We all know being a student is tough enough,
but we sure don't want to make things harder on ourselves
by avoiding to seize a brownie point anytime possible! While
some, if not all, of these things may be common sense to most
of us, sometimes it's good to be reminded.
1. Always introduce the patient to your faculty,
or boss. Such as " Dr. Johnson, this is Mrs. Jones. Mrs.
Jones this is Dr. Johnson, whom will be performing an examination
today." Something brief and allows you to negotiate the
ice breaker of dead silence that often arise.
5. If the patient has a lot of carious lesions
or other known chartable items, hold it up within an eyes
glance for your instructor to view during their exam. This
avoids the problem of them having to re-call everything out
and risk the possibility of missing something that was already
diagnosed. Such as having decay on the distal-lingual groove
of #3 marked as decay, but the instructor checking you didn't
notice it ... you don't want to make them look any less thorough
to your patient by making the mistake of "Was there decay
on the dlg of #3, because it was marked!"
6. If the patient bleed a lot, lay out more
gauze on the tray.
7. If the instructor is taller or shorter
than you, save them the trouble and adjust the chair higher
or lower for them.
Other Patient Tips and Tricks
A) Always make sure the dental light is clean!
This is often the first thing patients notice and you can
make a bad first impression by leaning them back and have
them starring at a streaky, dirty light. Wipe it with your
Cavicide, ProSpray, etc and then wipe it dry with a paper
towel.
B) Check your patient mirror, too. Another
bad impression would be handing a mirror to a patient to perform
oral hygiene instruction and have it streaky or past patients
finger prints all over it!
C) I always feel it is rude and unprofessional
to keep a gauze on the patients chest and use it to wipe instruments
clean. Instead, hold one in the palm of your mirror hand and
wipe them clean BEHIND or to the side of the patient - not
in front of their face!
D) When removing the patient bib, do so by
pulling on bib strap near their neck or shoulders. Never reach
for the clip, as you may accidentally touch them in an uncomfortable
place. This is especially important for males, such as myself,
to not do anything to make the patient feel awkward.
E) Always place vaseline on the patients lips
when using the air polisher, and while using disclosing solution.
It will make the appointment more comfortable and they won't
have to leave with permanent kool-aid lips!
F) If you are using foam fluoride and get
an uneven distribution, and/or too much, close the tray together
to ensure even coverage, and then take your saliva ejector
and get rid of the excess. 
C) When someone is observing you treat a patient,
and you need to change operator and light positions, ALWAYS
make sure your instrument is out of the hand that you are
moving the light with. You don't want to reach up there with
an 11/12 explorer to change light positions and risk having
it drop on the patient. Believe it or not, it has happened
and will not result in a positive grade!
-------------------
