Reflection On Being A Competent Reflective Practitioner

As a future health professional, becoming a competent reflective practitioner is an important part of clinical practice. Jasper (2003) states that reflecting back on mistakes not only help us to avoid repeating them, but also enable us to identify some successful principles to use in the future practice. Indeed, reflecting from professional experiences, rather than learning from class or book, may be the most important source of professional development (Jasper, 2003). In doing so, high stands of patient-centred care can be delivered. For this assignment, I will reflect an event that I felt significant for me. This event happened during my simulation clinical practice which was about iatrogenic damage to adjacent tooth surfaces during class …show more content…
Lussi, Kronenberg and Meger (2003) state that approximal iatrogenic damage can be prevented in a number of ways, placing a matrix band between the teeth is the most common recommendation. My tutor suggested that I can either cut part of the matrix band or use interproximal tooth shields like FenderWedge to protect adjacent tooth surfaces prior cavity preparation. Since I have not used them before and I do not know how effective they will be. So I just picked up the matrix band and cut it into half before inserting it into the interproximal area. Once I inserted the matrix band into the interproximal site, I noticed that the cutting edge of matrix band directly touched the rubber dam. Suddenly my rubber dam starts to rip. Then, I sought some useful advices from my tutor. My tutor taught me that I should make the matrix band cutting edge more rounded instead of a sharp angle. The reason is the matrix band’s sharp angle might touch the rubber dam surface and the dam already stretched over the teeth; a sharp product increases the chance of tearing. After tutor’s instruction, I tried again and the rubber dam appeared …show more content…
When I was preparing the cavity for class II restoration, I thought that I already placed an interproximal barrier between the teeth and should be enough to help protect the adjacent tooth from iatrogenic damage during preparation. Hence, I was not putting sufficient attention in controlling the bur movement, especially at the approximal surface. Unfortunately, unwanted circumstances happened. Even though with the physical protection, I still iatrogenically damaged the approximal surface. Medeiros and Seddon (2000) point out that although physical barriers can be used to protect the adjacent tooth surfaces, we also need to take into account that the matrix band or FenderWedge is a soft and flimsy metal that unable to allow for much protection. Therefore, focusing on the tasks we are doing can be the best way to prevent iatrogenic damage to the adjacent tooth surface during class II cavity