not so wise after all

Salam to all,
fuh! its been a while... i was bugged with what people called 'the writers' block'. but i have been checking and replying your comments regularly and i must say, braces is, hands down, the hottest topic out there! but today i would like to highlight another actually very common 'situation' that all of us may have experience. why i say common? because i would get on average 3 patients everyday with the same 'situation'. oh, and i call it a 'situation' rather than a 'problem', because everybody has it, and it is as regular as a common headache!

are there times that you feels like there's a dull, aching sense at the corner of your jaw? then, it radiates to the very back of your last back tooth? then i can tell you, that's the time that we actually became wiser. or rather, your wisdom tooth is actually peeking out to erupt! this is its first step, actually. pop in a tablet of panadol if you cant stand it, it should go off. as i said, just like common headache!

why does a wisdom tooth causes us pain during its eruption? because they get out the time that our bones has completely matures. some has it as early as at the age of 17, some as late as 55! (my mom is in this category.. bless her!) if you have it early then good for you. it wouldnt cause that much pain. but if its later in life... aduhhhhhsss.. it wouldnt just give you jaw ache, but headache combined! and mind you, this tooth gets out little by little. means, it could take years before it can fully get out. thus moving to my next point:

wisdom tooth, because of its habit of erupting just a little bit at one time, is a favourite place for food to get stuck. if we dont clean it thoroughly, then bacteria build up will cause swollen gum at its area. we might accidentally bite on this swollen gum and the pain will be a little bit intense. sometimes, if this swollen gum is not reduced, infection will occurs. so maybe at first you're just moody because you have toothache. now, with infection, you might just become unexplainably fiery! because i practice prevention rather than cure, i would suggest you invest about 6 ringgit on children's toothbrush. because of the toothbrush's small head, it has proven to be effective in cleaning our wisdom teeth and its surrounding area. the regular sized toothbrush somehow fails to reach that area.

but some of us are not so lucky because there's simply not enough space anymore for another tooth in our cute little mouth. those with no space are the most unfortunate of all: the pain causes by erupting wisdom tooth hurts almost like childbearing. (well, almost ya, but not quite!) the reason: the tooth is not going out upward, but tilted and pushing the sides of the tooth next to it. we just dont have any choice with this. it's such a nuisance, it simply has to go. out. from our mouth.

the fortunate

the not-so-fortunate

the completely unfortunate

but how? that's why i call us "unfortunate". i do wish there is, but there's no other way, except for removing it surgically. but we do have choices.. that is whether we want to do it under general anaesthesia (fully knocked-out) or local anaesthesia (we're awake, but near-zero pain). who decides this? you! but of course, get your dentist's opinion. we can tell you which choice is the best choice for you.

makes me wonder, you know, if it gets out just to be taken out, why is it called the wisdom teeth?

hey, dont hate the teeth. it does have its own role. it's a spare teeth to those who needs it. our molars (or gigi geraham) is the most important teeth during chewing. so it doesnt hurt to have a spare, just in case, isn't it? :)

bridging the gap

salam to all,
i hope its not too late to wish all readers eid mubarak... my family, my staffs and i wishes that this eid will bring all of us happiness and barakah..

today i would like to highlight a plea from one of our readers. its on the 'bridge' subject. as you all know, doing bridge requires quite a hefty amount of money, especially if we want to replace more than one tooth. and this treatment is quite permanent; meaning once you do this treatment, turning back is a more costly option, whether in terms of money or even to our teeth. but nonetheless it is a treatment i highly recommend as compared to dentures. of course, its maintenance in order to ensure its longlastingness is also upmost important, as also the maintenance of our general oral health.

so here it goes:

Anonymous said...

Salam and hello everyone, please cite sikit pada saya pengalaman saudara / saudari yang pernah buat bridge gigi(bridge sahaja ok)..saya nie tgh dilema nak buat ke taknak bridge sebab takut hasilnye tak cantik atau ade ape2 side effect..jadi mengikut pengalaman korang, cite la macamana korang mase buat brige tu..sakit ke tak..lepas buat tu sakit ke tak..bape lame sakit tu..and if after dah ilang sakit tu korang ade hadapi ape2 masalah tak and nak cure nyer macam mana, please bagitau saya..ni add. email saya :wdt_arte@yahoo.com…pengalaman all of u sangat bermakna buat saya..please guide me

September 26, 2009 9:49 PM

you guys are more than welcome to leave your feedback here or email straight to her/him. to me, we always have to check and balance on the pros and cons not just on the pain matter but take also into consideration our state of oral health and habits, i.e sensitivity issues, food intake and whether we're very concious or moderately concious of our oral hygiene.

and to wdt_arte, good luck!

ramadhan al mubarak

salam semua,
bulan yang dimuliakan Allah ini menjengah lagi. tiba masa untuk kita memperbaiki dan mempertingkatkan amalan kita pada masa pintu syurga dibuka seluas-luasnya untuk kita.... (dan ini adalah untuk peringatan saya secara personal..)

di sini saya kumpulkan beberapa soalan lazim yang ditanya berkaitan rawatan pergigian di bulan puasa. soalan2 dan jawapan2 yg saya sertakan di sini saya kumpul dari various official websites dan diharap akan sedikit sebyk membantu meng'clarify'kan kemusykilan kita...

Apakah hukum memberus gigi selepas subuh ketika berpuasa?

Sengaja bersugi atau memberus gigi dengan benda basah atau kering ketika berpuasa tidak membatalkan puasa. Namun, memberus gigi selepas gelincir matahari dengan tujuan untuk menghilangkan bau mulut adalah makruh hukumnya.

Saya tertidur selepas bersahur dan apabila bangun dari tidur untuk menunaikan solat subuh saya mendapati ada cebisan makanan terdapat didalam mulut. Persoalannya ialah - bagaimana hukum pada puasa saya itu?

Hendaklah dibersihkan cebisan makanan tersebut kerana apabila ditelan ia akan membatalkan puasa. Sah puasa memberus gigi sesudah masuk waktu subuh.

Apakah hukumnya mencabut gigi di bulan Ramadhan?

Hukumnya makruh tetapi tidak membatalkan puasa.

Adakah batal puasa termuntah dengan sebab menggosok gigi?

Tidak batal kecuali mereka yang biasanya muntah apabila mengggosok gigi dan sengaja dia meggosoknya.

Air liur yang terkumpul di dalam mulutnya kemudian ditelan, adakah batal puasanya?

Tidak batal puasanya kerana air liur datang dari mulut tidak datang dari rongganya.



Air liur yang bercampur dengan sesuatu yang lain seperti darah kemudian ditelan, adakah batal puasanya?

Batal puasanya.






sumber dari:

website jabatan mufti kerajaan negeri, negeri sembilan
berita harian online

hari tanpa tembakau sedunia

in 1987 World Health Organization declares 31st may as world no tobacco day in attempt to draw glabal attention towards negative health effects of tobacco use. in conjunction with this day we would like to highlight our previous entry on this subject:

to be or not to be

i hope this article will open our minds towards the danger of tobacco usage not just to our general health but to our oral health as well.

TAK NAK!

precious

how early do we actually introduce the dentist to our children? i get a lot of these type of questions from parents. when indeed? the moment their first tooth erupt? or the moment they start shedding their milk tooth? or when they tell you they have toothache, and you've given them painkiller but those don't work no more??

i'm 3 months old and my tooth are coming out soon!

in an ideal world, the best time to start bringing your child to meet your dentist are when they start having teeth, say, when they have like 2 or 4 or 6 teeth. don't worry, we are not going to do any treatment to your baby, but we can show you the correct way on how to clean those teeth and discuss on the special needs of your child; e.g. what to do if your child has to sleep with his bottle in his mouth, the use of pacifier, problems during teething and thumbsucking, and so on so forth. as a guide, your child's first visit to the dentist should be before he celebrates his first birthday.

i am 4 years old and my mommy watch me brush my teeth!

our child will have a complete set of milk teeth when he reached 2 years of age. during all those times we as parents should be the ones who has been brushing their teeth up to when they are 3 years old. this is because their motor control (i.e. their ability to hold the toothbrush) are still a little bit impaired. when they are 3 years old, slowly teach them to brush by themselves. supervised toothbrushing should be done up until they are 8 years old (9 or 10 for boys) so that you are assured they really does brush their ALL their teeth, not just the front surface. also, toothbrushing session should last for at least 2 minutes. visit to the dentist during this age (2-6 years) are also important, not just to check any early caries lesion and eruption of his teeth, but also to discuss your child's need of nonfluoridated or fluoridated toothpaste and also additional fluoride treatment.

with newfound feet (and freedom :D) toddlers and children are much more prone to falls and injuries. we should immediately seek treatment if this unfortunate events should happen for the dentist to be able to assess the injuries and explain treatment options our child might need. if ever a permanent teeth fall off during the accident, try and save that fallen tooth by soaking it in milk or salt water or the child's own saliva. we might be able to reinsert the tooth back if you are able to seek impromptu treatment. for active children, to prevent these sort of injuries we can costruct a customized mouthguard for them. mouthguards are also recommended to sporty schoolchildren, motorcyclists and those who habitually grind their teeth (during stress or sleeping).

milk tooth will start being replaced by permanent tooth when our child reaches the age 6, starting with the lower front teeth. our child's teeth will look uneven and not very nice between ages 6-10 because of mixed dentition (some tooth are milk tooth, and some are permanent, so difference in sizes makes their set of teeth looks uneven). we call this mixed dentition stage as 'ugly duckling stage'. dont worry if their front teeth appears so huge, this is because those permanent front teeth are for a much larger jaw, and his jaw will grow as he grows. the most important part is not to hurry extracting the milk tooth. it is essential to wait until the permanent tooth appears or until the milk tooth becomes loose. this is because, the earlier we extract our child's milk teeth, the more possibility of their permanent teeth become malaligned. think of the milk teeth as sort of 'tour guide' to his permanent teeth; without the guidance of the milk teeth's root, the permanent teeth will be lost and can end up not at the area that they suppose to be,resulting in the malalignment.

our children are precious, and so does their teeth. we,as adult, do feel the agony of having toothache; and so does them and most probably much more. so bring them for routine check ups and not when its too late and they are already in pain. prevention is better than suffer.

that time of the year

yep, the oral health month organized by colgate is in the month of april every year. so all throughout this month dental check ups are done for free in participating clinics. in conjunction with that i would like to give some guide to you guys on what to ask/query/pester your dentist:

1. calculus and scaling
- ask your dentist whether you have calculus, how bad is it and whether you need scaling or not. also ask him to show you the areas where calculus first appear so that you can check yourself at home. that way you can straight away detect whether calculus has formed or not, so you can determine yourself your need for scaling. you can also focus your brushing and flossing on that area to minimize calculus formation.

2. caries and filling
- some small caries lesions may not be apparent to the naked eye. one of the sign of small caries is sensitivity on one particular tooth that was not sensitive before. these cavities may be hidden in between teeth and that is where your dentist can help you in detecting it. other than that you can also ask your dentist to determine the conditions of your old fillings and he can tell you whether you need new filling or not.

3. sensitivity
- your dentist can check on why your teeth become sensitive and how can you solve that problem. there are numerous reasons for hypersensitivity and equally numerous ways to lessen it, from take-home solutions to in-office treatment.

4. wisdom teeth
- ask your dentist on the condition of your wisdom teeth, whether it has erupted or not. next is to ask whether these particular teeth is erupting upwards or its face is facing somewhere else. this is because wisdom teeth almost always gives certain degree of problems especially those ages between 18-40. this is so that you can prepare mentally on problems that might arise from your wisdom tooth.

5. others
- just ask anything that's been bugging you about your overall mouth condition, or you brothers' or your parents' or your children's. this is the chance for you to get to know everything for free! and don't forget to ask for freebies from colgate as well!!

which one?

since braces is such a hot topic here, i would like to introduce other types of braces other than the conventional metal braces we often see:

1. ceramic braces

while conventional braces use metal brackets (the square metal thingy we cemented on your tooth) to align your teeth, ceramic braces use tooth-coloured ceramic brackets. so they will 'blend-in' with your teeth and less noticeable compared to metal brackets. Tom Cruise wears this type of braces. the cost? about RM1k more than the metal ones. however there are cases that doctors are unable to use ceramic braces, such as tooth that needs super high force to be moved.

2. lingual braces

these are braces that are fixed behind your lower teeth near your tongue. metal brackets are used in this type of braces. not many specialist recommended this though, because treatment will usually takes much longer than usual and patients are not usually able to keep the teeth and braces clean. not to mention they always cause tongue ulcers.

3. self-ligating braces

visually there's no difference whatsoever between this type and the conventional ones, but the length of treatment with self-ligating braces is cut into half compared to normal braces. means you will only wear braces for two years or less. but to have this type of braces you have to add about RM2k more to the cost of normal braces. self-ligating braces also comes in tooth-coloured brackets.

the missing link

a patient asked me once:

why do we still have calculus and still need scaling like 6 monthly; whereas we brush our teeth at least two, maybe three times a day?

the concept that we have to grasp is the fact that brushing will only clean the surface of our teeth, and not in between; and calculus will first appear in between the teeth and usually nearby our salivary gland.

so, brushing alone is not enough?

no way near enough. granted, it removes almost all plaques. but almost is still not all. that small amount of plaque is all it takes to form those brownish blackish unsightly karang gigi that we often mistook as part of our teeth. mind you, calculus IS the frontrunner cause of smelly mouth.


really? calculus really cause foul mouth? (no pun intended)

what do you expect? those plaque are actually remnants of what we eat. imagine leaving lebihan kuah satay on your plate for 6 months. how stinky do you think it become?

what do i do then?

flossing!!!! the one thing that we always think as leceh and malas nak buat. (why is it that the things that we wouldn't like to do most is the thing that is most important?)

so if i floss everyday i wont need scaling?

hard to say. depends on how effective your flossing and toothbrushing technique is. if you do both correctly, you may only need scaling once in a few years, and your mouth smells like blossom. hence the mandatory annual dental check up. your dentist can tell you whether this year you need the treatment or not. (you simply cannot run from them, dont you? :-p)

but i use mouth gargle everyday! for all my life!

flossing is still the missing link. gargle is simply not enough. i would suggest you use mouthrinse as your daily need to freshen up after meal or after your long meditation in front of your notebook. but flossing should always accompany brushing. think of flossing as butter to your bread, or petrol to your car.


last but not least, happy flossing!

simply the best

we never actually bother to check what type of bristles do we use, don't we? its just toothbrush, so as long as it does what it claim it does (which is cleaning our teeth) then all is fine, right? plus, the cheaper the better.. after all its just a toothbrush..

in the actual truth, in April 1999 a guy in Chicago has filed a lawsuit against 8 toothbrush manufacturer in the US for not putting any warning labels on their medium and hard-bristled toothbrushes that its usage may cause what we call 'toothbrush abrasion'. this guy also was seeking damages on behalf of anyone who suffers from this condition.

and so,

what is this 'toothbrush abrasion'?

abrasion is damage to the surface of our teeth usually caused by daily usage of bristle that is too harsh and/or incorrect technique of toothbrushing. almost everyone who brushes with medium or hard-bristled toothbrush will have some signs of surface damage; and if they continue throughout their life using those toothbrushes, they will experience some degree of gum irritation, gum recession and permanent tooth hypersensitivity.

just like water can do this to rocks,

toothbrush does this to our teeth.

so,

how do we know we have those surface damages?

get a check up. your dentist can tell you. also, if you have that hypersensitivity and you thought its just your bad luck, think again. you might already have the abrasion cavity.


but then,
can a soft bristled toothbrush really clean our teeth?

of course! the most important thing is our technique! the only downside of it is we might probably have to frequently change our toothbrush because soft bristles are more easily damaged. but then that's a good thing! do you know how much germs and bacterias can accumulate on a one-month-old toothbrush? eewwwww....

correct toothbrushing technique

okay,
which brand, then? oral b? colgate?

none the matter. any brand will do, seriously. its bristle is what matters more.
seriously.


alright then,
what happen to that chicago guy?

dont know really. couldn't find any article or news that says whether he won the lawsuit or not. i wish him luck though. :)