Sravz... Your Friendly Dentist

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hobart!... I mean Adelaide!" A quote from our captain, brimming with confidence and enthusiasm.

Adelaide Airport has a wireless internet facility, which I'm using for the first time while waiting for a friend to arrive... This means I'm able to check my emails and respond, if need be.

Beats sitting around and twiddling my thumbs eh?

Funny I, the lazy one, is actually started to do more physical and social activities on the weekends! I attribute this to the fact that I've moved out of college, and lacking some of inherent sociability that college provides! So we make an effort to get ourselves out of our beds on the weekend and do something, other than lazing about with food and movies!

It all began in the preclin period before actual uni and patients started! I spent that weekend playing squash with two classmates, and that set off a chain reaction of wanting, and even needing to do things on the weekends. I needed to do them to keep me sane!

The trend continued from more recently however, on the 17th of March. We decided to go rock climbing for the first time in Adelaide! We were expecting this massive complex of multiple of walls and each of them ranging in difficulty. We were told it was the biggest facility in Adelaide. We walk into a small gym-like building and there was only about 10-12 or so walls... We were expecting something a bit larger, because I have been to larger facilities in Melbourne. Regardless, we waited for a little bit to start a demonstration of the safety procedures, especially the role of the "bilayer" whose primary role was to keep the safety rope tight in case the climber decides to jump off the wall... or slip... or just can't hold on any longer! lol.

Some of the walls had a few quirks, on of them appeared to be like a box like --> |_| and we had to use all three walls to get to the top... it almost felt like Spiderman crawling up with legs stretched apart and jumping up to the higher blocks! Some of the walls even inclined forward which made lower body strength almost useless, and had to climb up using strength in the arms and upper body... unfortunately me lacking in that department and also gaining 5 kg didn't help very much in climbing those walls... looks like i gotta keep pumping some iron and gain some bicep and tricep muscles!

That night was the I saw Tripod with a friend from Pharmacy and a classmate. The name of the show was "How to Train an Attack Dog from Scratch!" which if you haven't guessed already, the show had almost nothing to do with the intricate art of training canines to defend property. I won't spoil it much for those who still wish to see their show, but its about the "history" of musical comedy, which if you know Tripod, you will remember them for their humorous lyrics embedded into catchy pop or folk tunes! One thing we did notice about the audience however was the lack of non-caucasian people in the audience! I think in the whole sold out audience (other than our little group) we only spotted two-three asians, otherwise pretty much all white people lol. I however did enjoy their humourous lyrics

The next day, the Food and Wine Affair in North Adelaide caught my attention. A group of us attended, grabbed a few chairs, enjoyed some fine cuisine from the many restaurants that had their stalls there, and drank a few bottles of wine amongst our group. In fact one member of the group had a recent birthday, so we tried to buy his wine for him, however being the guy he is, tried to find sneaky ways of paying for everything! We'll pay you back one day! just you wait :-P

The next Saturday, Golf was on the agenda. Seeing how many business deals can get done on the golf course, is it not fitting that we learn how to play this upper-class majestic game? We've always played Par-3 and Mini golf in the past, but if you want to move up the skill level and start hitting balls 100 to 200 metres, the thought was that going to a driving range would be the best way to start! Initially, almost all my balls either got no air, and rolled on the ground, or got soo much air, that it didn't go very far. Also the ball went towards the side fences instead of straight ahead. After about 30 or so shots, i improved my technique and accuaracy quite dramatically, and started hitting shots worthy of a real golf course... all i need to do is experiment with the numerous amounts of woods and iron clubs available to see which ones suited me!

And there you have it! something tells me that maybe thats as active as my social/physical life is going to get! but we'll see what happens as the semester progresses.

Sravz

Week one down, 23 weeks to go!, not to mention extra weeks for holidays, swotvac and exams!

A couple of interesting experiences occurring during the week. The timetable begins with:

Monday: Oral Diagnosis (OD) -> Introduction but no patients, we just looked around the clinic and were introduced to our tutors, one of whom is apparently the ONLY dentist that works in the state's prison systems! OD (not on drugs) has a variety of patients who come in for relief of pain, we are meant to diagnose and ship off to the appropriate person, whether it be to Oral Surgery, a 3rd year for Fillings, or to the lab for a denture repair!

Tuesday: I have Tuesday mornings off. Technically meant to be doing my work for selectives, but i think i can balance the load in the late morning and the evening when I get back. In the afternoon, I have Endodontics, or in lay terms, Root Canal Therapy. Generally not many patients, but mine turned up and is up for treatment in the weeks to come.

Wednesday: Complex Cons - where we do crown and bridge work, bridges however are only for the gifted, and lucky students who have a suitable case to do so. In the first four weeks, we continue with technique exercises which prepare us for patients who come at the end of the term.

Thursday: Paedodontics at a community dental clinic. After picking up a classmate from the ADH, we brave the high peak hour traffic through the city and on my way to the clinic. We're introduced to our three paedodontics tutor, a dentist, a dental therapist and a paedodontic specialist! I apparently had the youngest patient assigned, a 6 year old girl, and with the assistance of my white gloved classmate, tried to entertain the young child, and with the help of a small bribe (a pink sparkly toothbrush), the child had an enjoyable time at the dental clinic. She lit up even more when paedodontist started talking and examining the child, making me realise that i am very rusty dealing with young children. Haven't really done so since... my brother was a youngin years ago!
Then we had to drive back into to the city, to find parking during lunchtime so i can go to my next clinic.

GDP - General Dental Practice, the place to continue to do what we had started last year, doing fillings and tooth cleaning/scaling. I had one new patient booked and i waited and waited. I gave him a call from the clinic phone to find out what's going on. The conversation went like this:

Me: "This is Sravz from the ADH, You have an appointment today to see me"
Patient: "No I don't, I have one on 1st of March"
Me: "That's today sir"
Patient: "Shit... really?... thought it was 29th, didn't realise it was a short month.... sorry about that"

When I told the tutor, he had a chuckle and so did the surrounding students and assistants.

Friday: Removable Prosthodontics - Dentures basically. I was looking for the patient's casenotes, which were apparently in the possession of one of the Dentists she had seen previously. I had to track her down and when I found her, I ask for the casenotes, and she quickly replies "I don't know you!", "That's besides the point, you have one of my patient's casenotes!" I reply, and I eventually got the casenotes from her. My first patient requires a replacement for her denture so in the next few weeks, I'll be designing her denture and and taking impressions.

In the afternoon, had Orthodontics - The art of moving teeth and supporting bone so teeth are aligned well and bite together nicely. We had an introduction to the clinic... once again, and then we observed as our tutor did two recall appointments on her patient. One of them needed braces, however cannot do it at the hospital, as there is a 5 year waiting list, the other had an appliance which widened the upper jaw, to hopefully reduce or possibly elimate misalignments and the need for braces in the future. And in between while waiting for the tutor and patients, the group played Orthodontic Hangman on the whiteboard. At least it was a constructive way to procrastinate!

So that totals to about 35 contact hours including lectures, not to mention the extra time I need to spend for my elective subject (which I will start next week). Thats my week, and I don't like to complain, but I think that eventually the load will get heavier and more intense. So wish me luck guys!

Sravz