Prettypanda's Weblog

Final Reflection

prettypanda — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:36:57 +0000

Congratulations girls we did it, the end is finally here and we survived!

The past two years of my life have been focused on the learning of dental hygiene as a skill and as a profession, I have learned so many things, but of all of them the valuable lessons about client care and individualized care plans was learned in this unique populations class in my final semester of school.

The first thing we got to do in this course was to create a fun interactive presentation for the local grade eight students. We worked as a group and developed teamwork skills as well as very valuable leadership skills. When the day came for the actual presentation it was fun watching the student try their hand at new skills and even better when you got to watch the light turn on for a couple of them. The assignment was a great introduction to what this course would entail.

The next assignment was to go to the Innisdale high school and meet with a student who had learning or physical disabilities and deliver oral hygiene to that student. In preparation for this we had a class activity where we bound our limbs, covered our eyes, and plugged our ears to get a taste of what these people might live with on a daily basis. It was an enormously eye opening experience that no amount of notes could have captured. It was hands on and real. When we went to the high school I was incredibly nervous, but after meeting with my paired student and talking with her it was easy. This experience was valuable in that even though we might not see an individual with special needs on a daily basis in private practice it is certianly a demographic that we will see and treat and this experience was great at helping us prepare for those times.

The next adventure that the class did was the trip to the jail, and while most of us felt apprehensive about this at the beginning I think in the end it was a valuable experience. I was really shocked how well the prisoners in a medium security prison lived. I was even more shocked at the benefits they received surrounding health care. The government clearly thinks that preventative dental care is important enough to offer 3 units of free cleaning to the inmates, yet the only free dental coverage offered to regular community member is through CINOT (children in need of treatment) this does not include preventative treatment. Where is the justice in that? It was a good experience seeing what the clinic looked like and knowing that that type of government job exists.

Finally through the presentations of other professionals in the field I learned about so many other options I could persue. The woman who spoke to the class about her journey to Peru was amazing and so many times while she was speaking I was only hoping for the opportunity to one day partake in something as incredible. Evelyn Waters was also a welcome visitor, as she helped to explain the different courses of action that could be taken when a complaint comes in, or a refersher on the way the CDHO opporates. The presenations of my classmates throughout the course were also very benneficial as I learned alot about different diseases and disabilities that I never knew before, and while most of the information was introductory, it was a great start to understanding some of those conditions.

My time in this class has been incredible, I feel that this course has given me more in one shot then many of the rest of them put together. Most of our other courses gave us theory and the knowledge to do different things within dental hygiene clinically, but this course actually opened the door and let us go ahead and do them ourselves within the community. For the first time I felt like a person capable of entering the workforce and providing adequate dental hygiene services from a completely different perspective then in the past. I know that I am now more prepared to make referals, call for consultations and finally report to the correct authorities when needed.

Week 11

prettypanda — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:49:29 +0000

It seems like only yesterday that we were all sitting getting to know one another. I cant believe there are only a few weeks left, I have spent almost every day with the girls in this program and it is certainly going to be strange when we no longer spend our daily lives together. I look forward to graduating as much as anyone but I’ll miss all of the girls in this class whom I have come to know as friends and respect as collegues of a shared profession. I just want to say an early thank you to these girls for sharing some of the best and worst times of my life.

Ok enough mushy sappiness, moving on with business.

This week the Deputy Registrar from the CDHO, Evelyn Waters came to speak to the class about jurisprudence. She was an interesting woman, she was well spoken and right from the start she made it clear that it was her job and that of the CDHO to protect the public and ensure that dental hygienists in Ontario are practicing safely.

It was a great refresher on the things that Linda discussed with us in the Professional Issues class. The topic of documentation is something that I have always thought was important. In first year we heard a presentation made by a student who had to defend herself based on records that didn’t have much documentation in them, after that I always tried to think from the clients perspective and what they might say or ask and always document exactly what happens during the appointment, especially what is said.

We discussed the importance of the professional portfolio and how to maintain it. As well we talked a bit about the audit and the process of how that goes. Evelyn also spoke with us about the process of become self-regulated, a topic I’m sure is an interest to all of us. As students we are able to take a course and then work under a mentor, and once it is decided that we have the knowledge skill and judgment to initiate client treatment that mentor will let the CDHO know.

As graduation comes closer and closer I have never felt more mixed feelings in my life. I feel that nervous excitement of starting a new chapter in life and that terrifying feeling that I might not be ready, but underneath all of that I know that we all have been prepared for this time in our lives, we all have been given the knowledge to proceed with our learning in the world outside of Georgian College.

week 9/10

prettypanda — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:26:28 +0000

During these two weeks we discussed women’s issues and how they impact the care we deliver. I found this topic to be of particular interest as being a woman myself, I had not previously thought of women as being a unique population on their own. I had always considered that men and women were separate, but as far as oral health considerations, it didn’t really occur to me that women would have their own separate needs.

Included in the discussion over the two weeks were topics such as heart disease as a main risk factor to women, female cancers, osteoporosis, eating disorders, abuse and women’s life cycles such as puberty, pregnancy and menopause.

We watched an emotional video “dying to be thin” on eating disorders that typically affect women and I personally was shocked at the things I saw. Dancers who were overly concerned the image and the pressure from casting directors that made them feel the way they did. Eating disorders do affect an alarmingly large population of women (14 out of 100,000); and if dentists and dental hygienists are those most likely to notice the condition first it is important that we are prepared to discuss it.

Eating disorders discussed included bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. An article provided by the instructor provides a great overview of these diseases and the link to the oral cavity. http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v186/n3/full/4800036a.html

In class the topic of how and who to speak to if and when a young person presents with the typical signs of an eating disorder, the discussion mostly surrounded whether or not to tell the parents of that child. We discussed how if that person was able to make informed consent then they would be able to tell you not to tell their parents. The more I thought about this topic, I thought about what my obligation to report would be, I didn’t bring it up in class as I didn’t think of it until later, but often these types of diseases accompany a psychological disorder as well and I wondered if C.A.S. should be informed of the eating disorder in a young person.

We also covered such topics as pregnancy and menopause. There were a lot of care considerations concerning the pregnant client, such as proper positioning for a woman in the third trimester, and the need for meticulous oral care during the course of their pregnancy. It was helpful to discuss how to communicate the need for certain procedures, such as radiographs as it is a common myth that radiographs are harmful to pregnant women, it is important to have the knowledge to back up what you are saying and it is helpful when explaining to have the exact numbers i.e what the max limit of radiation for a pregnant woman is vs. how much they would be getting from a dental radiograph. It was also interesting and helpful to discuss the oral manifestations we should expect to see with a client who is pregnant.

Some other great links that can help express some of the topics covered in these two weeks are:

http://www.perio.org/consumer/prematurity-studies.htm
http://www.perio.org/consumer/women.htm
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/dentalwork.html
http://www.healthunit.org/dental/pregnancy_oral/gum_disease.htm

Week 8

prettypanda — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:31:56 +0000

Welcome Back Everyone!

After a short little holiday, we are back into the groove of school once more. This week in class we presented short ten to fifteen minute presentations on topics that we selected before the reading week. We were in groups of three or four and we all presented a different health related topic that as dental hygienists we might have to make modifications to treatment to accomodate. Every group included a hand out sheet that had useful tips to help us study for our up coming test or to help us in general in our clinical setting.

There were a lot of really neat topics that I didnt know much about prior to hearing the presentations and in my opinion all of the groups did a really great job of stressing the important sub-topics like, DHE/OHI considerations, oral manifestations, and different barriers to care. Some of the topics discussed were spina bifida and spinal injuries, cerebral and bells palsy, parkinsons disease and multiple sclerosis.

My group talked about spina bifida and spinal injuries, before doing the research on this topic I really didn’t know much about it. I learned a lot while researching and consequently was able to pass that information along to my peers in the presentation. Specifically one of the interesting things I learned was that people who have spina bifida have an increase risk of developing a latex allergy due to the amount of surgeries they had when they were little. Because of this it was advised to book those clients in the morning so that the latex dust from the gloves was not floating in the air.

The presentations were a great way to start the week with something fun and interesting.

Week 7

prettypanda — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:03:50 +0000

This may have been one of our class’s most exciting weeks yet. We all got in our cars and traveled to Fenbrook correctional institution near Gravenhurst . The main reason for our visit was to tour the health services section that the institution provides to the inmates, however we were fortunate enough to get to tour most of what the facility had to offer the inmates who reside there.I was surprised at what I saw when I arrived, there was your basic barbed wire fencing square around the perimeter however once inside it was nothing like what I would have expected. I was thinking it would look much like the movies depicted, one large building with several rooms or cells for the inmates to live in, with a laundry room, library and that sort of thing. I expect that the inmates would be wearing jumpsuits and slippers. I was wrong about all of these things.
Once we went through the main security building, you exited into the fenced in area, where the inmates walked around freely in jeans blue t-shirts and shoes of their choosing. They live in apartment style condos, where there were 6 to an apartment. This seemed much like some of the residences that they have for colleges and universities. Each inmate was allotted $3.75 each day to use as they wished to buy groceries from the store that was contained within the facility or anything else they desired. The woman who gave us the tour explained that while this didn’t seem like much they could make it work, she said that some inmates found it difficult but others pooled their money and ate well. Each inmate was also give a fairly large piece of land that they could grow a garden if they wanted to. Beyond this the inmates also had access to a gym with work out equipment, a library with internet access, and also education type facilities.
When we entered the health services building I was surprised that it looked just like any other medical office. The were doctors and nurses wandering through and there was a reception area to check in, the only difference was that their were security doors to each part of the office. We were escorted into the dental wing, which also housed the optical services wing. The hygienist who works there was very friendly and explained that she worked alone most days but that a dentist came by sometimes too. There were two chairs in her little operatory and all the equipment of any other offices. I asked her if she had any restrictions on the type or number of instruments that she would be allowed to use and she said that she could have what ever she needed there. She also explained that the inmates were allowed to have one visit each year for dental/dental hygiene treatment that was covered by the government. She explained that most of their health services were covered that in fact they could get things like Nicorette to stop smoking for free.
This whole thing was a little eye opening to me. These people who broke the law, committing crimes that landed them in medium security, were receiving better care than some of the people that are commonly referred to as the working poor. If the government thinks that it is important enough of a service to offer it free of charge to inmates, why is it not covered by OHIP for people who have done nothing wrong and are contributing to society? Even under the CINOT (Children In Need Of Treatment) children are only able to get emergency treatment, not preventative. This simply was mind boggling to me. In my opinion Canada and more importantly Ontario needs to look at their priorities.

the security gate we went through to get into the inner grounds

this is the veiw of the grounds, you can see the apartments from this view and the grounds for gardens

Week 6

prettypanda — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:28:45 +0000

What a week!

This week, our class was having a guest speaker Rick Tout from the OPP to speak with us about elderly abuse. I unfortunately could not attend this lecture. I was in the hospital for most of the day with what I thought was pink eye. As it turned out my sore, itchy, red, light sensitive eye was not infected with the pink eye virus. I had a corneal ulcer, a pin prick size hole in the iris of my eye. To heal this I was given drops to freeze my eye and stop the irritation, but the freezing drops made me extremely light sensitive, which made coming to class an impossibility for me.

This is an image of basically what an corneal ulcer is.

Attached are links for more information on elderly abuse and what to do if you see elderly abuse.

http://www.opp.ca/Community/CrimePrevention/opp_000267.html

http://www.onpea.org/en/Home.htm

http://www.ophthobook.com/chapters/traum

Week 5

prettypanda — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:50:47 +0000

This week was a fun week, we started Monday morning off by heading back to the Innisdale High School where we would deliver our oral hygiene instructions to the student we were paired with. When I arrived, I met up with my partner Whitney and the student we were paired with Courtney. Courtney was happy to see us and quickly began telling us all about her weekend that she had just had. She told us about the “hours and hours” of shopping she had done with her mom for summer clothes, which she said was not her favorite way to spend the weekend.

She told us that she had gotten up early that day to make sure that she brushed her teeth because she knew that we would be coming to see her that day. Whitney and I both praised her for this and told her that we were really proud of her. We used this as a way to start our oral hygiene instruction with Courtney.

Prior to coming to the high school, I recreated the brushing and flossing chart that my group made for the smile box for the Simcoe County Dental Hygienists Society, to give to Courtney to help her to remember to brush her teeth daily.

We let Courtney pick a colour of toothbrush and then we began to show her how to use it, Whitney explained the procedure or circular while I showed her on the Dexter mouth model. We then had her show us how to do it, she needed a bit of help so we went over the whole thing again a second time. Then Whitney had a great idea to get a second toothbrush for herself and brush her teeth with Courtney. This time I explained while Whitney showed her on herself and together Whitney and Courtney brushed their teeth.

After that I gave courtney the brushing chart and I showed her how to checkoff each day that she brushed her teeth in the morning and at night. The chart also had a section for flossing, but the focus of our oral hygiene instruction was simply to get Courtney to brush her teeth properly twice daily.

http://www.scdhs.ca/about.php

Week Four

prettypanda — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:25:15 +0000

Week three was Victoria Day, and therefore we did not have any class.

This week was a fun week, on Monday instead of having class we traveled to a high school in Barrie to meet with the life skills class. I was fairly apprehensive about going to the school and meeting with the students. As I haven’t had any experience of this nature and was unsure of how to prepare for it.

When I arrived at the school, I entered the cafeteria full of students. I discovered that the student who I had been assigned had already been paired up with someone else, so I was then matched up with Whitney a student in my class and her partner Courtney from the life skills class. Courtney was a chatty girl so it took no time at all to feel comfortable conversing with her. We didn’t spend too much time talking about her oral care habits, she said she didn’t like the dentist and that she rarely brushed her teeth, but that was the extent of the dental conversation. We then just spent the rest of the time talking about things she liked to do, or things she was going to get to do either with the class or at home on her own time. Courtney had quite the sense of humor and had Whitney and myself laughing for most of our time together.

After I left the high school, I felt a lot differently than when I had arrived. The whole experience had seemed scarier before and after I left I couldn’t really remember what had been worrying me in the first place. We didn’t get much information from Courtney, but we got enough to begin to make a DHE/OHI session that would be appropriate. Whitney and I both decided that the circular brushing method would be the easiest for her to learn and the most important thing to teach her, as well we wanted to stress the need for tooth brushing everyday, so I had a brushing chart fabricated for Courtney to use to keep track of when she brushes each day.

Next week we will be travelling back to the high school to go through the DHE/OHI with Courtney and deliver the brushing chart and a new toothbrush to get her started. Updates to follow.

Week Two

prettypanda — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:39:35 +0000

Week two has now come and gone, and what an interesting and enlightening week it was. This week, our instructor Kelly had us do a series of tasks mimicking what it would be like to have some form of disability. They were tasks such as reading a story on a page that had been written to look as though you were seeing it through the eyes of a person who was dyslexic, or to tape three fingers together on your dominant hand and write your name. Kelly took these tasks and made them a little more personal and realistic.

She had us take things like strips of cloth or tape and create a physical impairment and then sent us to do real daily life task such as putting on a jacket, or buying coffee or using a vending machine to purchase candy. The original tasks at first seemed tedious and rather routine. It wasn’t until Kelly made them a little more real did I finally feel like I was getting a glimpse at what it might be like to live day in and out with a physical disability.

It really gave me a much greater appreciation for the simple things I take for granted that I am able to do like put on a jacket and button up the buttons. I know on our trip to the high school we are going to be meeting students with all kinds of different needs and that they wont all be physical, but the task we did in class on Monday gave me a really good starting point to help make the time with them more comfortable.

P.S On the weekend I was home and a neighbour took these pics of herself and her daughter I thought I would share them with you all

Charlene my neighbour said “I thought I would take these small pliers and pull out True’s tooth….shes a good patient!”

Hello world!

prettypanda — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:29:16 +0000

Welcome to my blog page! This will be a journal of the happenings, thoughts and comments about the Unique Populations class that I’m currently taking. I along with my other classmates are taking this class to gain better awareness and empathy for individuals who have cognitive, physical, psychological, sensory or emotional needs including how to recognize barriers to care and modify care to meet their needs.

On Monday, we watched an informative video on the etiquette of communications with people who have special needs. The video was very helpful in supporting us with any misconceptions we may have had about that type of communication and made me feel more comfortable about going to the high school in the coming weeks.

This course will present challenges for me personally and professionally, but hopefully because of this course I will be able to overcome barriers to communication and be able to make the best decisions for my client’s dental hygiene treatment.