I am about to graduate and everytime i get a family member or my boyfriend in my chair i SLOW WAY DOWN . I care the same i guess i just get nervous bc our family and friends never see us in the hygiene light, its way wierd.

Yes, it is very normal to feel overwhelmed at the beginning! It absolutely is a lot to take in a first, but the more patients you see, the easier things will become! I felt exactly like you when I began seeing patients. I was terrified that I would make a mistake. But what a learned is that when I did make a mistake and my instructors corrected me it actually helped me remember even more. That’s another thing – don’t get frustrated when your instructors correct you. If you learn how to take constructive criticism you will excel. That was tough for me to learn, but once I did everything changed! Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions of your instructors, they are a valuable resource! Pretty soon you will be surprised at how fast chair positions, using the correct working end and other things like that, will become like second nature. Think back when you were learning distal, mesial, facial/buccal, lingual and that was overwhelming, but now its much easier – same thing here! You totally got this, have patience with yourself! Happy scaling (with the correct working end)!

Yes, it is completely normal, although personal opinion: working on friends and family is so much harder than the general public. You can still care the same but they are much more opinionated.

It will get easier. It’s like driving a car. Do you remember how strange and difficult and scary it was when you first sat behind the wheel? Now we drive everyday and don’t even think twice about what we are doing. Same thing with scaling…soon you will sit down in the chair and it will all just come naturally.

To be fair though, I still find myself flipping my instrument a couple times because I’m trying to get the correct end haha