Internship Journal Entries

January 6, 2016: Dr. Bhatt called off today, so the dental team was not present. For one hour, I
unpackaged the boxes that had dental material inside such as procedural masks, dental bibs, and
the tips of the suctioning instruments. I put the material away in the cabinet and also refilled the
operatories with the dental bibs and procedural masks.
January 4, 2016: Today, I walked in with Jeanna and Dr. Bhatt doing a crown preparation.
However, Dr.Bhatt and Jeanna made the crown for this patient in a different way. They used a
CEREC Omnicam which is a machine that gets a 3D image of the tooth to make the crown
with the CEREC CAD/CAM. The CEREC CAD/CAM makes a crown in two hours. While I
waited for the crown to finish, I was assisting Vanja by suctioning the excess water out of
patients mouth, disinfecting the operatories, and even helping Dr. Bhatt by passing her
instruments while she was doing a composite filling. After the two hours passed Dr. Bhatt took
the crown and cemented it into the prepped tooth.
December 30, 2015: I started the day off by disinfecting the rooms. It was a specialty day so the
dental clinic was very busy and had patients that needed oral surgery. I shadowed the oral
surgeon and he was extracting a wisdom tooth off a patients mouth. I also shadowed Dr. Bhatt
doing a crown prep.
December 28, 2015: Today I got my first criticism on my polishing. At first, I was upset because
I thought I was exceptional on coronal polishing. But eventually, I thought of it being impactful
to me in a positive way because I made sure that on the next patient I worked on, I would not
make the same mistake. I thought about how I have to be more thorough whenever I polish
patients teeth.
December 21, 2015: I helped Vanja suction and also shadowed Dr. Bhatt cement a bridge on a
patient. Dr. Bhatt removed the temporary bridge and then cleaned the teeth. After, she used
cement to have the bridge permanently stick to the abutments. I helped her with the procedure by
suctioning the patients mouth.
December 14, 2015: Dr. Bhatt used topical anesthesia and then injected needle into patients
gums for local anesthesia. After, she used a bur to carve the tooth. Dr. Bhatt isolated the tooth
and cleaned it by etching it. After the whole cleaning process, she filled it with composite filling.
On the next patient, Dr. Bhatt did another composite filling and cavity cleanups. She finished off
by polishing the teeth with a composite strip.
December 9, 2015: Vanja is as of today and I helped her suction patients mouths for the majority
of the day. For the rest of the day, I sterilized instruments.
December 7, 2015: Dr. Bhatt was making a partial mandibular denture and used heat to adjust the
denture. The heat of the instrument that Dr. Bhatt used melted the wax on the partial denture. On
the next patient, Dr. Bhatt put sedative filling on his tooth. Jeanna mixed the powder and liquid
to make the intermediate restorative material (IRM). Due to Vanja being absent, I was able to
polish the teeth of my first adult patient. To finish the day off, I sterilized instruments.

November 30, 2015: The first task that I did today was to disinfect the rooms and set them up. I
escorted the first patient that arrived to the dental clinic to the room. When Dr. Bhatt was
finished analyzing the patients teeth, I helped her suction the patients mouth while she was
polished. For the rest of the day, I shadowed Dr. Bhatt and she took an impression of the patients
maxillary dentition. The impression was to be taken to the lab and used to make a permanent
crown. When I shadow Dr. Bhatt, I compare the procedures that she does to what Vanja does and
I explore the pros and cons.
November 25, 2015: Since Vanja is still on vacation, the dental clinic was a little more busy than
usual. Dr. Bhatt and the dental assistants had to substitute for Vanja. Due to the fact that it was
busy today, I was offered to polish the teeth of young patients. As I was polishing their teeth, I
knew that I had to use the right amount of pressure and polishing paste. Polishing applies to what
I have learned in Dental class. If I did not learn coronal polishing in Dental class I would not
have much of an insight on how to polish.
November 23, 2015: Vanja is on vacation for the rest of the week so I spent the whole day
shadowing Dr. Bhatt. When I came in today, the endodontist was putting in the gutta percha in
the clean root canal. After the root canal treatment, I shadowed Dr. Bhatt doing two crown preps
and a bridge preparation. While I was watching Dr. Bhatt doing these procedures, I was
attentively analyzing the steps to each one.
November 18, 2015: When I came in today, Dr. Bhatt was doing a regular teeth examination on a
patient. After that, I helped Vanja suction. Then, I cleaned the room and showed the dental team
my coronal polishing video I made for Dr. Georges during their break. They told me that the
video was educational and accurate in terms of the steps for coronal polishing. After their lunch
break, Dr. Bhatt checked a patient and suggest for them to get an implant or a bridge since the
patient had a missing tooth.
November 16, 2015: I helped Vanja suctioned patients mouths the whole day. I also helped by
sterilizing instruments and disinfecting the rooms. It was a slow day and I shadowed Dr. Bhatt
whenever Vanja did not need my assistance.
November 9, 2015: Today, I helped Vanja suction a patient. However, the patient had very
sensitive teeth so Vanja used a scaler instead of the cavitron because of the electricity with the
composite filling and the cavitron and the water. Dr. Bhatt had to use a bur on a patient to shape a
tooth so they could close their mouth comfortably. There was a divot (a chip on the teeth) on the
lingual surface of the central incisors. Dr. Bhatt started to do a bridge prep with topical
anesthesia. After, she used a needle to numb the whole arch and then carved down the two
abutments. Then, she put etchant and then bonding agent to put the bridge.
November 2, 2015: Dr. Bhatt adjusted a mandibular partial denture for a patient by using the bur.
The whole dental team also had to do a safety check of the work environment. After, Dr. Bhatt
adjusted the occlusion of a tooth with the bur. For the last patient of the day, Dr. Bhatt was doing
a crown prep in order to start making a temporary crown. Jeanna took impression of the tooth.
Jeanna used a string around the tooth so she can put space around the margins of the tooth. After,

Dr. Bhatt quickly removed the string and quickly got the impression again. The patient had a root
canal on this tooth. So, in order for this tooth to be strong, a temporary crown is needed.
October 28, 2015: I have become a lot more comfortable with the dental team at Flamingo
Smiles Dentistry. They do not make me feel that I am bothersome and it makes me work a lot
more efficiently. I shadowed Dr. Bhatt and she put fillings in the missing spaces on the bottom of
the teeth. On the last patient of the day, I helped Vanja suction a patients mouth.
October 26, 2015:
Started the day off with assisting Vanja by suctioning two patients mouth. The two patients had a
regular prophylaxis appointment. The patient needed to see the endodontist because the tooth
with the root canal treatment was hurting. Dr. Bhatt checked occlusion and essentially used a bur
to scrape the teeth and then the patient said he felt better. After, I shadowed Dr. Bhatt doing a
cavity removal and filling. She put the metal plate around the tooth and used a wedge. After, Dr.
Bhatt used etchant, light cure, bonding agent, light cure, composite, then light cure. She had to
do the same procedure on the tooth next to the one that was just finished.
October 21, 2015:
I arrived and Dr. Bhatt already had done a crown prep on a patient. While I was shadowing, she
put cement on the tooth that is being prepped and put the crown on. Then, she removed the
cement and Megan put the light cure on the prepped tooth to harden the dental cement. Dr. Bhatt
finished off with flossing and taking x-rays of the patient. On the next patient, Dr. Bhatt was
removing yellow and black cavity. She showed me that it is good to hear a hard scrape on the
teeth because that means that the cavities are off. She then used a universal etchant on the
patient, then the bonding agent and scraped off the excess amount. To finish off, Dr. Bhatt filled
the teeth with composite and then used the light cure and then polished the teeth. For the last
patient of the day, I observed Dr. Bhatt making a partial and full denture for a patient. She
initially used wax to find out the right size of the denture. Dr. Bhatt heated the surface of the
maxillary arch wax where it met with the mandibular and made the patient bite for the maxilla to
stick to the mandibular arch wax.
October 19, 2015:
Today I shadowed Dr. Bhatt for most of the day. The first procedure she did was putting three
composite fillings on a patient. I was offered to do a coronal polishing on a nine year old patient
but Dr. Bhatt ended up doing the polishing herself while I was cleaning the dental instruments. I
felt like the opportunity was taken away but Megan told me that I will have another time to
polish a patients teeth. In the time being, I need to be prepared to do coronal polishing and
review the certain steps to doing it.
October 14, 2015:
The first patient I observed had braces. Vanja did the same procedure of a prophylaxis on the
patient just like a regular patient. However, Vanja used a blue floss holder to get in between the
braces and floss between her teeth. Jeanna put fluoride on the patients teeth behind her braces. I
suctioned a patients mouth again but I messed up because I was not suctioning on the other side
which caused the patient to drool. What I learned from this experience was to make sure to
suction on both sides.

October 12, 2015:

Vanja was doing a regular dental cleaning on a patient. She use a dental threader to help get in
between the crowns and floss. With this specific patient, Dr. Bhatt said that he needs to extract
the crowns on his teeth because there were cavities growing underneath it. Since there was
infection growing under the crowns, she advised him to get them removed and get a partial
denture or dental implants. Dr. Bhatt also noted that it is crucial for the patient to get the crowns
removed because he had diabetes. After this patient, Vanja asked me to suction another patients
mouth with the saliva ejector while she was scaling for the first time. It was quite nerve racking
for me because the patient was in fact, scared to be anesthetized be the needle. I was also
paranoid because I felt that I had to perfectly suction or else he would have made a complaint. I
was able to successfully suction my first patient. This impacted me because this was the first
time experiencing doing dental work on an actual patient. Since this was the first time, I feel that
I will be able to learn more about using the saliva ejector correctly and eventually excel in new
dental skills.
October 7, 2015:
Today I noticed that Vanja took notes of her patients. She took note of what they told her and the
date of. For example, if they were going on vacation or if anything was new. This allowed Vanja
to start a formal conversation with the patient the next time she sees them. Vanja dried the
patient's teeth before she scaled the plaque and calculus off. The patient needed a numbing agent
because her gums were too sore. I asked Vanja why patients experienced bleeding and sore gums
whenever they flossed between their teeth. She told me that it means that they need to get a
dental checkup as soon as possible.
October 5, 2015:
The first patient I saw today had a 5-7 mm pocket depth in the past. Vanja did a dental prophy
and then measured the patients pocket depths. It was the first time I saw a pocket depth of 9mm
and 12 mm. On the next patient that Vanja was cleaning, while I was sitting on my chair, I was
trying to reach for trash on the counter so Jeanna could put the cavitron on it. I almost fell on the
patient and knocked over the instruments because the chair slipped. This incident impacted me in
a way where I learned to be more cautious about my actions in the dental office, especially with
the patients being seated in front of me. The day ended with Dr. Bhatt doing a crown prep with
Megan, the dental assistant.
September 28, 2015:
Vanjas first patient was Jeanna, the dental assistant at Flamingo Smiles Dentistry. Vanja did a
regular teeth cleaning on Jeanna. Except she used a cavitron, which is an ultrasonic water scaler,
to clean her teeth. Jeanna needed topical anesthesia because the gingival edge on the lingual
surface of her mandibular central incisors were too sensitive. The next patient that Vanja worked
on had a root measurement of 5 mm. This was the first time I saw a measurement that deep. The
last patient that Vanja did a dental check up on was quite unique. She asked about the patients
medical history. For example, she asked about the patients heart problems, blood pressure, and
hip surgery. Vanja put topical anesthesia on the patients lower left quadrant for injection. There
was a major calculus buildup, considering the fact that the patient did not get her teeth checked
for more than three years. This was the first time that I saw a major case like this in person, so it

was quite a sickening sight to see. It was also the first time seeing a 6 mm measurement. This
patient also needed laser treatment to get rid of the bacteria that built up over the span of three
years. Today was the first time I encountered a patients teeth that really needed to clean their
teeth. From this disturbing situation, I ultimately learned how the laser treatment worked.
September 23, 2015:
The day started off with Jeanna taking x-rays. After, Dr. Bhatt did a check up with a patient. I
also talked with Vanja about how she became a dental hygienist. She told me that she finished
her prerequisites. She then signed up for an interview and waited for the acceptance letter to the
dental hygiene school. Vanja told me that she finished university with a Bachelors Degree in
Dental Hygiene. I have learned from her that it is highly advisable to earn a Bachelors Degree
rather than an Associates Degree because it is a very competitive field as of today. After, a
patient had a regular dental check up with Vanja, so she scaled the teeth, and polished them.
Again, I did root measurements. Dr. Bhatt examined the patients teeth and used topical
anesthesia to inject Novocain into his gums. Another patient comes in and Vanja does the same
procedure except she used a plastic scaler rather than a metal scaler to clean the implants. I
finished the day off by cleaning and setting up the rooms.
September 21, 2015:
When I arrived today, there were not many patients in the rooms. Jeanna was taking x-rays on a
patient. Dr. Bhatt took a custom impression on her patient. At first, I was not too new on
spectating an individual taking an impression on patient. But then, an interesting event occurred
when Dr. Bhatt was trying to take off the impression after the two minutes were up. She had
trouble taking off the impression and needed the diamond bur to cut the material off. However,
the impression was not fully taken off. It took about 15 minutes for Dr. Bhatt to remove the
impression from the patients teeth. What had happened was that the material went under the
patients bridge. After this happened, I shadowed Vanja again and watched her prophy clean with
an ultrasonic scaler. She finished off with checking the patients root measurements and doing
coronal polishing. Dr. Bhatt did a check-up on a patient and suspected that he had frictional
keratosis, which are white patches in the mouth. Similar to the first day of my internship, I
finished the day off by cleaning up the rooms and sterilizing instruments. However, I made a
mistake while cleaning up the rooms and putting the contaminated instruments in the sterilizing
room because I forgot to properly uncap a needle and put it in the Sharps container. Overall,
today I have learned that impressions can get stuck under bridges in rare cases. While working
on Vanjas patient, I recalled that I need to present myself in a professional manner as well.
September 17, 2015:
My first day of internship was quite overwhelming for me because the whole dental team
showed me all the kinds of tasks that I will be doing while I do my internship at their dental
clinic. First, I was introduced to the dental team and was shown the whole dental office. Vanja,
the dental hygienist demonstrated the right way to disinfect the rooms and how to set them up
properly with the plastic wraps that cover the chairs and dental instruments. After, the dental
assistant, Jeanna, went through the process of sterilizing the dental instruments from rinsing the
instruments, to the use of the ultrasound. Even though I was taught how to use the autoclave at
school, I did not know how to use the one at the dental clinic because it was different. Jeanna did
not show me how to use the autoclave yet because it was being used. When I was done putting

the instruments in the pouches, Vanjas patient arrived and I was able to see the process of a
normal dental checkup. She took the patients x-ray and did a prophy cleaning on the patients
teeth. Then, Jeannas patient arrived and I observed the coronal polishing that she did on her
patient. Subsequently, I went to observe a periodontist doing a dental implant on his patient. It
was a bloody sight compared to the prophylaxis and the coronal polishing that I observed prior.
To finish the day off, I disinfected and set up the rooms. Overall, the lessons I have learned from
Dr. Georges such as sterilizing instruments and properly cleaning rooms have really benefitted
me for today because I was not excessively confused with what I did at the dental clinic. I feel
that in the next five months, I will truly find out if I want to stay in the dental field.