PT1: 1Q CII Ultra/hand scale, 4BWX
Yes, I had a patient today, 2 in fact. I saw a lady in the
morning who spoke Spanish. I was very intimidated by this. I have not seen a
patient who speaks Spanish and very little English before without a translator.
After I pulled her back into my chair, I honestly didn't think she was
understanding anything I was saying. Every time I would say something she would
nod at me, with a confused look on her face. Cleaning her teeth was very hard
for me. Not only because the x-ray machine was not working or because the ultra
sonic I had wasn't very good, but because she seemed to not understand when I
said "open" or "close", or pretty much anything. I really need to learn some Spanish to help
me with this. I tried to talk to her, but I ended up not knowing what to say or
what she would understand or if she just thought I was an idiot the whole time
because I know she speaks Spanish and not much English. I ended up just kind of
sitting there and trying to say things but getting a little frustrated at the
same time that I didn't know how to teach her how to brush or floss. Or why she
might be having some discomfort. Today was a great day for me to work toward my
goals and learn something new about the underserved population in inner city
Ogden. This patient has taught me that even though I am intimidated, I can't
show it. Instructor Bunker taught me to keep talking even though they might not
understand. This will calm my nerves, and she probably knew more than she led
on. The patient was probably just as scared as I was. After all was not said
but done, I have promised myself to not be intimidated by this language barrier
anymore.
Pt2: 4Q CII Ultra/hand scale, sel pol, df, Varnish F
My afternoon patient was a first for me. He was a man who
was mentally impaired. This man had a condition where he was a low functioning
member of society. It took me a minute to realize what was going on. After
this, I remembered an ethics class I had first semester last year where a woman
came to talk to us who was physically disabled. She let us know that she was
the patient and we should treat her like one. We should talk to her like she
can understand everything, as a regular patient. We let her know how important
her teeth are and not assume that she "can't" do something because we
don't know anything about her. This is exactly what I tried to do. I tried to
let this man know how important his teeth were and how he could keep them
clean. I gave him a toothbrush and taught him how to brush. This might have
gone a little smoother, I'm still working out the kinks. He kept saying to me
"I'm just here to get my teeth cleaned". I really stressed the
importance of overall health, and how this is connected to us cleaning his
teeth with the best possible service. He was a class 2 patient and almost every
tooth was a crown. I got my fair share of cleaning under the crowns today. I
learned how to use my graceys finally, and I would dare say I'm getting the
hang of it! This appointment helped me with 2 of my goals: 1. Developing a
treatment plan for patients with disabilities; 2. Increase speed and accuracy
in hand scaling while using more lateral pressure. I was scaling to the very
last minute but I finished him. At the end of the appointment, this man seemed
very thankful for us to clean his teeth and happy with the service he received.
I hope he continues to come back regularly and understood the importance of
clean teeth.
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