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

us, unique.

13 august 2008-

Happy Lefties Day to lefties around the world.



not many people were aware that i practice with my left hand. i take that as a positive output: it means they are comfortable with me even though i am somewhat 'different'. but some who notices often ask me the oldest question: how do you adept? i do not know how, i just do. some of my left-handed colleagues do their work with their right hand (i applaud them- their practice makes them ambidextrous) but for me, i like being different; and if practicing dentistry with my left hand makes me unique, so be it.

does being left-handed affect the outcome of my work? i would like to believe absolutely not. i trust it is who we are, not which hand we use, that determines the outcome of what we do.

there are dental chairs that can be set for left-handed dentists, but i am comfortable with the right-sided settings. besides, all my locum dentists are right-handed. i wouldn't want to trouble them unnecessarily. it used to be awkward for my nurses to adapt with me, since i do my work from the left side; but by now i am pretty sure they are getting used to it.

to all lefties out there: celebrate our uniqueness!

bracing matter

the question of the week: berapa cost nak buat braces?

braces (or pendakap gigi, or besi pada gigi, or medically known as orthodontic treatment) has somehow becoming a trend among youngsters now. usually this type of treatment is done under advice of our dentists, but there are some cases in which the patients themselves request for it for various causes, example for self esteem, aesthetics reasons, because its cool and also because all their friends have it.

the cost of wearing braces varies from one clinic to another, but on average it is between rm3500-rm5000. no no no, you are not paying this amount in one shot. most of the payment you will have to put down is on your bonding appointment, in which your dentist cements the braces onto your teeth. on that appointment only you will pay about rm1500-rm2000. after that, you will have appointments on monthly basis, up to two years or more, to change or tighten the wires. those appointment costs about rm150-rm200. easy said, consider the initial rm1500-rm2000 as down-payment, and rm150-rm200 as monthly payment. so, for example, if you pay rm1500 as your initial payment and rm200 consequently on every monthly visit, and your dentist charge you rm4300 for the whole treatment course;

(rm4300 - rm1500) /rm200 = 14 months
you will finish paying in a little over one year. its not bad, isn't it?


okay, those rm4300 does not include the consultation before you start wearing braces, the treatment you need before you put on the braces and also the follow up after you remove them. specialist will charge you around rm50 for consultation. scaling or filling or extraction prior to putting on the braces will be charged accordingly. and x-ray cost is around rm100.

minor malalignment- non-specialist case

general dental practitioners do provide orthodontics treatment. we do this after we attend some short courses that enable us to provide those services to our patients; but only for simple cases such as minor malalignment of the teeth or spacing of the teeth (gigi jarang). we tend to charge lower for our services.

moderate-severe crowding: specialist's case

orthodontists, on the other hand are specialists that specializes in correcting major malalignment such as jongang (pardon my word, but i need to be blunt) and severe crowding of teeth, so their charges will be a little bit on the costly side. my advice is: always get a second or several opinions before you decide. get these dentists to tell you whether yours is a simple or a complicated case.

wearing braces is no ordinary or simple matter. a lot of failed cases attributes to lack of discipline and knowledge. so make sure you do your research and mentally well-readied before deciding on flaunting them. good luck!