The Clinic

This summer we got to start seeing patients as students providing comprehensive care. It has been a good experience and I have been thoroughly enjoying it most of the time. School is much better now that the things that I do are actually going towards the care of real people and not just practicing on manikins. Today was a particularly special day but not because I got to do anything spectacular. One of my patients who I am going to remake her upper denture came in today to so we could finalize her treatment plan and get her on a high caries risk plan. She asked if I could reline her ill fitting upper denture because it was bothering her and she knew that we are about to go on break. I said that I thought I could do that but I needed to check with faculty because we typically don't work on things that were not made here at the school. I got it cleared, and after all the paperwork was done I got to reline her denture. It made a world of difference to her quality of life. She went from having an upper denture that was poorly relined, irritating and would not stay in to having a denture with a little retention. A vast improvement for such a small procedure. She was so much happier she said that she was going to go home and have a steak. I said don't get too carried away. It is amazing how one little thing that takes only a few minutes can make such an impact on someone's quality of life. Before today I was kind of dreading remaking her upper denture knowing that the best I could do would still be not very good. But After today I am excited to see how much more of an improvement I can make when she gets a new denture that is done correctly. I still know that it wont be great but it will be better than I first thought. Experiences like today is why I got into health care and what keeps me passionate about what I am doing. I hope there are many more day like today in my future.
Tomorrow, I am going to be doing my first fillings on a real patient. Wish me luck!