This week in Practicum I went to the dentist both days. Both times I worked with the hygienist, Joanne. The first time I was there, there wasn’t really anything going on. There was a family that was supposed to be there but they were running late. So as we were waiting Joanne was going over things people usually don’t do and lie to them about. As we were waiting she mentioned that people usually don’t floss and she asked me if I did and I told her I can’t really floss because I have my retainer. She then gave me a threader and taught me how to floss under the retainer. The family finally showed up, and I sat in on the appointment with a 16 year old girl named Allison. The whole time Joanne was talking about everything she goes through. Joanne also taught me how to use the threader again, while seeing it on a patient made more sense than doing it myself. Afterwards we had to take x-rays and Joanne took me into the black room and taught me how to get the x-rays. We had to take them out of the bite tabs, put them in the holders and then put them in a machine to have them processed. But we ran out of time, and I had to leave before the dentist could come in.
The second time I went I worked with Joanne again. This time I was there for two hours. I came in on the end of a patient and I came just in time to see what the dentist does. The patient explained that he was flossing and he had ripped a filling out while pulling the floss out of his teeth. So I was able to see the dentist put in a temporary filling on the patient. Afterwards Joanne showed me how they have to clean everything and that they have to keep their gloves on just in case the patient lies about some disease they have. We also had to set up for the next patient but this set up was different than the rest. The patient had implants and that is when they have fake teeth with titanium screws in their gums. Because of what the fake teeth are made of we had to take out a different set of tools to use. After the patient got there we had to take x-rays and develop them. While we were waiting Joanne taught me how they have to clean their tools in-between patients. Joanne also showed me how you floss implants and bridgework differently than regular teeth.
Working with Annie and Joanne has taught me so much and I know more now than I ever thought I would at this age. While working at this dentist office I have grown a liking towards dentistry and this is something I am really looking into. This has made me grow as a person because I am no longer confused with what I want to do.
