Neycheril 1

Rhea Neycheril
Mrs. McMennamy
Capstone
27 October, 2016
Track Hour Verification Log and Reflection: Hours 25-32
On October 17, 2016 from 8:00 am to 4 pm, I shadowed Dr. Jamie Kurian who is one of
the partnering dentists at Castle Dental in Missouri City. Because the office wasnt as busy as
usual today I focused more of my attention on the externals details of procedures than I did on
the procedures themselves.
By this, I mean that I noted the different instruments used for different procedures, which
instruments are used the most, the quality of sanitation and hygiene in the practice, the making of
the filling materials, the different types of cement used to fill crowns, the types of cases that are
sent to labs, and how various injections are given. I also got to know more about the most
common anesthetics used in general dentistry.
This is very important information for me to know because it is useful and essential in
the everyday workings of a dentist. It is very important to be familiar with and know the exact
purposes and functions of the dental tools because it allows you to practice more efficiently and
avoid mistakes. Hygiene is always a factor that practices can improve on. It is also important to
be in good terms with local labs because dentists transfer x rays and patient material to labs very
frequently. It is also important to know about the common anesthetics and continue to learn
about the details of new anesthetics available in the market since many dentists face severe
liability issues when they accidently use wrong anesthetics.
The most common instruments used were the explorer/probe, dental mirror, scaler,
syringe, and air/water tip. The explorer is used in every dental procedure, and it is used to scrape
off tartar or properly place amalgam, a tooth filling material. The dental mirror allows the dentist
to see a wider view of the working area, and the scalar is a tougher version of the explorer. The
syringe transfers the analgesia, and the air/water tip controls the flow of air and water into the
patients mouth. Overall, the sanitation and hygiene at Castle Dental is very good. Common
equipment dentists use to clean tools include ultrasonic cleaning devices, instrument washers,
steam autoclaves, unsaturated chemical vapor sterilization, and dry-heat sterilization. The most
common types of cements used by Dr. Kurian were the provisional, resin-modified, and resin
cements. The most popular anesthetic used was lidocaine. However, Dr. Kurian said that
procaine, articaine, bupivacaine, and mepivacaine were also commonly used.
By learning more about the details behind the general procedures done, I was able to truly
understand that although some procedures are repetitive and roughly similar, they actually vary a
lot depending on the tools and products used while conducting them. The same procedure can be

Neycheril 2
done but achieve different results simply by modifying the tools, brands, products, and time
duration.
Date

Start
Time

Hours

End Time

Track Type

Description

Supervisor

Supervisor
Signature

Supervisor
Contact
Info
(email or
phone)

10/17/16

8:00 am

4:00 pm

Shadowing

Shadowed
Dr.Jamie
Kurian at
Castle Dental

Dr. Jamie
Kurian

Email
Verificatio
n

jamiekuria
n@gmail.c
om