Whenever a new patient comes to have dental treatment at iSmile,he or she would be required to fill in a form which would give us the person’s particulars as well as the medical and dental history or condition.On the iSmile registration form,after the name,there is a column where it says “prefer to be known as” and the patient would fill in what they want us to address them as.

Yesterday,I had a gentleman who filled that space with “master of the universe“.Can you beat that!!  It was impossible not to go hysterical with laughter.

When it was time to see the patient,Siti,my dental assistant aka Drama Queen,stood at the door of the surgery and ,with a straight-laced face,called out in a loud voice,”Mr Master of the Universe!”

I nearly fell off my chair trying not to laugh so hard.

My visions of He-man was replaced with this inteligent-looking,bespectacled young Malay gentleman.After we had all stopped laughing,I thanked him for being so creative.It made my day!!

Well,even if he was not one of the masters of the universe,I think he was really brave to ‘tahan’ the discomfort when I had to remove quite a substantial amount of tartar from in between his teeth. Hurray for He-man!!

“Say that again??” This is a rare statement.Usually I get things like “I am very afraid of coming to the dentist” or the downright ,straight-in-the-face “I don’t like dentists!”.

I do have a few patients who actually tell me that they like coming for dental checkups and regular scaling.These are the ones who really care for their teeth and I must say that they have excellent oral hygiene.I make it a point to commend them for doing a good job in brushing and flossing.This brings much satisfaction for me as an oral health giver.

This patient of mine who said that she enjoys her dental visits,told me that she likens it to going for a facial treatment,where she relaxes while her teeth(or face) is being cleaned by someone she trusts,who will ensure that she has good oral health.Hmm..sounds very logical.

Actually,I have also noticed that my the majority of my children patients are less fearful compared to the adults.This,I realise,is the result of their parents,after having gone through horrendous experiences at the dentist when they were younger and do not want their children to go throught the same,very diligently bringing their children for regular dental check ups.And usually,the parents look a lot more stressed than their children even though it’s their child and not them on the dental chair!

The conclusion is,bad experiences in the dental clinic(or in any other situation,for that matter) during childhood, leave a tremendous effect on an individual.Conversely,good experiences will bring pleasant memories and will positively impact an individual in similar future experiences.

So,do bring your children to the dentist when they are young and impressionable,even when they do not have any potential problems and ensure that they have a pleasant visit,especially the first one.

Recently TC,my husband and I signed up for a marriage course,(one of the things we do to keep our marriage strong and healthy )and among some of the things to keep marriages going strong is for the couple to find activities of common interests to be involved in.

We decided to try mountain biking.

We have a good friend who is a mountain bike enthusiast and he invited us(or rather we asked him to invite us!) to try out the sport.So last weekend,Melvin loaded his bicycles into his van,and together with another friend,Peter, four of us went off to FRIM(Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia).

After a very comprehensive and precise briefing session on how to work the brakes and the gears and pedal positions etc,we set off on the road.That was quite easy,apart from manouvering the humps on the road.

Then Melvin said it was time to go off-road.And thats the REAL THING!! He said,”Don’t worry about the steep terrains,MTB stands for mountain biking,it also stands for “Mari Tolak Basikal”(Come,lets push the bike).How encouraging!!

It was tough,especially the climbs, but as greenhorns,we were just thankful that neither one of us fell.We spent approximately 3 hours on our bikes,taking rests now and then.It was quite a workout for all of us;we were drenched in sweat.We ended with a debriefing session.Cool!

The 3 guys and Melvin,our “sifu”,drinking from his water pouch through this pipe thingy that looked very much like my the one I have in my kitchen,attached to the cooking gas tank!

That’s us,with helmet and gloves and all!

Except for a sore bottom each,we agreed that this is a great sport,and yes,we CAN do this together again,and again.We have,in not so subtle terms,told Melvin to invite us again,soon,for our next common-interest activity

A number of years ago,I had the privilege of visiting the Sweden.And I was invited by a friend,Dr Sofie Hybels, to visit the Eastman Dental Institute in Stockholm,where she works as a Pediatric Dentist.This is teaching dental hospital for postgraduates as well as a clinic for children under the public dental services.

In Sweden,children and young people up to 19 years of age are offered organised dental care free of charge provided by the National Dental Service.Adults 20 years of age and above come under a general dental care insurance,where the adults are given compensation for preventive care,extractions,endodontic/root canal treatments and fillings.The dental insurance will cover a substantial percentage of the cost of dental treatment.

In Sweden,apparently 8% of the total governmental spending on healthcare is spent on dentistry.That is a lot!!There is a Dental Act there which states that all Swedish citizens are entitled to good quality dental care.Note GOOD QUALITY.

Why am I talking about Sweden dental health care? Because I think we have much to learn from them.

When I was visiting Eastman,I was brought on a mini tour around the place and I was so impressed at the quality of work and materials used.That was year 2001.It left quite an impact on me.

Then about 2 years ago,my husband TC and I visited Sweden again,to visit some of our very dear Swedish friends.This time,one of our friends,Goran,arranged for me to visit his dentist,who is in private practice.This was in the town of Linkoping,north of Stockholm.

I was deeply inspired to see a thriving private practice with so many happy and smiling staff.They all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves,and I made a mental note that when I start my own practice, I want my staff to be as happy,if not more.

Why am I writing about this? I believe there is much we can learn from the way this country manages her citizen’s oral health care.Yes,they are a very developed country,but we in Malaysia are catching up in leaps and bounds.We should not be lagging behind.I believe every single Malaysian should be well informed about the importance of their oral health,and encouraged to take proactive measures to take care of their teeth.And dentists both in the public and private sector,as oral health care givers,must rise up to provide good quality dental treatment for our patients.