Sensitive Issues

Hehe the title sounds intriguing, eh? No, no i'll not be blogging about politics or any kinds of youtube posting, instead the ever-unsolved problem about sensitive, or hypersensitive teeth. This topic is really the hot issue right now with several dental care companies fighting among themselves on who's product is better in resolving sensitivity problem than others. Watch the TV if you don't believe me ;)

If the real tooth truth be told, all of us, in a way or another, has experienced or will experience the pain caused by tooth hypersensitivity. This is because, the causative factor of hypersensitivity ranges from the normal things we do (i.e the way we brush, our diet, toothbrush selection etc) to the more hard-to-tell reasons (such as changes in altitude or weather, some type of medication, certain habits). and , in reality, solving these matters are not like walking in the park either. 

First and foremost, this will be the best piece of advice you will get from me, free of consultation charge :D

if you have sensitive teeth, get a dental check up first for a correct diagnosis

This is because, for example, if your sensitivity is caused by a cavity, the treatment you need is NOT a toothpaste but rather a filling! But if because of the sensitivity, you get yourself those over-the-counter toothpaste, yes, it will reduce the pain, but it will also masks the real problem: the cavity! Ends up, next thing you know, you'll have excruciating pain and may need root canal treatment because that cavity has become bigger!

Certain medications also caused sensitivity to your teeth. The solution is simple: change your medication! no need no toothpaste-changing! so please have your teeth check, ok?

If the problem is really hypersensitivity, then we can provide you with sample toothpaste.  Not all people are well suited with all brands, and we can provide you with samples of assorted brands. When you find the brands that suits you, then you will be able to choose better. 

We are here to help! Really! Janji Ditepati! and no, I am not at all affiliated to any specific political party brands. Cheers! :D 

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!

in too deep

choices, choices, choices.

pumps: red? blue? purple?
football: man u? liverpool? chelsea?
cars: toyota? mazda? honda?

teeth: cabut? cabut? cabut? *huh?*

YES!
we do have choices when it comes to the health of our teeth. all the choices available is to eliminate whatever discomfort that we have. be it just a small hole, or major pain in the (ermm..) oral cavity... YES! we have!

a small to medium-sized hole on our tooth will present itself as a slight discomfort: during eating, drinking... especially hot or cold or sweet. its solution is simplest of all: filling! because the cavity is small, only involves the enamel and a little bit of dentin and very far away from the nerve, pain during this type of treatment is zilch!

a medium to large-sized cavity will cause a more apparent discomfort. added to that is the feeling that there's always some food stuck at that area whenever we eat, and it is becoming more and more difficult for us to take the food out. the other sign would be, whenever we floss, the floss gets stuck. the solution again, is filling. but apart from the normal filling material, we will also add a medication (a calcium hydroxide material) that will stop the caries from going deeper and nearer to the nerve by promoting the production of secondary dentin, which is a harder, stronger layer as compared to our primary dentin.

a large cavity may well has your pulp (the chamber housing our nerve) involved already. you will have: - hell of a pain, accompanied by swelling of gum, and the occasional facial asymmetry. Solution: root canal treatment. basically we will take out all the nerve and blood capillary that supplies that particular tooth; clean the canal area and fill it up with a type of rubber. it is almost the same process as mummification: we embalm the tooth so that the tooth is dead, no sense whatsoever, but still can remain in the mouth and still can be used to chew.

if all these fail, then you can consider extracting the tooth. but, you can also consider redoing the treatments.

choices, choices, choices. its all up to you. how much value do you put to your teeth? or should i say, how much value do you put in comfortably and without worry eating the satay kajang.. pizza... nasi dagang... soto ayam.. mee bandung muar... roti canai... lamb chop... strawberries and vanilla ice-cream... lobster thermidor... cupcakes....




choices, choices, choices.

euro: italia! italia! italia! :D

the very first time

I hate horror movies. When i become a dental surgeon, that hate evolves to despise. I totally despise horror movies, one in particular. Why can’t they make gross movies about lawyers? Engineers? Accountants? Why can’t they produce ‘DrakuLawyer’ or ‘The Engineer of Death’ or ‘Ledger of Blood’? First impression always counts, doesn’t matter what anyone believe. And the first impression the world population got about a dentist is horror.

*sigh*

Enough babbling. Seriously, going to the dentist is NOT excruciating anymore. Pain during dental treatment is an outdated perception, an old story (just like the movie). Modern technologies, updated equipments, improved techniques; all with the same aim:- to lessen, if not eliminate, pain. Do you remember your first visit to the dentist? is it bad? do you want your child to have that same bad experience?

So, how are we going to wipe off the phobia? Especially to our children? When the whole world practically is against us?

1. Make your child’s first visit a very comfortable one. Instead of scaring them away, we can always give the impression that a trip to the dentist is a joyful one; just like a trip to the zoo. Be positively enthusiastic; children can always sense if we are fearful.
   
2. Bring them early in their life, and bring them often. They will easily get use to the clinic’s surrounding. Bring them as early as their first tooth erupted. Bring them whenever you yourself or your spouse or your sister has dental appointments.
   
3. Bring all family members. Children always like to copy their siblings, and they always like to do things in groups. It is a family trip, after all.
4. Do NOT mention the word ‘pain’, ‘needle’, ‘jab’ or anything similar before the trip. They will chicken out even before the war begins.
   

We will also try to make your child’s first visit be as comfortable as possible. We do not usually do any treatment right away; we will just introduce the instruments to them. We will usually show them that our tools are not going to cause any pain, that it is just water and air. We will also let them experience our ‘robotic’ chair- boys always love it.

Nowadays, dental clinics are designed to be very people-friendly and comfortable. We always have children’s section where they can play with toys and further ease their minds. Clinics are now devoid of that ‘hospital-ly’ smell, thanks to ambi pur and aromatherapy. We ourselves do not like pain. We certainly do not want our patients to experience pain.

Ease your minds, don't believe the propaganda. Dentists don’t bite. Seriously.

the reason behind

why this blog

the basis of this blog is my passion towards my work. i believe i have a lot to offer to my patients. first of all, of course, pain-free dental treatment. which, strangely, is like an alien subject in this part of the world. but being a human first and a dentist, much much later...

i am no stranger than us ordinary people. i used to be terrified whenever i have dental appointments. i will feel like cringing, my heart beats thousand times more, i'll be sweating like.. ermm.. the sound of the drill makes me want to run faster than you can say 'drill'..

when i become a dentist (only about 4 yrs ago..) i set myself a life long goal:

- i want all my patients to feel comfortable when they are with me
- i want my patients to be able to tell me their fears and expectations
- i want to provide dental treatments with littlest pain possible
- i want my patients to be satisfied with the service i give, they feel that that is the best that they could get
- i want me to be satisfied with the service i give, i feel that that is the best that i can give

reality hits me like buckets of icy cold water. malaysians... their take on their dental health... i would estimate only about 20% keeps their biannual dental checkups, and about 95% of that 20% are in kuala lumpur. so for me, practicing in bandar baru bangi.... only 1 out of 10 patient i saw come for their routine check ups.

SPEECH BY Y.B. DATUK SERI DR. CHUA SOI LEK,
(EX) MINISTER OF HEALTH MALAYSIA

EVENT: LAUNCH OF ORAL HEALTH MONTH 2007

The last epidemiological survey of adults in Malaysia in year 2000 revealed that only 25.2% of adults (aged 15 years and above) had a dental check-up in the past year while 15.3% had one in the past 1 to 2 years.

its really frustrating. usually when they come to me... its too late for me to do any minimally invasive (= minimal pain) treatment anymore. instead we were left with either one of two: root canal treatment or extraction. in which.. both of course we can try and do it as pain-free as possible, but for sure both are really invasive procedure...

so lesson number 1:

try and keep your routine dental check up. it doesnt have to be biannually or annually, keep it at your own time but do it regularly. the advantages would be:
- small caries lesion can be detected early. you may not feel anything, just a stinging during eating sweets.. but its there. so if we can find it early, the restoration process (the treatment) would truly be pain-free.
- your calculus or staining or karang gigi is at minimal level so the removal will also be minimal and again, pain-free. try imagining removing a 5 years old calculus vs 1 year old calculus. or try this: imagine how hard we have to scrap 5 year old dirt vs 1 year old dirt. go figure.
- start your child's check up early. say around 2-3 yrs old. that way they will get used to the surrounding hence, eliminate the phobia.
- consider the cost, my friend!! routine check up will cost you about rm10-15, simple filling rm50-60. so at most, per visit you will pay.. say about rm120 for check up and 2 simple fillings with no pain.. IF u hv holes in your teeth.. only IF... compare it with.... when its too late.. your tooth already need root canal treatment... which will cost you more than rm200... and multiple visits.. with the toothache that you might have to endure before that because you left that hole in your tooth for much too long.. not to mention the meds you have to take... oh did i mention the hideous swelling that might accompany the pain??

think about it....