some of my friends and family!
Thursday November 3rd, 2011
We are learning about the human body and OSHA standards in a dental office. I can’t wait to apply this knowledge on the job. When I was younger I used to have to get impressions at the dentist and the orthodontist…and I hated it!! Little did I know I would let other people give me more impressions as an adult just for practice! Even though it is very fun to pour the alginate into the tray and take the impression of a patient’s mouth, it sure does not taste very good for the patient! It was so fun to look at our impressions and be able to identify all of our teeth and even some of our amalgams and composites. The best part was being able to take our impressions home and put them in the refrigerator. I can’t wait to bring them back on Saturday when we will actually get to pour our impressions!
Saturday November 5th, 2011
After we took our test (the 2nd one we have taken so far) and went over all of our homework (the 2nd group of homework assignments that we have had so far), it was time to start the lab! I learned how to pour impressions and it is much more difficult than I thought it would be! I definitely made too much of my impression, so when we mold them next Thursday I will definitely have a lot to shave off! Then after we cleaned up our mess, we were able to practice a child prophy again. I felt a little better the 2nd time. The flossing part is still the hardest, I am not sure what form we should use, but we will probably get more comfortable over time. The diclosing tablet still shows lots of pink, but practice makes perfect!!!
Thursday November 10th, 2011
I was finally able to complete my impressions! I trimmed the models, and it was much more difficult than I ever thought it would be. So, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I am very happy that we are not being graded on our first impression model. I was a little frustrated that my model did not turn out exactly like it should have, but that is motivating me to practice impressions more during lab time. Since it is too dangerous to practice on each other, and we are all probably too old to put sealants on our teeth, we practiced on models. It is really fun to do sealants, but I am not sure exactly what that is going to look like on a real patient and if dental assistants can even perform sealants. Friends and Family Day is next month so that means we should all practice those new skills during lab time so that we can be our best when we bring in our friends and family members as our very first patients!
Saturday November 12th, 2011
We talked a little bit about x-rays and we are starting to learn our strengths and weaknesses in the lab. Personally, my weakness is impressions, so that is something that I will have to practice more. Today we introduced the set-up of rubber dams and passing instruments, two things that I personally found very challenging! I have no idea what this will actually look like on a patient, but tried to put the rubber dam together on its own once. But I know that with practice all of these skills will become second nature. I can’t wait to learn about x-rays next week!
Thursday November 17th, 2011
Tonight we each got to take 4 x-rays of our partner and develop the film! When I was in high school I took a photography class and the developing process in the dark room reminded me so much of my photography class! Except with the automatic processing machine it was much easier and faster to develop our “pictures” than the manual process that I used in high school for my pictures. It was really fun to mount our x-rays and look at them afterwards. I can’t wait to finish the full-mouth series on Saturday!
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