The Perfect Patient {Viewer Discretion Advised}

Once upon a time there lived a girl. This girl dreamed to be a dental hygienist. She worked really hard and was accepted into the Utah College of Dental Hygiene. While she was there she had many memorable experiences and learned a lot, not only about how to clean teeth, and but also on what kind of a hygienist she was. She learned that she was really good at taking x-rays but not so good at sharpening her instruments.

As a hygiene student she had alot of requirements to fulfill. One day she found a friend named Mike. Although he had a total of 15 teeth and a bad habit of smoking for the past 20 years and not owning a toothbrush, he became the perfect patient. He loved coming to appointments and could tell the difference a clean mouth had on his overall health. After explaining it to Mike, he understood that smoking was bad on his health and that his teeth would never get better if he kept that habit. However, there was a price that came along with being a great patient, he had no home for a while and no means of transportation. He got help to get a place to live but Lana was left with no choice but to pick Mike up and take him home from his appointments if she wanted him there.

Thru their appointment series she realized that Mike didn't know how to brush or floss his teeth. She was shocked that he didn't know how to hold a toothbrush and soon learned that it was not a priority for him. She showed him how to brush his teeth and how to roll the floss around his fingers to floss between each tooth. She even talked to him about the effects smoking has on his teeth and overall health. She gave him the quit.net hotline and gave encouragement to quit. One day when Mike arrived at his appointment he informed Lana that he had quit smoking. He had contacted the quit.net hotline and has been chewing Nicotine gum. Lana was so happy she almost started crying right there but knew it wasn't professional so congratulated him and told him how proud she was.

Lana learned alot from Mike as he did from her and she felt blessed she had the opportunity to get to know him. To this day they still exchange emails and keep up on good oral hygiene.

(these aren't pictures of Mike, but some good pictures of another good patient)

You KNOW you've done a good job when it looks like this before...

...and this after! (its the same tooth just mirrored in the second pic)
As a hygiene student you get excited when you find things like this...

and this...
and your patient comes out happy!