Tuesday, July 8, 2008

confusion

'saya nak putihkan gigi saya...'

okay...


'saya nak macam orang kat hollywood sana...'


okay...
untuk rawatan tuh kita charge rm500 untuk satu session yea...


'ape pulak... kawan saya buat hari tu rm60 aje!!'


yg rm60 tu cuci gigi lah dikk..




our teeth is naturally yellowish white in colour. the intensity of the colour yellow very much depends on the thickness of our enamel (the outer layer of our teeth) and dentine (the inner layer of our teeth). this thickness, in turn, believe it or not, depends on our genes. those who has thicker enamel will have whitier teeth and those with thicker dentine will have teeth that appears more yellowish. that is why dark-skinned people (indians, african-americans) seems to have whitier teeth whilst those with fair skin (chinese, eurasian) have more yellowish teeth. malays? we are somewhere in between (as always).

what do we mean when we say ' cleaning' or 'cuci' our teeth? simply means we are removing the plaque (or in our world better known as tahi gigi) and calculus (i.e tahi gigi yang dah keras macam batu). plaque and calculus will appear as yellow depositions along our gum margins, and they easily irritates our gum. the simplest sign that you have plaque and calculus deposition is when you have bleeding gums while brushing.

plus, if you frequently indulge yourselves in heavily coloured food (example: coffee, tea, fizzy drinks, chocolates, liquor, etc etc) and of course, if you smoke, these depositions will be coloured as well, and we call them staining of teeth. the older you are, the more apparent these staining will become as our dentine will become thicker hence teeth become yellower and stains become darker.

brushing alone, be it 5 times a day, will not enough to remove plaque if you do not accompany them with flossing. calculus, on the other hand, can only be removed by your favourite person (the dentist). this is the main reason we encourage dental check ups. just do it on your own accord, be it thrice a year or once in three years. but do it routinely.

while teeth cleaning is a routine treatment need, teeth whitening on the other hand is completely for cosmetic purposes, just like a makeover. i am of course referring to here in Malaysia. Do not compare ourselves with them in Tinseltown where they seem to suffer without collagen injection and whitens their grins routinely.

there are all range of whitening options, from rolls royce level to motor kapcai. the most expensive is the laser treatment, which can cost about rm2k per session and the result is very satisfying. you can achieve that 100 watt smile, no argue there. the cheapest would be the take-home toothpaste ones you get over the counter anywhere between carrefour and kedai runcit abu. the result? you tell me. i'm sure everyone have tried it before one way or another.

for me, just like you do those makeover once or twice for that extra-special occasion, you can also whitens your teeth for the same purposes: engagement, wedding, graduation... but let me also suggest, that if you opt for the lower-middle or higher-middle range (which costs from rm100-500 per session) that you try it once about 3-6 months before the purported time. because incidentally, the result of these mid-range type varies to different types of teeth. some lucky ones can get up to 5 shades whiter than their original shade, but others cannot see the difference at all. even if you choose the laser treatment, you should also try it once before, see whether it suits you and whether you can control yourselves afterwards (in your smoking and eating habits, i mean) because whitened teeth are super-easily stained and there are reports of hypersensitivity in some patients. you do test drive the car first before you buy, right?

and oh, yes. you do have to have your teeth cleaned first before you even think of whitening them.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

salam n hi doc!
sy berminat dgn kaedah pemutihan gigi.. so, boleh tau di mana klinik dr? dan berapa kos keseluruhan utk mbuat rawatan tersebut.,

erm..sy di kuantan actually.. dan sy tak tau di mana klinik yg menawarkan khidmat ini.. kl dr tau, harap dpt maklumkan tempatnya..kl kalau tiada, mungkin sy ke klinik dr sj.. TQ

nailofar_612@yahoo.com

DrA said...

hi!
klinik gigi saya di seksyen 3 bdr baru bangi.... jauh tu kalau awak nak dtg. saya tak sure klinik di kuantan ada buat whitening ke tak, sbb kebanyakan org yg nak buat ni selebriti2, so klinik yg buat whitening nih kebykan di kuala lumpur.
kalau di klinik saya, trial whitening treatment (untuk mencuba) kosnya rm100. kalau whitening kosnya rm500 untuk satu sesi. kalau nak lagi putih biasanya buat 2-3 sesi.
selamat mencuba!

Anonymous said...

tq doc.. erm.. maknanye kos keseluruhan dalam rm1500 la ye.. bagaimana pula tempoh masa antara sesi tersebut? rasanya di kuantan nie mmg xde klinik yg tawarakah pkhidmatan nie..

atau doc. mungkinkah ade set ywhitening yg membolehkan sy buat di rumah aje?

DrA said...

hi!
kos keseluruhan tak semestinya sampai 1.5k. kalau lepas satu sesi saje dah puas hati takyah la buat sesi ke-2 kan..
whitening di rumah memang ada, tapi kesan nya lambat. meaning awak kena pakai seminggu camtu baru dapat satisfactory result. tapi tu terpulang pada awak. cemana pun saya advise awak buat check-up dan dptkan trial pack/trial treatment dulu.

Anonymous said...

doc,
saya ada masalah plak pada gigi. berapakah kos utk membuang plak yg keras tersebut? adakah di klinik kerajaan menawarkan rawatan ini?

tterimakasih.

DrA said...

hi,
plak yg keras kita panggil karang gigi atau kalkulus. kos nak buang biasa dlm rm50-100. kat klinik kerajaan pun boleh buat, kos dia rm2 je, tapi mungkin appointment list dia lama so kena tunggu turn lah. awak pergi dptkan rawatan cepat2, sbb kalau lambat mungkin akan timbul masalah lain cth mulut berbau/sakit gusi/gigi longgar. :)

Anonymous said...

hi doc,
kalo trial treatment tuh bleh thn bape lame?

DrA said...

hi
trial tuh tahan kejap je, dalam 2-3 bulan camtuh

Anonymous said...

ouh..
so,the cost for whitening yg permanent is RM500 la for 1 session..wajibke wat 2nd and 3rd session?or is it depends on cmne yellowish nye gigi kite?
thnx doc:)

Anonymous said...

hi,
2nd/3rd session tuh kalau awak tak puas hati hasil yg 1st... sbb different patient different response pada pemutihan gigi nih.. ada org lepas one session je terus bersinar2 giginye, ada org lain pulak 1 session tak nampak langsung mcm buat whitening...

Anonymous said...

hi doc,

would u pls elaborate on the trial teeth whitening treatment? are u suggesting ur client to have it, or just proceed to the RM500 session? because i'm getting married in 3 months time and dying to have white and shining teeth! hehe n i think my problem is hereditary.

thanks doc!

~ sophie

DrA said...

hi sophie,
i would advise trial whitening for those who already having issues with their teeth, example sensitivity problems and those who have filling on their front teeth. but if you dont have those problems then go ahead and do it! and congratulations and bestest of wish on your new life ahead! :)

addinda said...

hai doc setiap 6 bulan sekali sy akan buat rawatan cuci gigi..alhamdulilah gigi tak ada masalah.cuma sy tak berpuashati dengan warna gigi sy.sy nak buat tooth bleaching..sy nk th berapa kosnya.dan kalau buat di klinik doc kn appointment dulu atau boleh datang terus

sheila

Mirimaru said...

Salam. Saya nak buat whitening (trial Version) ape beza dgn full ver yg rm500 tu ea?

white purple flower said...

hi dr.,

boleh bagi more info on whitening treatment di rumah?i'm sure mesti lagi advance dari over the counter teeth whitening product kan?

anyway,im getting married in 4 months.so still have much time to do the at-home whitening treatment kan.

looking forward for your reply :)

thanks!

Anonymous said...

hi doc,gigi sy kuning la..sbb mse kecik2 dlu sya mls nk gosok gg..mcmana ya nk putihknnye..sy malu nk senyum..bile x senyum org kate sombong la..ape la..apa yg perlu sy buat?

Anonymous said...

salam and hai doc! :)
doktor, saya nak tanya. dekat tempat doktor ada tak rawatan untuk fluorosis? dan kalau ada, berapa harganya?ing