In collaboration with SBO, our dental surgeons Dr Chin Shou King and Dr Ally Ouh Jiyun answer the most commonly asked questions about dentists on Google.
Video Transcript
Dr. Ally: Hi, I’m Dr. Ally.
Dr. Chin: Hi, I’m Dr. Chin. We are dental surgeons from T32 Dental Centre. SBO has gathered some commonly asked questions on dentistry from Google
Dr. Ally: And we’re here to answer them today.
Dr. Ally: “Dentists are crooks”. Oh, okay. I don’t know why people think that. Maybe they’ve had bad experiences.
Dr. Chin: Yeah, probably.
Dr. Chin: “Dentists are putting nicotine in toothpaste”. Do people really search for that?
Dr. Ally: This is definitely not true.
Dr. Chin: All I know is nicotine is addictive. Um, no, I don’t think anyone is addicted to coming to the dentist
Dr. Chin: “Dentists are sadists”
Dr. Ally: It seems like people have an impression that our profession is not such a nice group of people.
Dr. Chin: A lot of dental procedures might be a bit painful. Sometimes people think that we are actually enjoying it. But no, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Dr. Ally: I think actually people are very scared of root canal and extractions, but actually what we’re trying to do is get them out of pain.
Dr. Ally: “Dentists are scary”. I think a lot of kids are scared of dentists because they don’t know what to expect. They have their mouth open and they can’t see anything. They don’t know what we are going to do, but at least we have the pink princess room and the blue car room for the kids and they seem to like that one.
Dr. Chin: Yeah. Adults can use it too if they want. But honestly, if you, if you keep your teeth clean, you have good oral hygiene, you go for frequent checkups, I think you can prevent most of the painful and scary procedures.
Dr. Ally: We’re definitely not scary. I think we’re the nicest people in the healthcare profession – one of the nicest.
Dr. Chin: Well, at least she is.
Dr. Ally: “Why are dentists so expensive?”
Dr. Chin: I think a lot of the materials and equipment that we use is pretty expensive.
Dr. Ally: It’s not that we want to charge, it’s just the cost is very high.
Dr. Chin: Yeah, that’s true. Sorry. I think at the end of the day, it’s how much you value this part of your body because in the end, your teeth and your gums are actually body parts. If you floss your teeth, brush your teeth frequently, don’t eat too much candy, you shouldn’t have to do the expensive procedures.
Dr. Ally: Yeah. So basically you come to the cleaning twice a year or prevent things from happening, so you can prevent yourself from spending more.
Dr. Chin: “Why Are dentists closed on Fridays?” Not here.
Dr. Ally: I’m definitely working on Fridays. We also work Saturdays too.
Dr. Chin: “Why are dentists so rich?” I spend a lot of money at getting physiotherapy and massages.
Dr. Ally: But this is really interesting. We’re depressed and rich people who don’t work on Fridays.
Dr. Ally: “Can dentists do Botox?”. You can do it if you’re trained and only for dental procedures.
Dr. Chin: So not for wrinkles or things like that, it’s more for the muscles that clench and grind your teeth, if they are a bit overactive.
Dr. Ally: Yeah. Actually, besides Botox, a lot of things that patients have but they don’t know can actually be solved with us, which is snoring.
Dr. Chin: Dentists actually make snoring appliances for patients.
Dr. Ally: “Can dentists prescribe medication?”
Dr. Chin: Yes, we can. But only painkillers, antibiotics and mouth rinse.
Dr. Ally: “Can dentists whiten teeth?”.
Dr. Chin: Yes, we can.
Dr. Ally: Actually, I think professional whitening is better than using whitening toothpaste for a long period of time.
Dr. Chin: Correct. Whitening toothpaste can be a bit abrasive and damage your gums and your teeth in the long
Dr. Ally: “Can dentists have tattoos?” Wait, why won’t we be able to have tattoos?
Dr. Chin: Yeah.
Dr. Ally: I guess I don’t know who has tattoos. Everyone’s hiding their tattoos or showing off, but I’m pretty sure some dentists have tattoos, you just won’t know where they are.
Producer: Do both of you have tattoos anywhere?
Dr. Ally: No, I don’t have any tattoos.
Dr. Chin: I’m not saying.
Dr. Ally: Thank you for watching. These are all the questions from Google’s commonly asked questions about dentists.
Dr. Chin: If you have any burning questions, you can leave them in the comments below.
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