Saturday, April 09, 2005

Behold my Electric Toothbrush from T.F.D!!!

I've been secretly fearing dentists all my life (thinks about those fierce primary school nurses and horrible dentists who are too pragmatic) and the first question which The Friendly Dentist (T.F.D.) asked was this, "Are you scared of dentists?"

Now, that's new. Of course, I denied fearing dentists. And he was really nice. He explained what he had to do and told me what he was thinking. The only puzzling thing about all dentists is that you won't get to see the face behind the mask. The only thing you can probably remember them by would be their smiling eyes or hair.

So first, he examined my teeth... and was surprised at how much stones or tartar or plaque there was. And he knew that I last visited the dentists like 4 or 5 years back.

"Well, your last visit should have been half a year ago, you know. If you take care of your teeth, maybe, you can get away with a once-a-year visit..."

I replied with "mmm"s and "ahhhh"s as he looked about my mouth and teeth.

"Your jaw in quite small... and some of your teeth are getting a bit crooked at the back.. and you still have your baby teeth ah... and 3 or 4 wisdom teeth too..."

He scaled my teeth and dug out all the tartar and stones. He was quite gentle and quite reassuring. Here's the best part, " I like your teeth because there're no holes or decay." He sure has EQ and good interpersonal skills. Most dentists I know aren't friendly, reassuring, or generous with nice comments. I don't know why I feel so amused that this should be a pleasant experience that I felt like laughing.

Then, he did some polishing and took an X-ray of my whole mouth. It's simple really, I had to bite on a little thingie with the x-ray film inside, and a big x-ray device thingie was placed beside my cheek. In 2 seconds, it was done. And so the dentist showed me the x-ray. Hmmm... Permanent teeth had deep long roots while baby ones have barely any roots at all.

Now, for the conclusion. My 4 baby teeth, espeically the one on top, may drop off in the future. Oh NOOooo! I don't want to be bogay! One of my teeth has a shortening root, and may seriously fall off in the future. So, I can either pull the 4 baby teeth out and put braces, or leave them to drop and use dentures. Fake teeth!!! NOoOoooOo! I'd rather use braces. But there's no hurry at this point of time. I'll decide when I start working then. Sheesh. So there, I may have to see an orthodontist (ah, it's just a big word for dentists who specialise in correcting position of teeth etc, putting braces)... Well, he also recommended crowning to make my teeth look prettier... but I'm fine with my less than perfect teeth. I just don't want to be bogay!!!

Finally, I got a new tube of Elgydium toothpaste (goodbye colgate) and a new Oral B Braun electric toothbrush complete with timer and alkaline batteries. And of course, T.F.D. taught me how to brush my teeth properly with the electric toothbrush.

The final touch was for me to sink my teeth into a bite plate containing pink, pleasant strawberry cream that helps prevent tooth decay for the next six months. Till then, I'll be using my new toothbrush and awaiting my next appointment.

And I don't want to be bogay!!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love electric toothbrushes and believe that they are way better than the old version toothbrushes! An electric toothbrush is the best gadget designed to give hygiene to your mouth and teeth!