Bread and Butter of Dentistry : Dr. Dini

Scaling, extractions, fillings, check-up, review and a treatment plan consult : That’s all part of our daily routine. It is the bread and butter of dentistry and makes up the bulk of our day. Some dentists find doing cleaning or scaling laborious and boring, but although I hate to admit it, that is one of my favorite parts of the day. I enjoy removing the hardened plaque (known as calculus) off the patient’s teeth as it crumbles away when you angle the dental cleaning instrument (a scaler) at the correct angle. Aargh, the small satisfaction we get as dentists.. 🙂

I also enjoy crafting new smile for my patients. Be it a simple composite restoration or a more complicated composite veneers. Even though it has it’s own challenges, the satisfied look on the patient’s face when they see their own reflection on a mirror is worth every challenge. The compliment I get from the patients as well as the patient’s relative makes me grateful to be in this line of work.

Last Thursday was like any other day. Nothing extraordinary, until I saw my last patient. She was a 75 year old lady who chipped off her front teeth while eating bread. I quickly examined her and told her this would be a quick painless fix. She smiled widely when she heard that.

True enough, 30 minutes later, I snapped her picture once I completed the treatment. I showed the picture to her and her daughter. Both of them was ecstatic to see the picture. When my patient came down from the dental chair, her daughter asked her to smile and she said this to her, “Wow, mummy it looks like your natural teeth. I can’t even see the fillings on your teeth!”.

Upon hearing her daughter’s comment, I too smile widely. :-). It was indeed a beautiful end to my day. Making patients happy is one of the joys of being a dentist.

Love:

Dr. Dini ( dini@dr.fauziah.com)