Another thing....

Cavitron. This is an amazing instrument; though the first time I used it I was worried I would melt the patients enamel right off or kill the pulp. It was just instinct and probley a good one, better to be cautious. Because of this I went very lightly around the tooth and found thats all you really need to remove calculus; the cavitron does all the work for you. Now something I did learn was that even after you cavitron you are supposed to go back and hand scale the areas. I suppose this is a good way to double check for any possible burnished calculus? Hand scaling was stressed though, and I do enjoy handscaling. I need to practice doing short firm controlled strokes when removing calculus. When I find calculus I tend to get excited and go to town, so I will need to work on slowing down and doing only a few steady strokes. Another thing I'm learning is how to recognize calculus apart from tooth structure. Now I'm not talking about the difference between root structure or the CEJ; I'm talking about excess deposits on the cementum or enamel. My faculty aided me the other day in clinic when i thought I definitely had located some unmovable subgingival calculus. When she poked and prodded she told me it must just be an area where the cementum had overgrown. I know that level of tactile sensitivity could have only come from years of practice.