Pedo Tuscaloosa

For those who are curious, here is what to expect on this rotation:

Breakdown of the clinic:

• There are 3 operatories. Two of them are mainly used for prophies and exams and the 3rd chair is where most operative procedures are done.

• They start scheduling patients at like 8:30 and they will typically schedule 4-6 patients per hour. There are a lot of no-shows so they compensate by over-booking. 

• The last patient in the morning is scheduled for 11AM and the last patient in the afternoon is scheduled for 3pm. When I was there, we were off to lunch by 11:20am and we were done for the day by 3:10pm. You all will go out to lunch with Dr. Thornton which is awesome. There are two D3's, two D4's, and one resident.

What you will be doing

1. Exam & Prophy - mainly you will just be doing an exam and a prophy. These are very simple. The biggest challenge is just patient management. You won't use any scalers. The prophy consists of brushing their teeth using either A) a prophy cup and paste, or B) a normal toothbrush, depending on their age and behavior. 
1. You will then take some fluoride varnish and paint it on all of their teeth.
2. Then just look around their mouth for any cavities, etc.
2. PRR & Sealant
1. I didnt actually see any of these done when I was there, but some people have told me that they have. If you don't feel comfortable doing one of these, just ask a D4 to take over. But it would be good practice, I'm sure.
3. Assisting the resident
1. I assisted on 3 procedures and they were all pretty cool. One was an extraction and the other two were stainless steel crowns.  I'd recommend trying to at  least assist once. It's a lesson not only in patient management but also in doing a procedure we don't see very often.

Competencies

If nothing else, at least get 2 of the 3 competencies out of the way. Dr. Thornton wants you to get them done. He is most likely to allow you to do the health promotion and the treatment planning comptencies. At least one of the competencies needs to be done with Dr. Mitchell. My competency experience:

• Health promotion - just ask the mom what the child eats and drinks. Tell them to make sure they start drinking more water and less juice. Milk is okay too, but don't let them have the bottle/cup by their bed overnight. Candy is okay every now and then but make sure the parent knows the importance of brushing the child's teeth a few minutes after eating the candy. Boom, competency completed. Dr. Thornton is very easy going and basically tells you everything to do.
• Treatment planning - try to at least do one of the prophies yourself. It's very easy to stand in the background and just assist D4's, but make a point to do one on your own. That way, you can knock out the treatment planning competency. Basically what is involved: after cleaning their teeth, look around their mouth and make note of all the cavities that you see and what tooth number it is. Put it in the chart and write it in the progress note. You will need to record dental codes and all that as well. Make sure Dr. Thornton signs it. 

It's all very simple. Ask the D4's if you have any questions and they will be glad to help. The assistants are really great too. This is an easy-going rotation but also a very helpful one.

- Joe