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You Don't Have to Brush all your Teeth - Just the Ones You Want to Keep !!

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Drpreethis, Sep 4, 2008.

  1. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    Why did you make my Daughter a Dentist, ?? There there.. my mom complaining and regretting my dream career !! How could I not get irritated !!! ;<
    " After all these years.. suddenly why this kind of lament, Ma "? My teeth are sensitive .. and its no use a dentist is at home !!! Huh ??
    I attacked her like a Samurai !!! "What you mean just because your teeth are sensitive you say you are unhappy about your daughter being a dentist ??? She did not even look at me .. she knew I was as irritated as she was !
    But I dont blame her when you have pain / sensitivity your brain ceases to work !!Witsend
    I promised her relief and left to my clinic. Greeted with 5 patients and a happy smile wondering whom I am destined to cure today I walked in.. Prayed to God and I entered my working area where my junior doctor was deeply involved talking to a patient and trying to imitate my style of talking !! She smiled sheepishly when she saw me realising the same.. ( I used to do it when i was in class 7.. my class teacher was such an influence on me !! )
    I didnt disturb her but only kept hearing weird hissing sounds around. I slowly looked at her face and saw no change. I didnt want to think of reptiles in the clinic !!!! Eeeksss!! I continued looking around and there I found the origin of the sound !! My poor patient kept making those hissing sounds ( like you hear when you suck in the saliva with clenched teeth ) and had a deep frown. He smiled at me still and said I was waiting for you , Madam ! I smiled and said
    " Are you inviting snakes into my clinic ? " He gave me a deep grin assuring that his pain is getting better ( Cmon , just by me flashing a smile wouldnt stop the nerve endings to respond !! Wish it was that easy .. !! :) ) Looking at the case sheet my Junior jotted down I looked at him . He said Madam, I feel " JHUM JHUM " !! How many of us can relate to it isnt ? Yes, that is exactly what you feel when you have SENSITIVITY !!! :( He said with irrirtation I have it since quite some time , Madam ! I brush my teeth regularly and twice you know ! What is the use ? I was immedietly reminded of what my Mom said !! What use ?? I related.. Inspite of good habits he feels he has problem and the same with my Mom.. Nothing wrong.. I said ok and first applied a desensitising gel ( just ceases sensitivity for a while ) onto his teeth to relieve him of the discomfortfor the time ! Else he woudnt sit throughout the consultation I was sure !! Quickly going through his personal information I started to talk. Totally dejected with the very existance of Dentists Rant he started ' Doctor, I brush my teeth twice daily, still I have problems !! ' It sounded like ' I dont eat sweets but still got Diabetes ' !!! Sometimes what you do and what happens may not be related in any way. Though most of the times it does. I asked him to show me the way he brushes and my junior quickly gave him the model teeth. He started rubbing his teeth like it was some kind of knife-sharpening act !! I was shocked.. said Mr. Victor , you have an amazing strength. He was delighted .. Continuing immedietly before he hit the roof with pride I said but you are able to do this only because your teeth doesnt cry !! Soon it will get emotional and leave you !! This lady must be mad , he should have thought !!
    Our tooth are divided into two.. The Crown ( which you can see in your mouth ) and The Root ( which is inside your gums and Bone ) . The Crown is made of three parts. The Enamel, Dentin and Pulp . The Enamel is for all of us to see. The hardest substance in the Human body... It has no response to pain etc and is just a protection over the Dentin. As we age it gets worn out. Just like how our bones and muscles do. That is exactly why many old people lose the white color they had while they are young.
    The Dentin is the second layer which has small nerve ends in them. It has an yellow shade. Imagine tube like structures which has one end at the end of enamel layer and the other towards the Pulp. This is a very sensitive area. So when the enamel gets worn out or when you have a decay and have " JHUM JHUM " it means it has reached dentin. In toto ANYTHING THAT EXPOSES DENTIN CAUSES SENSITIVITY !!
    Next is the Pulp which has the nerves and blood vessels supplying our teeth. When a decay reaches the Pulp we have nothing but pain. This is when a Root Canal Treament is opted for !
    Now the reasons why an enamel gets worn off could be Improper brushing ( like what you demonstrated , I said ) , carbonated drinks, teeth developmental defects , exposure of root surfaces , the gums shrinking, Vitamin deficiency etc.
    Brushing needs to be done correctly. Else you land with decay, yellow teeth, lot of tartar.
    Yellow teeth !! Yes now who wants yellow teeth is'nt ? When your enamel gets worn out and your dentin exposed your teeth looks yellow !! " But I thought the harder you brush the whiter your teeth becomes .. !! ", he said.. " Well .. unfortunately it does not, Mr, Victor .. Will you become fair skinned just because you rub your body with a hard scrapper ?? You will bleed eventually is'nt " ?? He smiled Of course ! But skin has blood below, Doctor .. and " Mr. Victor, your enamel has sensitive dentin below " !! ( Sabbash this man is arguing , WOW !! )
    If you had blood below your enamel.. can you imagine how you would looked with that ?? Scarry .. he laughed loud :D
    I could really see the joy on his face..
    That is God's creation !!
    For sensitivity we have treatments like Bonding. A solution is applied over the teeth and then Light cured ( a blue light is showed onto the tooth ) But this relieves it only for a short period. There are also De-Sensitising pastes/ gels which is prescribed by us for long term use. But all the treatments depends on the severity of the condition !
    But the truth is Enamel can never be replaced !! Though there are many ads saying so it is never proven.. Enamel can be strengthend by good diet and oral hygiene ! You can never go against Nature and God' s creativity ! He gives you in abundance but when you do not take care of it .. he leaves you with no option sometimes !!
    Ahem.. am I getting too phylosophical, I thought !! Well.. Mr. Victor didnt think so and seemed quite mesmerised with what ever I said !! Well.. what more do I need.. just that my good advice is bought !! :hatsoff
    My junior showed him correct method of Brushing and gave him a lecture on Dos and Donts !! Wow.. the excitement I could see on her face too was a feel good factor pushing me back to my initial days of career :) !! I could still see Mr. Victor taking a sneak peek at me during the lecture !! I flashed my usual smile which sometimes shows that I am cluless about what I am upto !!
    He swiped his card .. took down his appointment and left my clinic.. My junior called the next patient in while I was thinking I better do something for my Mom's teeth before she starts complaining to God again !! :mrgreen:
     
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  2. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    Prachee ,

    As I promised you I am answering your query here..

    Hello Preethi,

    I happen to see your blog and really your are doing a
    [COLOR=green! important][COLOR=green! important]good [COLOR=green! important]Job[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] giving suggestions related to [COLOR=green! important][COLOR=green! important]dental [COLOR=green! important]problems[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].

    My tooth color is yelloish, not bright white color coz i use to brush my teeth for 15min's daily in my teen age, so polish was gone and now it has change to light yellow color.

    Can you plz suggest me how to bring white color...

    thanks in advance,
    Prache


    Sometime our teeth looks yellow but as far as it is not harming you functionally ( with sensitivity to heat and cold ) one must be alright. I agree that under cosmetic grounds it is not appealing. But as far as the shade goes well with the face .. we are gifted ! Imagine a dark skinned person having pearl white teeth ! It will definitely look bad. Likewise a white person having too white a teeth will also be weird. So having a healthy teeth is more important than having white teeth !!
    But yes, if cosmetically the teeth is really bad then there are treatments like Bleaching ( done both in the dental office or at home ) Believe me there are a lot of after effects for the bleaching treament .( as they are man made isnt ?? ) :) You could develop sensitivity too after that as the Bleach may sometimes remove some enamel. Better to take a dentist's advice before in home bleaching. But , Prachee if you have a smile that can make even one person happy in this world .. believe me you are well off.. Whiteness is definitely not important. Take care..
     
  3. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Preeths...Superb blog! Enjoyed your way of narration.Also, Thanks for giving us quite a lotta information on crown, dentin, pulp.
    I have a question too. My sister wore the "teeth clip" for 3 years.Permanent one..like for everyteeth there is a connection - sorry i do not know those technical terms -excuse my ignorance. After removal, only her lower teeth is bright(normal). Her upper teeth still has those clip marks and red kinda patches on the teeth.Any suggestions?
     
  4. Lalitha Shivaguru

    Lalitha Shivaguru Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Dr. preethi,

    Reading this I felt my teeth go jhum jhum. ha ha ha.

    Nice way to show the correct procedure tob rush. Some people treat their teeth like that. The feel the harder they brush it is going to be white.

    I have one question, I s salt as a brushing agent good for the teeth? My kids sometimes after brushing clean their teeth with salt, is it good?
     
  5. Saraswathipv

    Saraswathipv IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Preethi..it was an informative post with a lace of humour...
    I have a doubt....Is RCT compulsory for a tooth decay........or without panoramic x -ray taken...can a dentist decide that RCT is the only option....
    Hope you don't mind...I ask, because, I now hear the about the suggestion given for RCT more commonly :))
    How useful is the filling procedure?
     
  6. Jithiks

    Jithiks Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Dr.Preethi, :)

    The title of your blog pulled me here ! I see this "You don't have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep" at my dentist's office . So, when I saw the title "brush" instead of floss, I was intrigued !

    Everytime I see that , I am amused and show it to my children too ! They are fed up since they've seen,read and heard it from me many times !

    I believe, flossing is not given much notice as much to brushing and it is a daily battle to make sure that the kids floss all their teeth including the ones at the very back !

    Sorry to deviate Preethi, simply loved the humour sprayed throughout your blog ! I was imagining your mom's face when she was lamenting ! Big Laugh

    That was a hilarious encounter with Mr.Victor. So was he convinced with your explanation? :rotfl

    Really an informative blog with the details about different parts of the teeth !

    And yes, there is a wrong notion prevalent among many that hard brushing leads to white teeth, when it actually damages the enamel. Probably there should be a catchy quote for that too ! :idea

    Thoroughly enjoyed reading this..keep blogging !! :hiya

    Cheers
    Krithika
     
  7. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    Thanx babes ! I am here only to share my knowledge.. and dont bother about your ignorance in technical terms.. had it not been that way you would have been me right ? You were clear with the content that is good enough !! :)
    Coming to the problem.. The clip ( braces ) marks are nothing but the cement residues which are used to stick the steel brackets ( those square steel kind of things you could see ) onto the teeth. There must have been a cleaning done after the braces were removed, isnt ? Else a cleanng needs to be done. Also sometime the cement sometimes erodes a little of enamel when placed. This can be treated by bleaching. If the cleaning has been done and still the spots look bad then she could get a mild bleach ( the percentage of material is very less ) done. If otherwise get the cleaning done first and sometimes it just disappears !! :) Good luck to her.. :thumbsup
     
  8. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    Watch out.. Jhum Jhum aint that easy an expression when experienced on tooth !! bonk
    Being a Dentist that is the kind of expression I could give you !!! :hatsoff Thank You so muchh for having said that about my narration..
    About the salt as an agent to brush .. minor quantities are good enough. Using salt as a tooth paste once in a week is ideal according to me. The enamel is fragile and can get eroded on using too much of salt everyday.. Infact warm salt water gargling every nite is a very good habit. Keeps gums very strong, handles bad breath, swishes away food between teeth etc. Take care :kiss
     
  9. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    Thanx dear for reading thru'...
    About RCT .. usually when a patient has lott of pain and a swelling ( inside or outside the mouth ) , the Dentist can easily say the tooth will go for an RCT without an Xray. But if there is just a decay and however quite wide and deep an Xray must be taken to arrive to this treatment. It is the depth of the decay that decides RCT and not the width. If the decay touches Pulp to a large extent then it needs to go for an RCT. Dentist usually suggest this because the materials put in for a deep decay could fail and eventually trouble the tooth.. which I disagree to.. the Dentist can always be transparent to the patient and tell them this could be the future of the tooth and does the filling fail he/she needs to go for RCT. But people believe that once a tooth is filled it is IMPOSSIBLE for a secondary decay to happen !! This is not true.. Take care :)
     
  10. Drpreethis

    Drpreethis Gold IL'ite

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    :thankyou2: so much for having liked my Blog yet again !! You have read this quote in some Dentist's office huh ? Not bad there are people who like taking down quotes like me !! I usually prefer quoting some message !! Like rajanikanth punch dialogues.. Idhu eppadi irukku !!??!! :thumbsup

    I know by this time you have noticed that.. :)..
    Flossing is a technical thing and kids may not be so comfortable doing it. You get interdental brushes which are the same functionally and more easy to handle.

    Oh krithi, my mom was still annoyed when I got back home in the night after practice till I gave her a desensitising gel to apply. bonk
    I didnt find any catchy quote for the hard brushing.. could only play my humor sense there !! Need to get a little more poetic soon !! Thanx for reading , Krithi !!
     

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