In the last 2 weeks,we have been entertaining lots of phone calls for dental appointments ,specifically “before Chinese New Year”.

Interestingly ,the various people who request such appointments have very differing agenda.

First,we have the “wait till the last minute”group of people.These are normally those who are quite averse to seeing their dentist and they usually have some sort of existing dental problem.They would wait till the very last moment when they have no other choice,and since Chinese New Year involves a lot of eating,they HAVE to get their teeth fixed.This usually makes the largest group.And they are usually quite desperate 🙂

On the other extreme, we have the ultra cautious,who want to ensure that when they are away for the Chinese New Year holidays,they do not end up with a toothache or a broken tooth filling.So,they want a thorough check up and another,if possible.

Well,human behaviour IS an interesting phenomenon.

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fatt Chai!

Last weekend,I attended a sicentific symposium organised by the Malaysian Oral Implantology Association.I thought I would get a case of information-overload, considering the fact that I have been attending lectures and talks at least one weekend a month in the past 4 months.I was wrong,there were yet more things to learn.Well, am resigned to the fact that as long as I want to keep learning about new advances in dentistry,I will have to sacrifice numerous weekends (read=precious family time).

Anyway,one the speakers,a young and brilliant renowned dentist from Singapore,mentioned something interesting. He said that to be experienced would mean that we have made mistakes.So the more experienced one is,the more mistake he/she has made.Hmm,which patients would be the “mistakes”??

So remember this the next time you hear someone claiming that he/she is very experienced 🙂

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!!

I think Johnny Depp is an actor par excellence.He is obviously a class above most of his fellow actors.Naturally I am an ardent follower of the Pirates trilogy and OF COURSE I have gone to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean 3,At World’s End.

I read an interesting article recently about pirate teeth.It started with some folks wanting Mr Depp to endorse a certain Captain Jack Sparrow toothpaste.Johnny turned that down.Smart boy!He likens selling pirate toothpaste to selling shampoo to the bald. 🙂

Director Gore Verbinski actually encouraged the cast of Pirates not to brush their teeth during the filming of the movie.Yikes!! He was quoted as saying,”I thought it would be more authentic to have pirates with bad teeth since I am sure they never floss.”That’s funny,because the cast were wearing fake pirate teeth.Mr Verbinski,STAY AWAY FROM MY PATIENTS!!

I had my chance to make up my own little pirate when my 4-year old had his class party with the Pirates of Caribbean theme. 🙂

Yesterday,21st December,I had a rather busy day.My appointments were quite full and I was feeling a little tired by afternoon time.

Suddenly,Elaine,my wonderful front desk manager,came rushing into my surgery and said that  there was a car on fire right in front of the clinic.That woke me up!,and my patient who was sitting on the dental chair sat up too!!

“Quick! The camera!”,I told Elaine.This was exciting indeed.

Look at that!!I have never seen a burning(yes! literally engulfed in flames!!)car at such a close range.The cars parked in the parking lot were driven off very quickly indeed!

Our trusty bomba men were quite fast in getting there.

Thankfully no one was hurt,but ,oh!I feel sorry for the owner of the car,or what’s left of the car….

And,off it goes with the tow truck.And it’s back to a normal day’s routine for all of us.And the car parks filled up almost immediately!!