Open Wide

This is a picture of me and a patient taken during my senior year of dental school by the Des Moines register.

My job as far as it comes to kids is a LOT easier than it was in dental school. While I had to learn maneuvers like vocal control (trying to show firmness with your voice) and a new vocabulary ("Here comes Mister Whistle!"), I am lucky enough to be able to "drug 'em" into cooperation for most of my procedures now. This makes my life a lot easier. After four years I don't remember as much about how to place silver caps or sealants like I did before. But there is one thing I will never forget--how much parents can help (or hurt) the process of routine dental care for their children.

As a rule, people are afraid of dentists. I am told on a somewhat regular basis that people “hate (me) the dentist.” I get it, I do. This phenomenon can range from annoying to very frustrating. I have been told on multiple times by patients that I “can’t come at” them with “sharp tools” that ironically are necessary for my job. I have been walked out on. I have listened to crying and screaming, cussing, and have been blamed for dental problems because of a “bad experience as a kid.” I’ve even been grabbed or pinched. It can be annoying to be told multiple times how much people are unhappy to see you and it is frustrating when you can’t get the job done because of anxiety (I’m lucky to have drugs to help with this), but it is very sad when people, especially children, are debilitated by their dental fear. I have worked on children and sometimes adults who are so afraid of the dentist they cannot tolerate ANY dental work. Think about the negative effects over a lifetime of a young child who is unable to undergo dental exams, cleanings, simple fillings, etc! 

It is unfortunate that so many of us pass on these fears to our children.

I see a lot of examples of this both in my personal social life and as a dentist over the years. In dental school we learn all sorts of techniques to explain, show, and reduce the anxiety associated with the dental appointment. We talk about "Mr Thirsty" (the suction "straw"), "silver stars" (silver fillings), and "my rocket ship" (the dental chair). We don't give shots, we "squirt sleep juice" on teeth and we try to be brave and not cry or scream because there are "sleeping babies" that we don't want to wake. Often times this special vocabulary and a little extra time with a caring/competent/patient/skilled dentist is all that is needed to make a smooth dental appointment with a happy child, proud of their shiny teeth and the sticker they received at the end. And sometimes they had no idea they even got "a shot."

Unfortunately, the fear and anxiety the parent feels often gets passed on subconsciously. Simple things like explaining in every detail what is going to happen during the procedure to “prepare” the child can be counterproductive. Mom remembers and describes in detail the horrible SHOT that they STAB in your mouth before they POUND in the filling, not the SLEEPY JUICE which is SQUIRTED on the tooth and the TAPPING in of the SILVER STAR. Not to mention when parents or siblings goad the patients with comments like, "You're gonna get a shaw-ot, you're gonna get a shaw-ot!" And please don’t use me or the appointment as a punishment or threat. I remember seeing a four year old on a dental school rotation who was screaming and thrashing around. I needed to look in her mouth to check quickly for large cavities. Her mother was scolding her and threatening her with, "If you don't stop she's going to give you a shot!" I was less than pleased with this. First, I wasn't going to give her a shot as punishment, so I couldn't follow through and two, if I needed to give her a shot later she would think she was being punished.

So here are some tips:

1. Start young! If your child is used to going to the dentist often from an early age they are likely to be less fearful. The pediatric dentistry association recommends the first dental appointment being by age 1.

2. Let them see you or other children having a positive experience. Emphasize your shiny clean teeth and your new toothbrush.

3. Some dentists will let you do a tour of the office prior to the upcoming appointment so the child can see what it is like beforehand.

4. Don't try to prepare your child too much for the appointment. Remember, most dentists (or at least ones good with children) have been trained to interact with your child in an age appropriate way. Trying to describe exactly what will happen often makes things worse and is an easy way to pass on your own fears.

5. Try to avoid comments like, "Don't worry, it wont hurt!" This often makes the child worry about what is coming next. My mom tells a funny story of a dental appointment she had when she was a kid. Her sister and brother were screaming and crying during their appointments. When it was her turn they told her she better watch out for the shot. She gripped the chair in fear until the end of the appointment when they said she was all done. She asked, "When am I going to get the shot?!" They told her she already had and was completely done. She had no idea.

6. Helping your child brush and floss until they are able to write in cursive will prevent decay and more extensive (and unpleasant) procedures at the dentist. Think about it, most adults probably can't brush their teeth well enough to avoid cavities at times and yet we expect young children who can't perform fine motor skills to perform this somewhat dexterous task. I have people tell me proudly all the time, "My two year old loves brushing his teeth!" That's great, but you really should do it again for him after he finishes.

7. Avoid sugary drinks, even juice and milk. Only water should be placed in a sippy cup and they should never go to bed with a bottle or sippy cup filled with anything but water.

8. Try not to worry so much! Trust your child’s resiliency and expect them to handle it well. Fueling their fears and not expecting them to manage their anxiety only makes things worse in the long run.

9. Trust your dentist. If you aren't sure about how they are with kids, ask them – there are many dentists who do not feel comfortable seeing children and they will probably let you know. Or find a well respected pediatric dentist in your community if you have any question or concerns.

 

And finally, a real life example of a great dentist at work, taken from my great dental colleague and friend Dr. Jada Kurth:

8yr old: was that the shot?
Dr K: yeah not so bad huh?
8yo: yeah easy stuff. Now I'll just wait for you to clean the tooth, and then the star dust goes in, and then some tapping and them I'll be done!
LOVE COOPERATIVE KID PATIENTS!!! Especially during spring break week when I'm seeing SO many!

 

I'm no pediatric dentist but I hope these can help! I don't think any parent wants to pass on a dental phobia which may prevent their child from receiving the care they need in the future. I have seen too many people who lose their teeth because they were too afraid of the dentist for routine care. Hopefully the idea of dentures is scarier for our children than the minor discomfort and anxiety a dental visit can bring!

The flu

I don't recall any fainting episodes once I was in dental school. I found myself quite nervous on the day we had to practice IVs on each other but I ended up okay. I've had multiple blood draws since then and usually do fine. I take precautions like sitting down or even lying down during blood testing and I recognize when a fainting spell is coming on (the biggest being the desire to flee to the bathroom, which I tend to avoid now).

During my oral surgery rotation I did have a close call. I was in the OR and was actually scrubbed (wearing the sterile gown and gloves for surgery), assisting with a surgery. I began to feel very ill. I sat down for a few minutes but this did not seem to help. I ended up in the hallway, sitting down on the floor. I waited many minutes and did not feel better. I ended up going home to bed. Turns out I had influenza and was home sicker than I've ever been in bed for days. But, I didn't faint!

Later during application time, I heard that one of the oral surgery staff at the college of dentistry was reviewing with another student who in our class was interested in oral surgery. When my name was pointed out, she told them I wasn't going to get in because I "fainted in the OR."

I was mortified! I wondered how she had known since she didn't even work at the hospital. And for once, I hadn't fainted--I was actually truely quite ill. It seemed ironic to me that although I am a fainter, this time I hadn't actually fainted and I was worried it would have some bearing as she said on my chances. Luckily she had little to no bearing on the application process.

Working Moms part 3: The big plan

 

Ironically, I ended up at the University of Iowa for dental school, right back to that professor’s old stomping grounds, and appropriately, where he had first been tempted by the devil to make his own evil career choice. I moved few weeks before my 21st birthday, so I officially became an old maid just in the nick of time to get started on my way to the career bliss I so clearly “chose” over my family.

But what my religion professor didn’t understand was that part of my pact with the devil was if the devil helped me get into dental school he would help me find a husband. Maybe the good professor would have been more okay with my decision had he known that part.

I know working with the devil isn’t usually an acceptable way to achieve your goals (especially for religious people), but in this instance, if it was leading me towards marriage, my ultimate goal, I figured it would probably be okay. A means to an end, as they say. One can always repent later, right?

So, my plan was to find a husband early on and get out! I figured my likelihood of meeting another dentist or doctor would be higher as a student there myself. Yes, Iowa was a gamble as there was a relatively small LDS population there, but I was willing to give it a try. I knew it was an investment and I figured if I found him in the first year it would be a $50K investment well spent if it meant I was marrying a dentist.

Unfortunately, deals with the devil don’t always pan out exactly right. Yes, I did meet my husband, and even right away (he was one of the first people I met in Iowa). But, we weren’t married until I was half way done with school. At that point I felt like I was so close to being done, it made sense just to finish.

 

This is the young Abe I met my first few days in Iowa

Luckily, Iowa was a breath of fresh air. Suddenly I was going to church with women PhDs, masters candidates, and MD students. They were women in math and music and education and science. I was still unique and people often had “heard about me” as the girl dental student from Utah, but people seemed much more supportive, at least in the singles scene. I did get occasional comments, “So are you going to actually work when you are done?” or even an idea that I was a big flirt at school with the LDS husbands. But these were vary rare. Except for the, “So are you going to be a hygienist or an assistant?” questions which I was asked all the time. I was grateful to have met a man who never once questioned my decision to go into dentistry or if that meant I wasn’t interested in a family, and actually seemed impressed by the skills I was developing.

When we got married we started going to a congregation (known as a ward in the LDS church) with other married students. Although I have heard a lot of comments from the other women at church, they tend to focus more on how intimidated they are by me (don’t be scared!) or that they think what I am doing is “really cool.” In fact, it has been so long from my negative experiences back home, I have forgotten that what I am doing is sometimes frowned upon.

I didn’t remember until I happened upon a blog that prompted this whole story just a few days ago. There were hoards of comments from other women who look upon other women who choose to work in a judgmental way. I was surprised. And of course, you know I have something to say about that next time.

Next up, part 4…getting bored yet?

Minority Report

Erin, Herky, David Haderlie –another LDS Mormon Dental student-- at a Hawkeye Football game my first year of dental school

When I first moved to Iowa I felt like I was “famous.”

I met people and they would automatically say things like, “Oh, you are the girl Mormon dental student. We knew you were coming.” This happened surprisingly often.

Need a little background as to why?

At BYU there was a very large pre-dental club. Over 200 people from my graduating class went to dental school when I started (that’s a lot of Mormons going into dentistry in one year, just from BYU, not including the other colleges in Utah or other places). I was part of the pre-dental club and I was the president of the “Women in Dentistry” club. I looked all over for other girls like me on campus but I found only a small handful (less than 5, and only one or two others who were actually applying with me).

Being a girl going into dentistry at BYU was weird. And not always accepted.

• A religion professor told me that Satan encouraged me to go to dental school.
• Boys I dated asked me how I was going to “possibly do dentistry and be a mom.”
• Another dentist asked me if I was applying to dental school “just to see if I could get in.” Yup, I spent thousands of dollars on application fees just to satisfy my pride and tell everyone about how I “could have gone to dental school but decided not to.”
• Men in my classes would tell me if they were me, they wouldn’t even study because “no matter what, you are going to get in, anyway.” They didn’t have to tell me the rest of their statement which they kept to themselves, “And you will probably take the spot of a deserving man like me who is trying to provide for his family.” (They also didn’t understand that outside of BYU, there is a huge percentage of women going into dentistry.)

To be honest, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about the whole thing by the time graduation rolled around. Can you blame me?

I was doing what our church leaders told us to do, to seek all of the education I could, but because I was pursuing a demanding education it was assumed by many that I automatically was choosing not to have a family and this was frowned upon. Maybe at this point if I had a family I could have chosen them, but at this point they weren’t making themselves known to me (ironically I met my husband as a dental student in Iowa).

There was another female LDS student at the dental school when I started. In fact, I credit her with getting me interested in Iowa and applying in the first place. But she was from Iowa and often flew under the radar as another Mormon. I was the Mormon girl from Utah. People noticed the large number of LDS guys in dental school but I got a lot of questions about why I was the only girl. I was kind of special. And often a surprise.

This past Sunday I met a girl at church about to start dental school. There are two girls ahead of her already that go to my church. And there may be another girl from our church starting this year as well. That is 3-4 LDS girls at the school at the same time, plus me as a resident.

I don’t feel so special anymore.

But I’m glad to forfeit that part of my uniqueness. Times are changing maybe…

As a side note, now my identity is more based on being the only girl (the Mormon part is less interesting now that more than half of our residents are LDS) in my program currently, and the fourth female ever. This will probably be harder to change.

2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2.2

This has been my second year as a “first year resident” because of my intern year that I completed last year. It is strange to think that in a few more days I will finally be a second year (for the first time). It is strange that our new first year residents are here, eager and probably a little nervous to begin. Suddenly, after two years, I’m not the lowest one on the rung. That will be a very strange change.

This next year will probably prove to be my most challenging. Starting on Friday I will begin my first of four months on General Surgery. My schedule in July already looks a little daunting. I may not have the cleanest house or be in the best shape, but I think I overall manage to find a decent level of balance. Come Friday, I am seriously concerned about my ability to do anything besides work and sleep as I will be on call (days only due to new medical resident duty hour rules) 14-16 hours per day every other day (alternated with probably 10 hour days), with only 8 or 10 hours in between shifts. As that is about the amount of sleep I need each night, I am taking volunteers for bathroom duty and meals! Abraham will also be busy on his General Surgery rotation during this time so we really will be running ragged.

Once I finish in General Surgery, I will head back to my own team for a few months until I do Neurosurgery in March. That will be another busy time with 4 am morning start times. Yawn. I am feeling more sleepy by the minute.

It should be an exciting year. I am excited to increase my surgical skills and to see some new things (I’m actually hoping I get to do an amputation—see how warped my world is becoming?). I have also turned over a new leaf and am studying much more. I only have three more years to learn everything (not really, but it feels that way) so I better get to it. I did finally teach myself the one-handed surgical knot. Just in time.

I better get going! I feel like I have a lot of sleep, cooking, cleaning, etc to catch up on before the end of the week!

I have completed almost two weeks of internal medicine. So far, I am enjoying it quite a bit. I still feel out of my element…there are so many complex physiological, pharmacological, logistical elements of medicine that I will never come close to understanding. But, I am really glad for what I have learned so far. I hope I will learn enough to be a good oral surgeon. I want to be able to take good care of my patient's health, not just focus on their teeth.

 

Things have also been much less busy. I start at 8 am and come home often before 5 pm. It has been really nice to have some extra time and I suddenly don’t feel so bad for all of the things I can’t get a handle on in my life. My house has been a little cleaner, I have been exercising more, cooking more, taking care of Abe more, practicing piano, etc, all things I usually have a very difficult time doing. Today, I was even BORED when I got home. I don’t remember the last time I was bored --usually I am so glad to be doing nothing or have so much to get caught up on, I feel guilty rather than bored. Ha ha.

 

I also realize how selfish I have been. When you are working 10 or more hours a day, weekends, nights, it is so hard to find time for much of anything—or to have the energy when you do. I have found myself becoming very selfish of my time and my space. I realize now that no matter how busy, I should still find time to be a friend, to help someone out, to be kind. I am sorry I haven’t been this way to you.

 

I hope I can be better, even when things pick back up.

Graduation was months ago. Unfortunately, I was never able to upload any pictures. My computer is being slow but here are a few.

We found these girls on a bar crawl. We thought it was hilarious that their shirts said "Erin" when we felt like it was my day.


We had sushi and a hot pot dinner downtown.

Mr. and Dr. Sheffield (I always wanted that combination in titles...didn't think it would ever really happen, though!). Don't worry, it is soon to be Dr. and Dr. Dr. Sheffield :) Confusing? Can you tell who is who?

Right after I received my degree. Erin Sheffield, DDS (doctor of dental surgery)

Yes, purple is the dental color! And the hoods (the long purple sashes) are quite heavy. They kind of choking, actually.

I was so happy to have my family there for the big event!

UGH!

I was hoping not to have to come back to the school until my internship begins. However, I just learned that in order to get my license I need a new score report from WREB to submit to the Iowa Dental Board. For whatever reason, the $2000 + I paid for the exam does not cover receiving a score besides "PASS." We were under the impression this would be okay but only recently found out that the IDB needs the real scores before our applications for licensure can be processed.

So, I am back at the school trying to print off a form (our computer hasn't been working) so I can pay WREB another $30 money order for my scores. (Why is this not included in my original fee, by the way? Isn't that part of taking a test--getting a score?)

Trouble is, a girl is printing off what seems like hundreds of pages of notes on the very slow printer. I have about five 15-25 page jobs ahead of me. All for my one page. So I can pay for WREB to get me my scores. So I can get my license late and possibly delay my internship. Beautiful.

I have to be to the bank for my cashier's check before 5:00. Come on girl! I don't think I'm going to make it and I'm not sure I have access to another printer.

The End Has Come

Well, to my surprise, today was my last day of dental school! I was scheduled to see two more patients tomorrow (our official last day) but they both cancelled. Normally we have to wait around in case someone comes in but in this case they said don't worry about it!

So, I did it!

It feels so good to have things checked off my list and done! And, I even received enough points to get an "A."

It is so strange to think this part of my life has come to an end!

Come to me for your implants...

I won an award. It seems a little funny to me, esp since it was from the Pros department and I never thought Pros was my strong point. I never win these kind of awards. When I received an email telling me about the luncheon they were having to award it, I thought, "Great, another award I didn't win. Thanks for rubbing it in." Needless to say, I was shocked enough I said "What!" out loud as I walked down the hall with my BlackBerry when I saw my name on the end of the list.

The award was The International Congress of Oral Implantologists/Sullivan Schein Predoctoral Student Achievement Award. I was given some cash as well as a free implant CE course, all for my excellent achievements in my sophomore implant course and my skills during my implant clinical experiences and screenings.

I still don't really understand why they chose me. Did I even do well in that class my second year? I guess I must have done better than I thought!

Moral of the story: if you need a dental implant, I guess I am the one you want to come see. Ha HA HA!

Thoughts on the past 4 years

I officially have two weeks left until I am finished with 4 years of dental school! For many of my friends (and/or their wives), dental school has been the most horrific, miserable experience of their lives. For me, it has been a lot of hard work but I have really enjoyed it. I love dentistry. I like working hard. I enjoy learning. In many ways, it was better/easier than BYU. I have excelled much more academically despite taking 35 credit hours per semester, I haven't had a part time job or BYU lacrosse to distract me.

The first few years were rigorous academically. We had something like 140 quizzes and tests our first year alone. Third year was stressful in trying to incorporate all of my learning into patient care. Applying knowledge and facing new procedures almost every day with a pit in your stomach, pretending to be confident when your patient wasn't quite sure about you.

However, I think senior year was the hardest. It has been very different. Very little class time, only about 4 or 5 tests the whole year. Things that made it hard where mostly jumping through the hoops toward graduation. Things like managing your patient schedule to meet your requirements on time and finding patients for boards. This was my most stressful year of dental school by far, but most of it had very little to do with school.

When I left for my rotations, I had an interview with my instructor who told me I was passing with a "C" and should be very proud of myself. I was below our group average on points and wasn't doing very well on my daily evaluations. I felt far from proud--I felt very discouraged.

My rotations forced me to be independent, to make decisions, and to trust my judgement as well as improve my speed. Now, I am on my way to a "A" in daily procedure points and continue to receive multiple compliments from instructors, including things like, "You should work on my teeth" and "Perfect work, right from the text book," and "You are getting better and better every day." I am so grateful all of my hard work seems to be paying off. I want to be a great dentist not only for myself, but for my patients. And after 4 years of school at one of the most rigorous and excellent dental programs in the country, I am beginning to feel ready. I am so grateful that I have had the many opportunities that have been given me.

Let's see what I can learn in the last 8 days!

Things have been going great at school. I have been working very hard, trying to keep busy, learning as much as I can in the last few weeks, and getting as many points as possible to boost my gpa before a potential application cycle this fall. So far, so good.

Until the last few days. Suddenly, I have had failing appointments or cancelling at the last minute and a lack of patients again. So...

I have been sitting here bored at my computer for it seems like days with only a small procedure here and there. We are not allowed to go home early. I have no lab work to do. No homework to do. Not enough blogs to read. So, I either need some more procedures to do or you better get writing!

11 clinic days left!

More Cowbell

After we finish our graduation requirements, the ritual at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry is that you get to ring "the cowbell" to let everyone know who else will be called "Dr." when the year is over.

Today I finished my last requirement, my molar root canal (with a little help from my instructor who finished it for me since we were running out of time today--thank you!). Yay! Once I get the paperwork done, it will be my turn!

I've definately had a fever this year (senioritis) and the only prescription is a little more cowbell!

Boring...

I think my life is pretty boring right now. Other people are writing about exciting trips or things they have done, or even interesting thoughts. I have done none of these things lately. Early on in my blogging Brenna told me I have to write often to keep my "following"(maybe you should remember this too, B :) ). I can't seem to think of anything blogworthy lately.

But, I guess that is a good thing. Since I tend to write about the incredibly horrible things that happen in my life (I think I'm a bit of a drama queen), I think that means things are going pretty well (minus the minor credit card fraud and associated phone calls I have been receiving). I am well on my way to passing Family Dentistry (our one class this year) and am about the breach the "C" range. This is the biggest hurdle up the grade ladder. Once I get past here I can advance pretty quickly through the grades by a mere couple hundred points instead of 3800 for a "D" or the 4250 for a "C-". Right now I am on track for an "A-" if I continue to work hard and have good luck with my patients. I am hoping that I can take a big jump in my class rank if I do well since everyone either is doing general dentistry and doesn't care about grades, or already matched into a specialty and really don't care.

My biggest hurdle toward graduation--getting my molar root canal patient to come back! She is my last requirement and wont make an appointment. I may have to find another.

So, my life is pretty boring. But I prefer it to the excitement of boards, the stress of worrying about graduation, or the craziness of just being way busy.

Results...

Barely Done

Today was one of my craziest days ever!

My patient for the morning showed up only to say he was unsure he wanted to have the treatment done since his tooth wasn't bothering him. *WHAT?* I finally told him he could get a second opinion from the examiners and if he was approved maybe we could go from there. Then, it took over 75 minutes to get approved. I was so nervous. Turns out a computer glitch with the xrays. After all that, he was not approved! There were absolutely no backup patients at the school and few options left for even Monday. Eek. They decided to give me a 45 minute time extension since it was a malfunction.

We tried to find another patient with little success. Then, my friend (now my best friend ever) suggested I get a few xrays on her sister (who was her assistant), that she may have a class III. Bingo! Right under her nose! We quickly submitted her and waited some more. We were all so relieved when she was approved. My friend sacrificed her assistant so I could have a patient. After each step we received grading checks that took probably at least 30-45 minutes each again. At 1:20 I submitted her for the final grade, the dispensary clerks cleaned up my unit, and I rushed off to the endo exam that began at 12:45. I had until 5:40 to finish the endo with my extension but luckily got done early, about 5:00. I rushed to have a few more forms signed and got everything turned in about 5:20 as the examiners were leaving.

So now, I have a huge headache, am starving, and I think relieved. And thank goodness I have the day off tomorrow and don't have to go back for one more day.

Thanks for everyone who helped me out today! Esp Rachel Culmer my wonderful and patient assistant and my wonderful backup patient and her sister.

1/2 way done

Today was the first day of the WREB board exam. I felt very lucky that last night I slept like a baby and woke up feeling great. All of the nervousness, anxiety, butterflies were gone. So much so, that when my patient was a 1/2 hour late and I called to find out she had missed her alarm and had not left her house yet (30 minutes north) I sat and calmly enjoyed one of the bagels I brought.

So, as I said, we started at 9 instead of at 8, two hours after I arrived. The prep (drilling on the tooth) went very well overall, I thought. It was one of my prettiest, at least from a polished/neat perspective. My patient did not like the rubber dam and started crying about an hour in. We talked her down and kept going. When I did the silver filling, I had some trouble and so redid it. However, the next time I thought it was great, took off the rubber dam, and checked with some floss. Oh no! The contact between the teeth was open, meaning the floss slid right through without much resistance (a potential food trap). I had a feeling my patient would not sit through me doing it again (and the rubber dam was already off, too) and after debating with myself, I turned it in.

She came back with a pink slip. That means, "The patient may need follow up treatment" (meaning a new filling) because of the contact (or lack of one). As far as I know, this is not a failure and is only one of many criteria. I am hoping I did well enough on the rest of the tooth that it is okay! If anything, it means I must do very well on tomorrow's cavity since they are grading them together.

I only got really nervous when I was waiting for the examiners to accept my perio patient (my cleaning). She had some very tough tartar to get off but I think I got her teeth overall nice and smooth. I can miss 3 pieces of tartar and still pass. I am hoping I did!

One more day to go...

Here it Comes

I keep having dreams about the board exam (starting tomorrow). Some of them are, my patients keep failing to get approved for use on the test because of weird rules I "forgot" about. Rules like, absolutely no talking once the procedure begins. At least they aren't real rules I have to worry about failing in real life.

We have orientation this afternoon. I have to turn some things in today and prepare my forms and x rays.

Tomorrow morning I will be at the school by 7:00 am. If all goes well, I will finish my first cavity followed by my periodontal disease cleaning. I have all day to do it, so plenty of time. I think the scariest part will be having patients approved for use on the test.

For Sunday morning I finally found another cavity patient. Phew. I will be doing a less familiar procedure (done it once!) but I think it will somehow be okay. Then, in the afternoon I will do root canals on two extracted teeth that are mounted in a plastic mannequin head. If all goes well, I will be done Sunday afternoon!

I am most nervous about: 1) patients being accepted to be used on the test; 2) my root canal teeth being mounted slightly wrong and rejected by the examiners; 3) my second cavity patient procedure I haven't done for 2 years; 4) my cleaning patient having such hard tartar it wont come off (she hasn't had a cleaning for I think close to 20 years!).

Wish me luck. I promise you wont have to hear about this much longer! I guess it is all I can think about.

Well, the countdown is on until boards. Just a few days away and I find I am still without one patient. I know it will be okay. People have been stockpiling patients as back ups. They should become available once the test begins. I am hoping to find a patient before the exam, however. I like the idea of preparation rather than procrastination. It hasn't been a delay on my part, but things just haven't worked out. It makes me a bit nervous but I know it will be okay.

On a positive note, my sister and her husband are in town which is nice.

Board Un-luck

Well, less than one week until my clinical licensure exam. I am relieved to have a few days off this week to prepare, regroup, and relax.

As for the progress in finding patients, as of Friday afternoon I thought I was set with all three of my patients. As of Friday evening I was down to just two.

My friend had recently found a patient for us to share. It looked like a golden opportunity and just what both of us needed less than 2 weeks before the exam. She chose which tooth I would do and I was to use the patient Sunday morning and she would use her Sunday afternoon. However, my friend at the last minute (Friday night) decided she didnt feel it was fair that I would get to submit the patient first and potentially use up a qualifying cavity that she may need. So, one week before the exam I was pretty much left to fend for myself again.

Luckily, I have two cavities in my other patient. However, that means instead of a filling in the front tooth that I have done dozens of times, I will have to do a different kind of filling on a back tooth that I have not done since sophomore year. I would rather not practice this again when my whole dental license rides on it but it will have to work.

We'll see how it goes. I could really use your prayers this weekend!