Did you miss me?!

Hello! I haven't been able to post much since all of my time is spent seeing patients now…like real live patients. Since I had the rare occasion of being in sim-clinic I decided to throw up a few pictures for you to check out. 

We are working on our Cerec module and I actually remembered to take pictures. For those of you that don't know, Cerec is a machine that is capable of taking 3D images and milling a crown in the same appointment. It's pretty techy stuff. Enjoy! 

Impression with heavy/light body. I just like the colors. From here I mounted my models. 

My prep on #28 with HUGE margins. We were told we needed 1.5mm margins on our preps and I think they look ridiculous. 

Using the intra-oral scanner to take 3D images of my model. 

Action shot. 

You take 3 or 4 images and the computer stitches them together to create a master image.  Fancy.

With all of my scans in the computer, I am ready to design my crown and prepare it to be milled. 

Finished crown design. Kind of a wide contact on the distal, but I am satisfied. Next week we will mill our crowns. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading! Happy Wednesday!

Yankin' Teeth

A tooth I removed for a precious man yesterday. Great reminder of why I am in this profession. 

I have been a part of a team of students, faculty, and social workers that have been working on opening a dental clinic that provides free care to those with disabilities and children under the age of 5. Yesterday was a monumental day. That clinic seen its first patents and it was a huge success. My college does a wonderful job at putting emphasis on the importance of giving back to your community, they don't just preach it… they lead by example. Proud Day. 


Happy Sunday! 

Celebrity Teeth

 Well not exactly celebrity, but veneers! About a week ago we practiced veneer preps and provisionals. I took a few pics to show you the process. Enjoy!! Happy Wednesday!

Incisal depth guides on #9. ^

Facial depth guides ^

#9 prep mostly done and depth guides on #10. ^

Workin away^

Incisal view of the lingual shelf. ^

Couple of finished veneer preps. ^

Making a provisional with a matrix and Bis-acryl. ^

Temporary before it was cleaned up. (and we only have one shade in sim clinic…hence the yellow.)^

Fixed Partial Dentures?!

Hey all! This is a quick post to show some fixed partial denture preps from earlier this week. We have a competency on this coming up in a few weeks, so you may see more pictures as I work on my preps and temporary restorations. (I have not made a temporary for these yet… you will get pics as soon as I do.) Hope your week is flying by like mine is!! Happy Thursday :)

#28 and #29 prepped and ready for crowns ^

More views ^

and even more views ^

Root Canal Therapy Monday

Well Hello! It is Monday here, and probably Monday where you are too, and what better to do on a Monday then RCT!? Here is a little step by step of some molar endo to help make your Monday fab. I mean it is not being done on you, so that has to make you a little happy. Enjoy!

The setup… ready to access some canals ^

My cute little patient ^

Just starting the accessing ^

Exposed pulp horns ^

Two of the 3 canals were found, but the darn mesial canal was impossible to  find. Radiographically it is visible, but clinical I swear it didn't exist. Ugh. Even the endodontist couldn't find it. ^

See?! Mesial canal exists. Frustrating.

Happy Monday! (I used the word "Monday" 6 times in this post… win.)

Onlays!

It is Wednesday and I am pooped! I had a very fun weekend that included a night out on the town, BBQing, and a lovely beach day. Monday and Tuesday flew by and I had sim clinic bright and early this morning…so I decided to take a few pictures of my onlay preps I did today. Restorative work is something I have always enjoyed, so this morning was actually relaxing and a nice break before a busy afternoon in the clinic. I am on my radiology rotation this week in clinic and it can get a little hectic at times, but overall I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Enjoy the pictures and Happy Hump Day! 

My virgin #30 and prepped inlays on #20 and #19 ^ 

Dropping the mesial box… Still have the enamel shell intact to protect the adjacent tooth. ^

Mesial box finished. ^

Forgot to get pictures of the distal box prep in progress… but here is the finished distal box and the reduced buccal cusps with a ledge. ^

Another angle ^

The finished onlay! ^

Another onlay that I did on #5 ^

Inlays!

I got to wake up bright and early today to work on some inlay preps in sim clinic. The whole ordeal went decently well, considering it was my first and I did not have near enough coffee in my body yet. Pictures are below for your viewing pleasure…oh and Happy Wednesday!

Our brand new typodonts… that look identical to our old ones. ^

The beginning of an inlay prep on #19 ^

Continuing the occlusal prep all the way through #20… does anyone else see a faint outline of an elephant?^

Dropping boxes. ^

Smoothing walls and floors etc… ^

Finished inlays on #19 and #20… picture is a little blurry,  oh well. 

P.S. If you click on the pictures, it makes them bigger and the quality improves a little. FYI. 

I spy...

Woot! Woot! Can you spot the complex restoration?! I'll give you a clue… It is a molar. It is not a 2nd molar. It is not a 3rd molar. It does not have amalgam on it. Get it yet? Ok, fine. It is #3. Happy Monday! Hope you are rejuvenated from a wonderful weekend. 

V.I.P

Hello, hello, hello! So, as I mentioned earlier… I saw a V.I.P today in clinic! Sadly, I am not going to be able to reveal who this patient is. Even though I have consent from the patient, I do not want to rock the boat at school or fluster any feathers of the administration. Here is what I can tell you all. 

The appointment went really well. Today, I had to finish his complete oral exam, obtain x-rays, present his treatment plan, and then do a DO composite on #29… and he was a rockstar through the whole thing. The only hiccup we had was that he has a history of being difficult to numb :( So after poking him more times then I would like of liked, and about 90 carps of lidocaine later…he got numb (or so he said… I think he just wanted to get on with the show.) I hadn't seen anything like that before… I mean, the whole half of his mouth was numb, but the second I put the drill on his tooth he could feel it. Maybe he is a drug seeker? Although I have never heard of local anesthetic being anyones drug of choice! (Joking… obviously) Anyhoo, once the decay was removed and we were on to the restoration it was smooth sailing. I couldn't take any pictures that involved more than the mouth because the clinic admins don't want any other patients accidentally getting paparazzied. Understandable I guess. So here are the few that I got… they are not awesome. Sorry. But I will get better at photographing real mouths. Also I don't have any of the restorative process, because we were running out of time. Enjoy and Happy Thursday :)

His pretty teeth before the makeover on #29 ^

It was the distal of #29 that I worked on, even though the ML of #30 probably grabbed your eye. I have a different plan for that guy :) ^

I believe I was rinsing out the box of my prep at this point, or who knows what I was doing. ^

Like I said.. the pics aren't too wonderful. This is the best picture of my prep that I could get. Note: the darkness you see at the distal of #29 is not decay, it is where the box drops down at. It was a pretty prep… to bad I am a bad photographer.

RPD's

More RPD's for ya'll… Cause I know you love them. Sorry this is short; more to come. Happy Thursday :)

Maxillary Kennedy Class II ^

Mandibular Kennedy Class II ^

Fashion Forward.

Removable partial dentures are super hip this summer; they are trending on twitter and are hot on the runways. So being the budding fashionista I am, I decided to embrace my inner vogue and began the process of designing my own removable partial denture (well not for me to wear….ok maybe I will try it.) Now for the dental terminology… the RPD above is designed for a Kennedy Class I dentition. We started by carving in rest seats on the distal canines and the mesial 1st PM, then added in the lingual bar and retention mesh. I actually worked with a partner on this exercise, so the left side of the mandible was designed by me and the right was designed by my partner (thats why it looks a tad asymmetric.) I will be designing many more RPD in the coming weeks so get ready. Happy Thursday everyone! (Seriously though, dentures trending on twitter…what a day!)

Hip..Hip-hop… Hip-hop-pulpotomy?

Well Hello All! I decided a little pulpotomy action was appropriate for today, actually my professors decided that. So below is a step by step pulpotomy… I know!!…contain yourself. This summer has been so busy… I can not believe that June is almost over already! I am not seeing any of my own patients this week because I am on a surgery rotation in the clinic. Boo yah! Hopefully some cool stuff goes down :) Happy Tuesday and enjoy the gory pictures below. 

The setup. I put this in for old time sake… I haven't done it in awhile. Awww nostalgia. ^

                           Oh no! Is that a bloody bur I see?! Looks like it's time for a pulpotomy. ^

All Clean! Ready for some ZOE. (I know it still looks a little pink, but it is not… don't question me :) ^

Here are the finished SSC that I did not put up pictures of from my last post. Beautiful, right?! The patient loved them so much I am doing a full mouth of SSC on him next week! Jk.