Junior Year Projects

Infection Control Project

In this project, I learned the importance of maintaining adequate infection control not only for myself but the patients I am treating, the clinicians who will be in contact with me, and the critical areas of treatment. The process of infection control is critical for proper patient care. There are many levels of prevention in order to certify that any treatment being rendered has the appropriate level of infection control.

The project entailed doing research on the pathology, characteristics, transmission, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis C. This was an important project to portray how to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and included an interview with a person who had gone through hepatitis C therapy. The interviewee explained the difficulties of the treatment and what other challenges were presented.

Reflecting on this project I was able to see the importance of keeping universal precautions and following protocols in high regard. In my previous years working in dentistry as an assistant, I saw many violations and incorrect protocols with no one in place to see that the correct implementation of procedures took place. In the future, I would like to be involved with setting protocols and up-to-date information for the office or offices I will be working in, seeing the right things be done should allow for a decrease in the incidence of infection control violations. This can be done with research, CE courses, professional education, and training for staff members in the office.

This project showcases an imaginary patient with GERD, this included medical history, signs and symptoms, dental implications, treatments and outcomes. This would help me understand the dental implications of conditions such as GERD which can cause chemical erosion of the lingual surface of teeth by the reflux of acid from the stomach.
Although this patient did not exist in real life the scenario was very real and explaining the medical history, symptoms and very real consequences of systemic disease pertaining to the oral cavity required knowledge of specific characteristics of various diseases and pathologies.
Looking back on pathology and how to handle specific cases there should be modification in treatment modalities depending on the case. For this specific project our patient suffered from GERD and as I have learned acid reflux can be exacerbated by positioning the patient too supine. Allowing the patient to sit up as not to allow for acid to reflux back into the esophageal tract is a major modification in the way this patient should be treated. Reflux of acdis can be detremental to tooth structure as the low pH can casue erosion of enamel and lead to hypersensitivity.

I made this brochure to explain to patients several facts about type II diabetes for pathology class. This project was personal to me due to a friend who has had complications from diabetes and has end-stage renal failure requiring peritoneal dialysis. I gave facts about what diabetes type II is, and how to manage it. I also listed resources in order to obtain more knowledge on how to live a healthy and full life with type II diabetes.
Reflecting on this condition, diabetes, as with many diseases involves researching critical areas of the disease. I was able to find that diabetes can be managed and give patients some insight into what resources are available in order to become better informed about their condition. I look forward to being able to create more brochures like this pertaining to systemic conditions which affect the periodontium in the future. Diabetes is very common and I have already treated patients ranging from controlled to uncontrolled diabetes and making sure that the patient does not experience any diabetic emergencies by interviewing them and making sure that they are taking their medication and getting proper nutrition prior to an appointment can be crucial in making sure that they are treated safely.

This project was a group project in my first semester in collaboration with two other students to evaluate, assess and treatment plan a theoretical patient by evaluating profile, radiographs and periodontal condition. This was an imaginary patient presenting with real life conditions and situations, which would explain how to assess and look at all factors involved in assessing patient.
The types of assessments performed in this project are necessary and the data from these assessments and practicing these over time will help me in the future to accurately have a dental hygiene diagnosis for my patients and create a treatment plan catered to their condition, specific needs and challenges.
The treatment plan project allowed me to look into the future as well as reflect as a senior as how to properly assess a patient, implement a proper treatment plan that will benefit the patient . I have seen many patients with may situations and a specific case I remember was a patient who had SRPs done five months prior and presented for re evaluation with increase in pocket depths, heavier calculus, and bleeding on probing prompting me to indicate another round of SRPs. The patient has systemic conditions with poor OH which I addressed and was able to perform the necessary oral hygiene instructions.

I made this booklet as a part of my oral hygiene instruction procedure for my patients. It gives detailed and concise visual education as a way to show patients disease process, oral hygiene products, proper oral home care catered to their own personalized treatment as well as resources for smoking cessation and nutritional data pertaining to oral and general health.
It is my job to provide dental education to my patients as part of the phase 1 treatment of dental care. It allowed me to be able to be able to "tell,show and do" which is a way to have patients understand what is expected of them in order to keep home care optimal and recommend specific items in order for them to do so. Doing this in a manner that empowers my patient to be active in their helath care make a difference.

This was a project done for West Los Angeles Colleges poster showcase for Preventative Dental Nutrition Class which was based on the use of nano hydroxyapatite in dentistry and medicine. Included are the video presentation on youtube.com, announcement ceremony and brochure
While taking this class we learned the various aspects of nutrition to help overall health, it required us to know vitamins, minerals, macronutrients and their recommended daily intakes. We also learned about what deficiencies of these items would cause and how some of them would cause manifestations in the oral cavity. I am proud of this accomplishment and have included the presentation, announcement of first place prize, and a brochure made pertaining to the presentation which summarizes the project.