Initial Prompt
A challenge that I have been facing with fulcruming is finding the right place to fulcrum for the area that I am working in. Sometimes, I find that my fulcrum placement is in the way of where I am trying to work or that my fingers don’t reach the area I’m trying to clean. Finding the right place to fulcrum can be challenging due to my tiny fingers; however, I have made modifications to reach the areas of interest. I have learned to place my fingers on different regions of the instrument and teeth to reach the distal points of the mouth. I continue to have challenges with fulcruming; however, I am learning additional tips and tricks to provide the best care for my patients. Another challenge I am facing is instrumentation, specifically with adaptation of the instrument on the linguals of mandibular anterior teeth and the linguals of right mandibular posterior teeth. With the anterior teeth, I struggle with keeping the instrument tip attached to the tooth surface around the cingulum area. I am trying to keep the tip attached in these uneven areas by not moving the instrument too quickly and taking my time in that area. In the right lingual posterior teeth, I struggle with keeping the tip attached to the tooth because of the angle of my instrument. I tend not to hold the instrument upright and let it fall in my hand, making it unadapted to the tooth surface. I am aware of this challenge that I am facing and have been actively working towards breaking and fixing this bad habit.
