Monday, August 25, 2008

what's under the umbrella?

(green alert for the sweet-toothed)


aaahhhh...

the sinful pleasure of that rainbow-coloured delight. go on, have it. this one dentist won't say you can't.

are you serious???

sure i am. (why so serious, by the way?)


eating sweets and chocolates will cause rotten teeth.


and hands down to the oldest, most misplaced and misunderstood statement of all time. here i am, the saviour of you sweet-toothed people (including me, i should say) and let me modify that statement a little bit:


eating sweets and chocolates WITHOUT cleaning your teeth will cause rotten teeth.


yes, you read me. sugar alone will not cause that hideous blackened teeth we often see. sugar (and formula milk) are the ones bacteria fed on, so everytime we take sugar or give our children that bottled milk, the bacterias that cause rotten teeth will be jumping in glee because they are also being fed their favourite food. but, if after that we brush our teeth, that food source those bacterias indulge on is not there any more and the bacteria will die out of starvation... so no rotten teeth!

you will now argue that magnanimous sugar consumption are still bad for our general health, and i will not debate with you on that. high sugar taking will make you a good candidate of having diabetes (high sugar level in your urine) especially if you have your closest family members that also have diabetes and if you are pregnant. now, let me introduce you to a new icon:
called 'The Happy Tooth', it is licensed to mark all confectionery, sweets, chewing gums, bonbons, lollipops, etc which have been demonstrated to be safe for teeth (check out their website here). these effort was started by the swiss people in 1982 to create awareness of oral health and the logo was introduced internationally in 1989. the logo was introduced here in south-east asia in 2003.

in Malaysia, unfortunately there are not many products with the happy tooth that is available here, i suspect (but i do not regret) because of the 'halal' issue, since from the info i have gathered, it is upmost difficult for non-halal products to have retail rights here in our country. anyhow, some of those with the logo are:


chupa chups cremosa lollipop, retail rm0.98 at guardian pharmacy. also available at hypermarkets in packs of 6.




fisherman's friend lozenges range, retail rm3.90.








ricola fresh pearls range, retail rm3.90.










smint mints range, retail rm3.00.








what's need to be reminded, however is not all sugar free products are marked with the happy tooth, example mentos, wrigleys, dentyne, etc. sugar free products are meant for diabetic-conscious and weight-concerned people , and these brands are probably either not tested or fail in their toothfriendly testing. so to the manufacturers: go, guys! go get that logo! and to the rest of Homo sapiens: indulge yourself, guilt-free! life without indulgence, is no life whatsoever.(just don't forget to brush afterwards, okay..)


++++++whoooping gleefully while eating lollipop :D

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

dr. sy ada cket pertanyaan, klau dr. x keberatan..sudi2 lah menjawabnya...sy ada mslah yg melibatkan jaw ats n bwh x sama...bila nk kacip gigi, gigi atas & bawah (di bhgian depan) mmg x kan bertemu...so, menyukarkan utk kunyah makanan..slalunya klau sy mkn, 2,3 kali kunyah terus telan..kdg2 klau mkn sayur2..sy akn buang lps 2,3 kali kunyah sbb payah nk telan...mslh ni mybe dah lama n sy br perasan yg bnda ni blh bw effect jgk...soalan sy..adakah ini mslah normal..perlu dibiarkan or perlu dirawat??sy skrg umur 20 thn. sy pernah pergi ke klinik kesihatan kerajaan, n buat appointment (msh blum pergi sbb xde masa)..tp, hr sy wat appointment tu, sy kena marah sbb x buat awal2 (masa muda lg)...maslahnya,da besar br terfikir psl bnda ni, kcik2 mana tau pape...so...boleh tlg jwab x dr.??? email sy, uuana@live.com...terima kasih.

DrA said...

dear azah,
saya dah reply through your e-mail, tapi as summary, masalah awak boleh dibantu melalui rawatan orthodontic.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dr. Nisa..

Nak tanye, gigi bongsu sy yg keempt br tumbuh 2/3 penuh.. tp dah takde tempat... gusi sy ditolaknye..gusi tu mcm dah ternaik nk berlapik... sy skg tgh suffer sakit amat sgt..nk telan air luir pun sakit ape tah lg nk mkn... adekah ade alternatif lain selain mencabutnye..thnx.

DrA said...

hi,
gigi bongsu yg bermasalah memang selalunya kita cabut, sebab gigi itu kita panggil 'nonfunctional' maksudnya kalau ada pun gigi tuh kita memang tak gunakan dia untuk apa2 pun. tapi biasanya cabutan gigi bongsu ni untuk gigi yang dah beberapa kali sakit i.e re-occuring pain.
kalau ini first time awak sakit gigi bongsu awak tak perlu mencabutnya lagi, tapi awak perlu ambil ubat untuk hilangkan infection dan bengkak. dan awak mungkin perlu tukar berus gigi awak kepada yg berkepala kecil (mcm budak2 punya) supaya awak senang membersihkan kawasan gigi bongsu tu.