September 20, 2007

My patient this morning ended up being a Class III! Yay! She only speaks spanish so I got to practice my spanish a lot and I realized how truly hard it is to communicate with a language barrier. She taught me that floss is "ilo dental". I used the online translator as well as my instructor and I can only hope that she really understands how serious her condition is and how it affects her overall health. It was also difficult explaining the relationship between her diabetes and her oral condition. I will see her in a few weeks to start her cleaning...I'll let you know how it goes.
This afternoon was a Class V pt. He has existing mild bone loss but he takes very good care of his teeth now. It is so exciting to see a pt that was once diseased, has been educated, and now is just on maintainance and doing very well. It makes all these long days worth it!