Waterpik flosser vs string / traditional floss

Recently, I bought a waterpik ultra flosser for $210.

It's said to be more effective than traditional flossing.

However, upon using it, I realized there are still food residue and plaque thereafter.

Albeit there's less, waterpik flosser can't seem to substitute traditional flossing...

Anyone tried it and had different results?

Trip to GPA Dental Parkview square

A month ago, I had a filling done by Dr Baey Ee Li at Q&M Ang Mo Kio.

The filling was rough, and soon it turns discoloured.

There was sensitivity and slight pain, so I went to Dr Eu Gene at Phoenix Dental to get an opinion. He suggested redoing the filling. He mentioned that there could possibly be a crack as there was sensitivity and a line could be seen between the filling and teeth. (I could see it too)

I went back to Dr Baey Ee Li at Q&M Ang Mo Kio but she insisted that it is fine. She said she could try polishing it but she says it's probably gonna be worse.

---

Few days ago, I went for a 3rd opinion at GPA Dental. The dentist was Dr Melissa Gilman.

She took photos of my teeth and told me the discoloration is due to stains. The new filling caught stains quickly because the filling surface wasnt smooth. It felt like cement to her. She said the filling wasnt done badly, but it certainly wasnt done well. In addition, plaque is easily trapped due to the filling surface and it is also irritating the gums, caushing pain.

I mentioned to her that Dr Baey said polishing might make it worse but she thinks polishing will make it better since you are just polishing the filling.

She proceeded to polish it. The after photo showed the discoloration reduced.

Previously my gums were hurting and were sore. After the visit, my gums were no longer sore and no longer hurt when I pressed it.

Honestly, polishing is really a simple job so I cant give too much credit. But I consulted her regarding several little things and think that she isnt one who is too eager to sell you things/get procedures done nor is she one who is extreme in her view (Such as the Smile Division dentist who said my unbalanced bite was psychological, or Dr Baey who insisted her filling is done correctly without taking a photo and looking at it closely. If it was really psychological, do you seriously think that I would take time off to go to a dentist? As an auditor, my job requires a lot of my time.)

Thus I recommend Dr Melissa Gilman. Procedure was simple polishing.

SMILE DIVISION @ ANG MO KIO Review

If you have read my review @ http://mytriptothedentist.blogspot.sg/2014/05/q-dental-at-ang-mo-kio-amk-review.html about my visit to Q&M - Dr Gan, you would know that I had an occlusion problem after doing fillings. (It means that I cannot close my mouth properly) This is due a high filling.

As Q&M is fully booked, I went to Smile Division for a consultation.

I did not catch the dentist's name (I will find out soon enough ;) ), but he is a male dentist with dark skin tone. He also said he has 4 years of experience.

He checked my bite and noted nothing wrong with it. He said it is a little off but should not affect the bite. In fact, he said he thinks it's psychology. (Which translates to I overthink it.) He did offer to polish it, but because he said it did not affect the bite and it was because of psychology, I decided not to.

Well, if you read my review @ http://mytriptothedentist.blogspot.sg/2014/05/q-dental-at-ang-mo-kio-amk-review.html about my visit to Q&M - Dr James Lee, you would know that my bite is indeed affected and he managed to correct it by polishing (not sure if it is the right term) the filling. I was so touched because I could finally close my mouth and the difference is now apparent.

Moral of the story? Trust yourself and your instinct. Always seek a second or third opinion if you are unsure. Never fully put your trust in another person who is not going through the same thing as you.

P.S. Dont bother sending emails to any of the dentists stated in the Smile Division website. They will all bounce back eventually.

Q&M DENTAL AT ANG MO KIO ( AMK ) Review

I went to Q&M Dental at Ang Mo Kio on 3 separate occasions, visiting 3 different doctors in Year 2014.

Here are my reviews:

1) Dr Gan Chong Huey - 2 fillings

Well, I researched on her and it states that she has over 10 years of dental experience (Think around 20 years; you can research for yourself), so I thought I was in good hands.

Well, basically she completed all the procedures she should have such as taking digital shot and showed me the tooth decay and after the filling. Telling me her steps while doing the procedure, telling me I have the option for injection instead of drilling rightaway, and she checked my bite on both the fillings. She appeared friendly and kind.

However, after the numbness went off, I realized that my bite was off.
The filling was too high and there was imbalance when I tried to close my mouth.

In addition, the composite filling was not cured completely (she said it could not be done because it was too near the gum). She said I was to eat porridge and let it harden for a day and tmr would be fine.

However, when I tried to floss it, a bit of the composite came off. After I checked with 2 dentists, they confirmed the filling is fine so it could be a overhang. So that's fine.

But for an entire week until my next dental appointment, I could not close my mouth properly.

Terrible at checking the bite problem. Dr James (see below) solved that for me.

2) Dr Baey Ee Li - 1 filling, 1 xray

I will update on this later.

Today I went back to check on the filling done by her as Dr Eu Gene said that the filling had discoloured/it appears like an old filling/there was a gap even though I did the filling less than 2 months ago.

Dr Baey checked and said the filling is fine. The material used was Fuji 9.

She is very encouraging, patient and accomodating.

However, her assistant, Irene Soh (elderly) was at the very best, annoying and noisy. While I was communicating with the dentist, she non-stopped yakking away about her opinions about how I should not go to another dentist to do the filling, he doesnt know etc, there is nothing wrong with the filling etc. First of all, she did not see my filling and she is not a dentist so I dont think she should make sweeping statements about it. Secondly, I did not go to another dentist to do another filling so she was just yakking away reprimanding me even though she got her facts wrong. In addition, I do not think she has the right nor is in the position to comment about my decision. Thirdly, I am the patient, she is a representative of the clinic. I do not think her attitude was right at all.

A couple of times I called the clinic to do checkups on my fillings that they had done previously (the first one cause there was an occlusion problem) and this is the second time I want the dentist to do a checkup. Both times it was rather impromptu cause I did not expect to meet problems either. I dont think the assistant was happy about it. This is my opinion on why she might have that attitude. But that is not my problem. It is my perogative and I am thankful that the dentists were very accomodating (the receptionist was also very gracious to me about it) and I understand that it can be frustrating to see my face again and again for checkups on previous fillings but trust me, I dont wish to do this too.

3) Dr Lee Tsung-Lin James - consultation

If you have read my posts, you would know that after having fillings done by Dr Gan, I was experiencing bite problem.

I went to Dr James and to cut it short, he solved my problem. You cannot imagine how touched I was and how relieved I felt when I managed to fully close my mouth without any sense of imbalance in the bite after the polishing.

Honestly, polishing a filling and checking bite should be a really simple task for a dentist so I am not giving too much credit.

Thus I recommend Dr James Tsung-Lin. Procedure is simple polishing.

Upcoming posts - Reviews on these dental clinics / dentists in Singapore

In the next posts, I will document my experiences during my trips to these various dental clinics:

• Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) - done
• HC Leong Dental - done
• Smile division @ AMK - done
• Q&M @ AMK - done
• Tai Dental @ AMK
• GPA Dental @ Parkview Square - done
• Phoenix dental @ AMK 

Mainly these trips pertain to fillings/consultation. One pertain to 4 wisdom teeth extraction under GA. I will document down my entire experiences.

Please note that I visited the above clinics either due to good reviews on the internet or good reviews by my friends. *except phoenix dental and smile division i visited on my own discretion Ever wonder how much you can really trust those reviews? A good experience to one may not be so for the other. So more information will be fed to you in the next post. :)