Good Morning Saipan

Early Tuesday morning Crystal and I went live on Harry's Radio show 103.9 to promote National Dental Hygiene Awareness Month for the month of October. I was a bit nervous considering you never really know what Harry will ask you! Its good though because he keeps you guessing and I have to say that he's very professional on air! Needless to say we had a great time talking about the importance of proper oral hygiene and coming in regularly for dental checks every six months. We also discussed topics like how periodontal gum disease is linked to systemic diseases like Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, Stroke, Low term prebirth babies, and Pulmonary disease. Your mouth is truly a window of your health. Hope we got the point across. Of course we had a couple of minutes towards the end to talk about diving as well.

Anyway I just realized that I have been a Registered Dental Hygienist for four years! Holy Cow! Time has flown by and I can't believe I have been in this profession for that long. I have learned so much about life and people in this profession. Many times I have taken the role as a counselor in the chair where people would vent about anything from marriage, work, and real life concerns. Personal discussions don't ever leave my dental office. Its amazing how much people will share with you though. I may not offer advice but I do have great ears=)

Six Month Hygiene Recalls

(sigh) I had a patient like this today. It was kind of comical but annoying at the same time. I'm starting to burn out.



I am starting to see my patients that I saw six months ago. I'm so happy to see a regular recall patient because it means three things. Their exam, probing depths, and xrays are up to date. Thats a very BIG thing. They are definitely alot easier to clean than say a pateint that hasn't been in an over a year to thirty years. Its also nice to see a familiar face and to catch up on what they have been up to.

In the dental world its my patients that make or break my day. With that said, I think it is insane to believe that people's habits will change no matter how encouraging you are. There might be an exception every now and then but for the most part . . . nothing changes. (sigh) So I have surrended and accepted that I should just keep doing my part at the office and leave it up to the patient if he or she wants to take care of their teeth. I use to get frustrated when they would come back and I would see that nothing about their oral condition has changed . . . but not anymore. Insanity and hygiene go hand in hand. I found this quote on insanity.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~ Albert Einstein

Ramblings of a Jetlagged Nomad

Just call me miss procrastinator. I flew in a week earlier than originally intended because I needed to finish up some continuing education courses to renew my dental hygiene license. Every two years I am suppose to have at least 25 units under my belt. Before I arrived I only had four units and I needed to finish the rest before the 21st of May.

Every year the California Dental Association (CDA) puts on a gigantic convention that features the cutting edge of dental technology at the Anaheim Convention Center right near Disneyland. Thousands of Dentists, Dental Hygienists, and Assistants fly in from all over the world for this session.

Conventions are anything but boring. I have learned some new tips on how to give painless injections, how to manage difficult patients, how to be a better clinician chair side, and how to screen more efficiently for oral cancer. Maybe I am a geek but I enjoy lectures and can’t wait to get into Dentistry School. Conventions also serve as a place for me to see familiar faces like my hygiene colleagues and dentists I have worked with in the past.

I have been in class on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. I count today as my first day of vacation mainly because I got a chance to sleep in and recover from being jetlagged. Everyone is right about how nothing really changes when you are away. The usual morning traffic gridlock on route 91, everyone’s hectic schedules during the week, and people in general haven’t changed except that maybe they had more kids while I was away. Other than that it is the same game that continues.

Traveling and being away from my comfort zone has opened my eyes to see that I could really be anywhere I want to be. The world doesn’t seem so big anymore and the possibilities are endless. The concept of feeling at “home” is still foreign to me. I guess I am still searching for where I belong. Until then I’ll be wandering.

Healthy, Happy Smiles

Before I moved to Saipan I worked at a Dr. Caplanis' periodontal dental office in California that specialized in gum disease and implant dentistry. I loved the challenge of working with specialized scary cases. I learned so much from Dr. C and was able to apply that knowledge here in Saipan. Most of my patients that I ever worked on were adults 40 and older so I never really worked on anyone younger than 35.

Working at the clinic here in Saipan is alittle bit different. I see a whole age range of patients from age 1 to older adults. Its not bad but I guess I'm just so use to working just on adults. I have to be honest and say that I prefer working an adults more than kids. Kids are cute but they're really challenging to work on especially when they have the "wiggles" and when their crying in my chair =(

Although working on kids is challenging for me I find that teaching them is alot more fun! Today I was able to teach a Kindergarten class and a 3rd & 4th grade class at Saipan SDA School. The older kids were smart and quick to answer all my questions. The Kindergarten class was hilarious! They are still learning how to not call out and raise their hands. They made me laugh alot in class today and reminded how much fun teaching really is.

Anyway, here's some pics of the cute kids. Counting the days to see my niece and nephew in May=)

Kiss This

(sigh) This is how my day started out . . . How did your day go?!




Another fine example of a typical patient that I see everyday with heavy betal nut stain. The stain is actually heavier in the back of the teeth than in the front. It took me a good hour and a half to clean the fronts of the teeth. I had to reschedule him to come back for stain removal of the back side and for four quadrants of rootplaning. There was just too much to handle in one sitting and I felt like my hand was going to fall off. You see, this is why I have to play so hard out here!=) I am working hard out here! I'm not just on a year vacation :P~

On a happier note, I had a patient this afternoon that found me through my blog=) He found out I was U.S. trained and booked an appointment with specifially me=) While he was laying in my chair I recognized him from his online blog. He shall remain nameless only because I don't want to break patient confidentiality. Saipan is way too small.

Morning Talk

A short conversation between my patient and me.

Me: Hello. How are you doing today?
Him: fine.
Me: Are there any changes in your health since we last saw you?
Him: I'm more uglier
Me: laughs
Me: Do you have any complaints about your teeth?
Him: Yes. My gums bleed.
Me: Are you able to floss at all?
Him: No. I don't like to find things inbetween my teeth. Its gross.
Me: So you would rather leave the junk in there?
Him: yes
Me: *sigh*

Thank goodness I wear a mask that covers half of my face. The mask covers my facial expression when I am about to laugh hard or when I am horrified by what I find in people's mouths. My patients make me laugh and keep my day going!