I Still Haven’t Received My Local Anesthesia Permit!

I Still Don't Have My Dental Hygiene Anesthesia License!

What the heck. There seems to be an awful lot of hoops to jump through to get my local anesthesia license.   I'm still waiting on the NERBS (North East Regional Boards) to approve my online paperwork.  I had to upload a photo of myself and a copy of my college diploma and pay $130 to register for my prometric test.  Now I must wait again for them to check all the information I uploaded then I can finally take the prometric test.  I wonder how long it will take to get my license in my hand after I pass the test... New Jersey has never been known for its speed.

Pictures of the Day...

Patient 1.

Deciduous Supernumerary tooth between tooth #D and E

The supernumerary looks like a peg lateral.

Patient 2. 

Adult patient with spacing between the premolars.

Patient states that they have always been that way.

(Actually enough space to fit another premolar or retained baby tooth on both sides.

Minimum mesial drift was noted on both sides) 

Oil of Clove for tooth pain

     What a busy week I had.  I did take a few pictures at work but couldn't seem to find a minute to spare to upload them let alone post any of them.  Today I'm gonna use one that I have saved on my laptop already.

buccal mucosa irritation from Oil of Clove

buccal mucosa irritation from Oil of Clove

buccal mucosa irritation from Oil of Clove

This 22yo. male used 'Oil of Clove' for tooth pain associated with the eruption of tooth #1.  After a few days of applying the oil to the area, the mucosa gave him more pain the tooth did.  Which in turn made him finally come in to the office seeking treatment for both problems.

Look out! I'm getting my anesthesia license!

Today I attended the first day of a four day anesthesia class.  Yay!  Makes me proud to be a RDH and it makes me proud to say that I'm a member of the ADHA (American Dental Hygiene Association).
It's because of the ADHA that LA (local anesthesia) is part of my scope of practice for the State of New Jersey.
ADHA continues to fight for the advancement of dental hygiene.  If you're a Registered  Dental Hygienist and not a member... why aren't you?
Ready to join?  Go to www.adha.org to sign up.

The following pictures are from the third day of the local anesthesia course.

My first patient and fellow RDH Karen. 

I love this picture.  I've never seen a patient with so many cotton tip applicators in their mouth at one time.

My Turn...

Here's Karen giving her first Inferior Alveolar Block (IA) injection to me.

Karen did a great job.
All in all I was a bit nervous but only felt minimal discomfort with all of the injections she performed.  

The palatal injections were actually less painful then any I had ever gotten before.  

What we learned in this anesthesia course:
1.  (ASA) Anterior Superior Alveolar injection
2.  (MSA) Middle Superior Alveolar injection
3.  (PSA) Posterior Superior Alveolar injection
4.  (NP) Nasopalatine Nerve Block
5.  (GP) Greater Palatine Nerve Block
6.  (MB) Mental Block
7.  (LB) Long Buccal
8.  (IA) Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block
9.  Maxillary and Mandibular Infiltrations