1st Floor Endo

At BU, as pre-doc students, you have to be fairly pro-active if you want to do Root Canals. This is three fold: First, we have a Endo post-doc program that depends on us to refer them work. Second, pre-doc students arent allowed to molar endo unless we've done alot of root canal experience and get special permission. Third, in order to do a premolar/anterior root canal, you have to get it approved by the pre-doc Endo faculty members. And as with anything in school, getting something approved requires quite a bit of running around. 

I had a pulp exposure and did a pulpectomy on my patient on a Friday. 

It was a perfect case to do pre-doc Endo.

It took me an entire week to track down the faculty that could approve my case and book the appointment. 

My patient was a bit of a liar face, telling me she was in pain so that I would book the appointment faster. 

I set my Endo bay up.

But I felt ill.

Because pre-clin Endo is not the same as clinical Endo.

One thing I have learned about school, is that my first time doing anything never goes stellar. 

I did the root canal in two appointments.

The first appointment sucked quite a bit.

It was a combination of being mad that my patient manipulated me and the fact that I'd been on OD rotation for a week and was exhausted.

I filed and filed but everything felt tedious. And wasnt going the way I wanted it to. There was a tiny catch that was preventing my gutta percha cone from seating all the way and needed to be filed down more.

And my patient was giving me a hard time demanding why we couldnt just finish the root canal in one appointment.

And I felt off as a result.

So I sealed it back up and sent the patient away.

She came back this morning, and I was anxious about how the appointment would go.

But whereas last time, everything felt like it was a struggle, this time things just fell into place.

I worked on the catch I had felt last time, and it worked itself out.

And my down back was a site of beauty.

I finished early and whereas clinic made me want to pull my hair out last week, this was a pretty good start to my short work week. I really hope the trend continues for my next two appointments.

And my faculty member thought my thorough cleaning of the bay was amazing.

He told me he wanted to come visit me when I had my own practice so he could see if I continued to be so organized. And he asked if I'd come clean his house. 

What can I say, cleaning a bay is something I'm VERY good at. 

It never ceases to amaze me how good it feels to get a requirement checked off.

Like all is right with the world.

The feeling is always short-lived. But it is a great feeling while it lasts.