Boards

Boards. It is probably what most people dread the most about any professional program, and dental school is no exception. With 2 written National Boards and 2 practical licensure boards, Grant was ready to be done with it all. I know that I'm not even the one who had to take these tests, but since I'm the stresser in our relationship, I definitely felt the pain of them. This last set (that Grant took on Saturday) was probably what I felt most confident about. It is a stressful set because you have to find a patient, make sure they show up, etc., but Grant is definitely skilled, so I didn't worry about him being able to fill 2 small cavities in the allotted time.

Grant was in need of an assistant, and since I had the day off, I agreed (begrudgingly) to do so. I don't mind the work, even enjoy being with him in clinic most of the time, but I knew I would be extra stressed to actually be involved in the process. However, I tried to be a supportive wife so we woke up at 5am on Saturday and headed into the dental school.

 

His patient was one that he found through boards screening appointments that are open to the public with flyers. Grant met with him on two occasions with the second being to fill out paperwork and have a serious conversation about how serious this day was ($1300 and a license at stake) and that if he said he was going to be there that short of an immediate death he would be expected to show up. The guy agreed that he understood and said that he would show up. The screenings showed that he had some ideal fillings and would be the perfect boards patient. That morning his patient showed up on time and ready to go...everything was going perfect. We checked him in, recorded pulse and BP (leave it up to the nurse to not even be able to work the sphygmomanometer- guess I was already feeling the nerves) and then we had to leave the clinic for an hour while the examiners came around and approved the lesions.

At 8:00, we were allowed to re-enter the clinic and begin working. Grant had 2 cavities to take care of, one of which was very small on the front right tooth (#8). The other was in a premolar (#12), it was a bit bigger, but again, nothing he didn't feel confident in doing. He started with the tiny one in front, then moved to the back, and came back to the front just before sending him back to be examined (they grade you after you have drilled, and then again at the end after it is filled). 

As he closely examined the tooth to make sure no decay was left and his margins looked good, he realized that the entire front of his tooth was built up with composite (like a composite veneer). This was the case on all of his front teeth and all were stained in a similar manner, so it looked like developmental discoloration, not like a restoration. At this moment Grant said he felt like his body had been dipped in hot lava like a huge giant hot flash rushed over him as he realized the severity of the situation. As the SRTA boards manual states that the filling can not touch any old restorative material. He was going to have to take all of this off, which then would require he take out some distal decay on the tooth (and what was originally a tiny little cavity turned into some serious restorative and cosmetic dentistry!) Time was not on our side which was mostly the cause of what panic rushed through Grants mind. 

 There are 2 dentists floating around to help if people have deviations (need to remove more decay than was indicated on the radiographs, etc) or for cases like this (which was probably more than almost anyone has ever had to do on boards!) He suggested that Grant might not have to remove the entire filling (felt some relief for a minute there), but then they reviewed the book, checked with someone else and said that it was indeed an automatic failure if any restorative material was left. So, with the patient having to leave an hour and a half early for work (which we knew about from the beginning and 30 minutes having been wasted on them deciding if he was going to have to remove the entire veneer, he got to work and did an AMAZING job. Having to pack cord and retract gums on a board tooth is not ideal tooth selection. (Several instructors looked at the tooth, even the doctor that came to approve my deviation didn't realize the composite as Grant had to really show and explain to him what he had found) Super fun sending a tooth back to be graded that has been crown prepped! After it was restored that tooth looked awesome (he's going to want to do the same thing to the rest of them now). 

The patient did not come back with "instructions to the candidate" which almost always means there are no automatic failures, so that was comforting; however, waiting until Monday for the results was definitely nerve wracking! Monday evening (after receiving an email that scores would not be posted that day like they promised) Grant got another email saying that they were posted...and HE PASSED! Not even any criteria errors :)

It was a wonderful feeling to know that we are now less than 2 weeks from graduation and he is DONE with boards forever (unless he specializes in the future). I unfortunately still have my written boards after graduation, but with everything else going on, it's not really on my mind at the moment (not sure if that's good or bad :) 

Celebration at The Local Taco!