be safe, zoe...

This QZ8501 was a real huge tragedy to Indonesia.... to Surabaya people....   
After one by one sad news since Sunday, today I got a shocked news from one of D's principal. She confirmed that one of QZ8501 passengers was Zoe, D's classmate. D's class in Prepper is not big. His friends are Stella, Caitlin, Rizky, Raj, Roshan, Siena, and Zoe. And as the class is not big, I know their parents quite well. Just last week the kids performed together in Christmas charity show - one of their school program. And that little girl, Zoe was there.... dancing together with D and their other little friends from Prepper class.

D, Raj, and Zoe in last Christmas performance rehearsal. My heart and prayer always be with you, cute little girl....

I was so shocked emotionally, because I know her quite well as D also meets her everyday at school. She travelled with her dad, the only Briton in that flight. I've never seen her dad before, but her mom and her grandparents are loving cheerful people.... and so as Zoe... What a tragedy....

I can't express how sorry and how sad I am.... As lot of friends, patients, people I know, also lost their relatives and beloved people. Hopefully there will be survivors as the rescue team now had found one by one deadbodies and wreckages in Karimata Sea. Still hope there will be a miracle. Still hope there will be miracle. Still hope there will be miracle.....

Or maybe they're just flying higher up there, in a very beautiful place named heaven....

That is why "have a safe flight"
"take care"
"I love you"
"please let me know when you've safely arrived"
means a lot.....
It could be your last goodbye

This is the most heart-breaking tragedy. My deep condolences for QZ8501, the passengers, and their beloved family....

have a safe flight, air asia QZ8501...

My thoughts and prayers go to all passengers onboard Air Asia QZ8501.....

I was terrified and cringed when one by one friends and patients told the story about their missing family, friends, relatives, beloved people who were on board yesterday.
The plane took off from my hometown, Surabaya, and it's a very very common route....  It's only Surabaya-Singapore.....
Plus, it's a good airline with good safety protocol.....
I travelled a lot with this QZ 8501, with also Capt. Iriyanto as a pilot.... This flight is so common.... I can be one of the passengers, or my relatives.... Oh dear God, how can it be.... how can it be....

Since last week, my patients had already talked about their holiday destination with their family. And Singapore was still the most favourite after Bali. I was looking for Surabaya-Singapore flight with Air Asia since I planned to take my parents for year end holiday surprise. I need 5 seats, but only 2 seats available at that time for 28th. And it was still October when I tried to book this flight. All 28-29-30 December's flight was not available. All was full booked. So I cancelled my Singapore trip and plan to visit my grandma instead.

What a tragic, it happened right in holiday season, when people plan to travel with their family for holiday. And Singapore is still the most favourite holiday destination for Surabaya people. It's very near, only 2 hrs flight, child and family friendly, and Air Asia is still a favourite airline. They normally take off at 7.30am, not as early as China Airlines 6am. And also not as pricey as Garuda Indonesia which has the same time schedule. But as I fly a lot with this airline, they sometime do reschedule. So maybe that's why the QZ8501 took off at 5.30am, not at 7.30am as usual...

Actually I couldn't sleep well the night before. I was widely awake until 3 or 4am. I read books, tried to sleep, worked with some of my patients' cases, tried to sleep again but still couldn't, watched tv, then I fell asleep for a while.... I wake up after a nightmare and I couldn't sleep again. I don't expect that I will get a sad news in the morning about Air Asia QZ8501. My heart bleed even more when I read the manifest list. Some people that I know.... Relatives of friends.... Relatives of patients..... May God always be with them, bless them, wherever they are. 
 
Dr. Jerry, my very good colleague from Singapore, and some of dentist colleagues abroad texted me right after the news spread on media. They immediately thought of me when the tragedy happened. Thanks Jerry and friends, you're so thoughtful, really.

That is why "HAVE A SAFE FLIGHT" mean so much. You might lost your loved one in just a moment....  Life is so fragile, isn't it?

Now, we only can hope for a miracle. Dear my friends and patients, my prayer always be with you and your missing relatives on board. May God always be with you and protect you. Amen.

if you want to be, be !

Today, my little patient shared his hilarious dream with me :

"Doctor, I want to be a soccer player. A very professional soccer player"
Cute thing is, he is still 7 ! When I was 7, I wanna be a princess. Well.... just kidding. Actually, I wanna be a teacher. Why teacher ? Because another people were too mainstream. They wanna be doctors. And I won't follow the crowd. The crowd should follow me, hahaha...

"Wow, Hampton, it's so cool ! You don't wanna own a shipyard like mom ?"
His parents are the owner of one of the biggest shipyard in Indonesia. And normally, Chinese people will hope that one day, their children will inherit their business.

"No, I will let my brother to do the shipyard. I want to be like Messi and Christiano Ronaldo !!! They're very cool !!!"

"You will need to study very hard and practice more then ! I support you. One day, I can hang your picture in clinic, titled : Hampton - a professional soccer player, was here when he was 7 years old. Wow !!!"

He gave me his big and cute smile. I notice that kids nowadays, they are very smart. They speak english and chinese fluently. They can operate smartphone in a very fast way. And they know already what they wanna be in a real, serious way.

I started to think to become a dentist when I was 17. I spent my time since my first year in dental faculty, assisting my uncle in clinic, and started to carve hundred of teeth since then. Then it becomes my passion, my biggest passion. Until today. I serve one by one of my patients with lots of enthusiasm and passions. The biggest joy and pride is when they can smile happily with my service. It's priceless.... It's called happiness...

I feel blessed and lucky that I can have my hobby as my job. And even better, I can boss myself in my own clinic, I can do and decide whatever I want to keep this clinic move forward. I can take holiday just anytime I want. What can be better than this ?  So once I listened to my little patient, Hampton, I supported him to always chases his dream.

With a lot of passions inside, you can create beautiful magical things.

basic tips for ladies

Dear ladies,

Be careful with your own dignity. Don't let any men flatter you with nice words, and nice compliments just to take advantages from you.

Men, not all of them are bad, but most of them are jerks.
You will be lucky if you can find one who isn't a jerk, who always stays by your side, who never leave you no matter happens, who is not telling you all the time to trust him -but he will prove himself that he's trustable, who is not telling you all the time to be a good girl and not dig in his past, who will not leave you in doubt, with a lot of questions in your mind that something's wrong is happening now.

I am not a man-expert, but I had met a biggest liar in this world, and through pain+sadness+tears+etc etc etc, I become a lie detector naturally.

Mostly, liars will be....

1. Talking about others' faults. Everytime it's never their fault, it's always others fault.
"My wife cheat on me....."
"She left me....."
"She never understand me...."
"She never cares to me...."

2. Very royal of compliments.
"You're the most beautiful woman I ever met, beautiful eyes, beautiful smile, bla...bla...bla..."
"I never feel a love like this before I met you"
"You're the most amazing woman I ever know ! Very smart, very passionate, bla...bla...bla..."
"Beautiful food. You always serve me the best !"

3. Very expert to make you fly up high in the sky.
"Don't worry baby, she's nothing compares to you"
"We can live very good, you don't need to work, you're my queen, I have a big house, car, bla.... bla... bla..."
"I miss you. So much. All the time."
"I want to know what's your favourite wedding ring."
*and send you flowers, or candies, or chocolates, or candle light dinner with no occassions* - please differentiate between being romantic and trying to invest to you so you can give him a good sex later.

4. Sometimes, you feel it difficult to contact him all the time.
"You know, I'm very busy. I will contact you later."
"I must work. A lot of things should be done."
but later on, you know that nothing's get done. So ? Yes, he's trying to get rid of you. To ? Maybe another girl ?

5. Good at manipulating your feeling.
"I'm sorry baby that I hurt you. It breaks my heart that I see you very sad...."
"Please don't be sad. I'm yours and only yours...."
Be careful if it had happened more than once.

6. He has no past. In the exact words : he will never tell you the truth about his past.
"Today is today. Tomorrow -we don't know. It's another day. So, don't bother with my past."
"I want to start a new life, find a new love."
"Never listen to others. Just trust me. Can you trust me ?"

7. You have a slight feeling that this man is too good to be true, but you just deny your feeling, and think that he loves you a lot.
WRONG. BIG MISTAKE. Trust your own gut and intuition. In the first sight, people will hide all of their flaws. But some people, they're just too good to hide their flaws.....forever.
And you will live in lie. Forever.

8. He starts to forget things.... Promises..... And told you some shits such as....
"I'm old. It's good that you are very young. With you, I feel safe and don't need to remember anything."
"Please remind me, brutally remind me. You're a very good reminder for me, baby."

9. He loves to punish people. Because he doesn't even feel that it's his fault.
"I won't talk to you, so you will learn something that one day you should listen to me."
"By this, you will learn something."

Indeed, a man who is truly loving you will tell you upfront about everything he doesn't like from you and still loving you - just the way you are. And man who is true, they will never forget their promises or their words. Women's big mistake is : they're too nice. Well, too nice is not a good thing. Too nice will not impress people. It means that you lowered your dignity and let others to take you for granted.

Once a man treat you like shit, just walk away. And never look back. I even never wonder how-why-when-what he's doing or so. I don't care, and I won't give myself any excuse.

It's simple. Difficult to do, but once you can burn all the memories or send him back all the stuffs, you will stand stronger. No jerks deserve every single teardrops from your beautiful eyes. Once you walk away and do your best, one day karma will do their job and if you're lucky, God will let you watch.

few memories from primespeak lecture

Meet my girlfriends from Singapore. Dedicated invisalign dentists from DP dental : Jolene, Pearlyn, and Fushi. We had a great time when we had OC course in Las Vegas too :)

Primespeak lecture was a wrap ! Met again with my awesome colleagues -platinum elite, platinum, and all dedicated invisalign dentists there. We had nice sharing and chitchat about cases and experiences. And nothing's better than having a good coffee with these good people. I had a great time in Singapore. And I heart all of you, friends !

With the magic of 'tongsis' a.k.a monopod, Dr. Berti took our nice-nice pic together. Here we are.... me, Dr. Bertina Djemat, Dr. Hilly Gayatri, Dr. Eugene Eu Loh Min, Dr. Michael Sernik, and my daddy Dr. Kenneth Lew. This picture was edited by Dr. Berti. Well done. It looked so cute. I mean, we looked so cute. Ahahaha...




 

Thank you Anne for being such a good personal assistant and arranged everything for me. One Farrer Hotel and Spa was really superb ! Worth my every seconds staying here since I spent most of my time in Singapore in this hotel due the tight schedule of lecture !!

A quality dinner with expert of TMD - Dr. Ade Amarhoseya, queen of invisalign - Dr. Hilly Gayatri, and passionist of endo - Dr. Farida. I can say that those women were inspiring ! Independent tiger women who work with passion and great spirit in dentistry. Meanwhile, dinner was a wrap ! The hairy crab, the sweet potato, the oyster omellette, the marinated jellyfish, the eggyolk spinach all was awesomely g-o-o-o-o-o-o-d !!!
But most of all, great friends and togetherness ! Indeed !

With Dr. Ade - one of my great inspiring colleague and friend. I heart your dedication and passionate in TMD and lecturing. Well, let see if we can make it together in future. Love you ! XOXO~



Finally I went to this skytree!! I was there last year but I didn't have any chance to see the lights at night. Now I'm going myself and also climb into the high bridge in top of the garden ! I'm glad I made it, yaaaay !!!!



A-sudden-pajamas-party ! Happy birthday dear Dr. Hilly Gayatri. Keep awesome and rocking in your career. Wish you all the best for years ahead ! XOXOXOXO

Have a nice day everyone !

hello weekend

I am reviewing my slides this morning when maman called me that the postcards from Bali are well received !

I sent them when I was attending Japanese prosthodontic meeting earlier this month. I visited my grandma as well !!!! And this family reunion was awesome. I hopped on few beaches and of course I never get bored of walking along the sea.

Singapore is calling this week for Primespeak key opinion leader meeting. Can't wait for meeting my awesome colleagues there. Will see you soon, doctors ! And meet up with my girls after Primespeak lecture. XOXO... Can't wait for brunch chit-chatting with all of you, girls...

Just realize that I hadn't posted anything about Vegas course and my past lectures lately. I will definitely  post it during my spare time and will keep you in touch, readers.

Amazing view from Nikko hotel private beach



getok tular

Boleh percaya boleh enggak, saya selalu yakin kalo pasien pertama hari itu adalah pasien penentu pasien-pasien berikutnya.

Kayak hari ini misalnya.

Pasien pertama diawali dengan kasus servikal berderet-deret. Sampe sekarang saya baru bisa mandeg, mata capek luar biasa karena pasien yang dateng kasus servikal semua. Pernah seharian saya ngegarap pasien anak-anak non stop. Dari pagi sampe malem, yang periksa anak-anak semua. Pernah juga seharian itu saya ngegarap kasus interdental dengan kavitas raksasa-raksasa dengan nomenklatur gigi yang sama.

Paling merinding kalo pas hari itu diawali dengan pasien bengkak. Bisa sampe tutup praktek, pasien bengkak kayak nggak kelar-kelar.
Ini getok tular ato apa ya ??

Jaman dulu waktu saya masih kuliah, kalo hari Senin udah apes pasien nggak dateng, ACC ngadat, bisa-bisa semingguan itu kerjaan klinik kayak nggak ada benernya. Dulu sih saya kira itu cuman sugesti. Tapi kalo dirasa-rasa, bener juga lho.

Nggak kok, saya nggak pengen balik S1 lagi. Cukup sudah cukuuuuuuppppppp.

sneak in my chinese culture part 3 : those ultimate words

Not all Chinese do this, but since I was kid, I was being taught to always say these 4 ultimate words :

I'M SORRY, my or not even my fault. No excuses. 
EXCUSE ME, everytime you are being a guest into someone's house, or if you're invited to join a ride in someone's car. No excuses.
THANK YOU, period. Everytime. No matter they do good or bad things to you, ALWAYS say thank you. No excuses.
MAY I HELP YOU ? It's not a sugar-coated questions. I will help. With my very maximum efforts. Whether I like or dislike the person. No excuses.

And too bad, it's in my blood.  

If you are a Japanese, you will get familiar with this. Once we help people, we will help with maximum efforts until it's done. Believe-it-or-not, I get the same culture. Not in all part of China we have this 'totality-of-being-a doormat' kindness. It's a kind gesture, is it ??

And I should blame all estrogen hormon to create me and tradaaa.... I'm a woman. I involve my sensitive feeling into a relationship. Which will turn into a relationshit later for people who don't mean it. Or simply just take me for granted.

If you happen to know me quite well, you will see this in my daily life.

But oh, don't get scared,
I don't expect anything in return.
Even you take me for granted, I don't care either. It's in my blood anyway.

hidden heaven in malang : kondang merak beach

This hidden heaven called Kondang Merak beach. Well... I am a beach hopper. I love sea and beaches. And honestly saying, it's the most beautiful beach I ever seen. All of these photos were taken by my cellphone camera with no filter. And I'm not a pro-photographer. Hahaha...

Not many tourists visited this beach. This beach was not as popular as Kuta beach or all beaches in Bali. But this one was awesomely beautiful -well, it's true. Laid in Hindia sea or Indonesian sea in south of Java island, the waves were big and very VERY beautiful. Definitely recommended for beach-lovers.

Amazing thing about this beach is.... you can see many beautiful rocks, corals, marine fishes, feel the fresh sea breeze in a beautiful beach which feel like a private beach because it was very quiet !! Lunch was awesome. One very big portion of octopus, and huge tuna skewers with unlimited rice for IDR 55k (it was less than USD 5).

To reach this beach, you will need A LOT OF EFFORTS !!! You can follow a direction to Balekambang beach, then you will see a very VERY small signboard written : Kondang Merak. And you will enjoy 4 km driving in a road full of rocks and stones. But the scenery was worth every journey. Glad I can make it !!!!

Kondang Merak beach. Quiet and beautiful

Building a sandcastle

Tres joli !

Beautiful corals

And the sea lays under my feet

Let me take a selfie !

Believe it or not, most of fishermen here are all christians

Huge plate of octopus !

Huge beautiful rock with sparkling sea

Follow me !

Sun, sand, sea !!!

Huge tuna skewers !!!

sneak in my chinese culture part 2 : be a doctor

A heart-touching thing about Chinese parents is.... they are willing to sacrifice everything for their children. Even they have even nothing. And it will continue until they die. It's true.

Chinese parents are so generous to their kids. And even more generous to their grandkids. If they come from average to rich family, they will fulfill every needs of their kids. Even providing a house for them when they're getting married. Well, as summary, they have worked hard when they're young and they don't want their kids to feel their oh-so-hard-life like theirs.
For low income family, they will work very hard to put their kids in a good school, even they're willing to sacrifice their best food for their kids.

I can say that my grandparents and parents had a very difficult life when they were young. My grandpa had nothing when he started his business in Indonesia. Until now our family company is getting bigger and stronger. It's clear, very clear in my parents' eyes that they don't want me to feel their hard-old-days. So, they forced  persuaded me to become a doctor. Oh, and for your information, for Chinese people, doctors (or dentists) are the most prestigious title-job-profession ever.
And I have a lot of doctors and dentists in my family. And we practice together in 1 big clinic-chain.

For my parents, and most of Chinese parents, their proud come when they have relatives (son/daughter/brother/sister/in law) whom are doctors. I must admit that this thing was absolutely NON-SENSE. But.... that's them. My dad always tells me that his decision to put his kids in dental faculty is because.... he didn't have any opportunity to get a higher education. My grandpa pushed him to help at work and he has to left school. He always tells me this :
"My beloved daughter, if you're becoming doctor or dentist, you don't need to work to other people. You can be your own boss with your own knowledge and skill. You won't depend on anyone to survive. I'm not a conglomerate who owns huge companies which I can give to you. But I hope you can survive with your brain and cold hands."
In one side, I must admit that he's right. At least I don't depend on anyone to survive. 

And because my family is a religiously Buddhist family, they always teach me not to harm anybody. ANYBODY. No excuse. Even you hate that people. Everytime they told me not to squeeze poor people when they come in my clinic. We help, wisely. Rumour said that Chinese people are stingy. No-no, they're not stingy at all to others. Yes, they're stingy for themselves. They won't buy luxury things for themselves even they can provide it. They prefer to keep it for next generation. Kids, grandkids, future. Well, not all.... But TRADITIONAL chinese family like mine, normally do this.

And first question that will pop up if you're going to introduce him or her to your parents : Is he/she a doctor ?

Or if you want to get their blessing with your new relationship, simply tell them : I'm dating a doctor.  

2 days off, yay ! :)

Bali and Singapore lectures both have confirmed today. Very proud and happy that I am being invited to Prime Speak Limited Invitation by Invisalign next month. Definitely will go and meet lotsa awesome colleagues there !!! Yay !!!!

I will take a break for 2 days since tomorrow is public holiday. Therefore, I will have a long weekend ! No work tomorrow ;) I will drive to the beach in Malang tonight after work and stay overnight to watch sunrise. There's a quite epic moment before I rent a room to stay. FYI, this beach is in a very VERY remote area in south Malang. No hotels, no cottages, so I will stay with local people. I called a number I got to get a right direction and of course.... to rent a room to stay.

And those villagers seemed UNFAMILIAR with tourits who booked a room in advance. While for me, I am a triple-check-planner. I have to plan everything in advance. Well, quite unbelieveable with their 'booking-system'. All of them were speaking in Javanese, so I spoke to them in Javanese as well.... And their booking confirmation is just : "Monggo mbak, langsung dateng." which means.... "Ok you can come."

They didn't even ask my name.... my address.... my phone number to re-confirm before the date. Ok, forget about the e-mail address. But at least, please ask me who I am and what's my number, guys.... How if you have prepared room and everything for me and I don't show up ??
I think, I should teach them strategy in business management.

But anyway....sun, sand, sea, here I come !!!! Woooooooohooooooo....

sneak in my chinese culture part 1 : being nice to people

I was born in a very strong Chinese culture, which inside.... we respect our parents a lot, we are being expected to be nice to people, we love to ask : "Have you eaten yet ?" and "Don't forget to eat" or "Please eat something", we care to each other, we have monogamous marriage, we believe red means luck, we are keepers of everything, we pray to God and our ancestors, and  have I mentioned that we are being expected to be nice to people ? 

It happens in my family, when we are having a big family gathering, we always bring something to eat together. It's kind of potluck tradition in western countries. Then we have a good laugh and chit-chat with everybody. EVERYBODY. Your aunties, uncles, cousins, and all relatives whom they have a very special nickname depends on their relationship with parents. Yes, YES ! You can't call all of your aunties with "AUNTY" or uncles with "UNCLE" just like that. For your curiousity, you can watch this for details.

Seemed complicated. But it's fun to have this culture in my family. And I love them. I respect all of them. For sure I have my own life, but still I respect and until forever, my life will be completed with them. F*ck with other people who pursued me to leave them. Blood is thicker than anything, dude ! And no other woman who will love you more than your mom. And your parents, brothers, sisters, all relatives will always stand for you no matter how big the thunderstorm will come to you. I am blessed for having this (big big big) family.

Respecting others and being nice to people is also part of us. Well, at least in my family root. We always treat our guest like a king. We always serve them the best. Cook them good dishes or treat them in a nice restaurant. Make sure that they're enjoying their stay. Show them around or take them everywhere they want to visit. Oh yeah, and we will never let them pay. In my family, you will see this A LOT ! That during dinner or lunch treat, everybody will fight to pay.   

And it's true. It's in our blood. Sometimes our guests even don't feel nice with it. But hey, it's in our blood. We treat our guest like a king. We put ourselves in the second row. So, stay out of your negativity thought. We do this everyday, everytime, to every guests. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF WE ARE EXPECTING SOMETHING IN RETURN FROM YOU. Please note this. And I inherit this in my blood. I can't count how many times my dad always fight to pay with my uncles or his friends, colleagues. I told you one more time : It's. In. Our. Blood.

Period !

Ah yes, and we care. About each other. And there's one more thing. Chinese people don't throw away things. We fix everything. And we keep everything. Even plastic bags.

Anyway, have you eaten yet ?

my invisalign journey

FINALLY I HAD SENT MY OWN SCAN !!!!

To invisalign (yes, for myself !)
After 5+ months since I submitted my case !!!

Anne, my local representative always "kindly sent me reminder" for the last 2 months.... "Doctor, you should send your scan soon, or they will charge you for penalty fee."
Until she's getting very tired to send me this reminder. Because I didn't even can make it since I always put and submit all of my patients' cases in priority.

I submitted my case on May. And just few days ago, I sent my scan ! Wouahhhhh this one is absolutely my longest scan-submitting ever in my record.

My case itself is quite difficult. It's 9/10. Honestly, I should combine it with surgery to achieve a maximum result. But my colleague, an Invisalign expert from Singapore told me that he had done such kind of my case with Invisalign and it was very well treated. With maximum achievement result and a significant profile improvement. He encouraged me a lot to give it a try with my own case. So, why not then ?

I can't wait to start my invisalign soon !!!! Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy.... I will do couple of clincheck requests for extraction and non-extraction one. But more likely I will do 2 first bicuspids extraction. So, we will see !

serial killer

Got a lot of kids coming to my clinic lately. Ok, kids are cute. They are lovely. Adorable. And so on.

But wait until they sit in your dental chair....

....well, some of them are still nice. Make up some words and play your poker face and everything will be fine. But some of them not. Not at all. They can turn you into a serial killer.

For me myself, I'm still OK with kids. While all of my colleagues in clinics, they avoid kids. See, kids ? Dentists are afraid of you ! Hahaha.... You must say WOW for that !!! 

I don't hate kids. Psychologically, I'm still can handle them well in my dental chair. A popular joke between dentists is, working with a cooperative kid is the best money-maker-ever (haha !!!). Everything are twice smaller, less treatment time, less material, less effort, everything are much more easier.... (if they can sit nicely and well behaved like adults do). The problem is if they are starting to become fussy and cranky. And everything will become 10 times harder. Be a serial killer will be your option, dentists.

Yesterday I got a kid with an early treatment concern from parents. This little client's behaviour was not really nice. Sometimes I forgot the word of PATIENCE if I have to work with very fussy patients. I started to raise my voice, and he became quiet. I don't care even he started to hate me or thought that I sound like his teacher at school. But with this kind of patients, you don't need to be TOO NICE. Too nice will kill yourself. Note this, dentists !

Well, back to Meijeer, my little client yesterday. He commented a lot that he didn't want to get an early treatment for his crowding teeth. He couldn't stop blabbering why his mom was taking him to this scary-auntie-dentist, and so on and so on. Hahahaha.... actually he looked cute when he was complaining like that. I almost rolled-out laughing while he's trying to negotiate with me.

Meijeer : "I don't want braces. I will not wear it !"
Me : "Well, I will put it in your mouth and unfortunately you can't take it off, dear."
Meijeer : "I will take it off !!!"
Me : "We will see if you can take it off..."
Meijeer : "I will ask my sister to take it off."
Me : "Oh, that's so lovely. Let me know if she can take it off for you."
Meijeer : "I hate you doctor !"
Me : "Thanks. You're the 100th kid who hate me. And I will give you a nice gift. A brand new wire."
Meijeer : "Aaaaaaa..... I hate you, I hate you. I will brush my teeth everyday so the braces will fall off."
Me : "Well, I love that. Brush your teeth everyday. But, unfortunately.... it won't make your braces fall off"
Meijeer : "Doctor, if I say that I love you... will you take off my braces ?"
Me : "Yes I will. After everything's straight, I will take it off."
Meijeer : "I love you doctor. Can you take it off now ?"
Me : "No, sorry. But I love you too Meijeer."
Meijeer : "Aaaaaaaaa..... You're a serial killer ! I hate my mom too."
Me : "I am. But I will make your teeth straight. And one day you will say thank you to your mom, because during your teenager age, you will become very handsome with your straight teeth and all of girls will like you !"

And he's stop complaining.

And anyway, he's still 8 yrs old. See how scary  adorable  lovely  well, I don't even can find any match words to describe him. Well, kids....

fight for this busy week

I love reading books since I was teenager. This hobby is continuing until now. Unfortunately, I don't like to read e-books. It doesn't feel like reading books for me. And weird thing is, I love reading journals or dental articles in soft copy version. While for novels or others, I prefer them on hard copies. Maybe you will wonder, WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES ?
Well, that's why I'm telling you that it's weird, haha....

Anyway.... good news for this new week is, finally I can beat up all of the viruses. My immune system's is upside down within last week, and I ate a lot of fruit to boost it. I can't be sick. First, I hate being hospitalized. And second, I can't imagine that my job will pile up if I'm sick, I get more upcoming lectures, my patients, also field trip plan with my dental assistants and their family (will bring all of them to Bali for holiday this month !!!). So, yeah, I can't be sick.

Will fight for this busy week ! Another new dental units installment, a new place for living, another business plan to do. All hopefully will be checked by the end of the month. Jia you !

dentist - behind the art work

Meet my patient, Engelbert. This awesome progress I have done within 3 months. I will post another cases -whether they're braces or invisalign (there are more and more invisaligns in my office. This amount are really awesome - since people want to treat their teeth in smart and beautiful way).

Let's take a look what we have intra-orally....

Before treatment and progress treatment. I took lower first bicuspids. And the result is really amazing. This one, I can say, a very nice case for treat. Seems very difficult, but in end, you will notice, in good hands, it will not difficult at all. Yes, the interdigitation part will be very difficult. But at least, patient will 'feel' your result in a very short time. Should I say wow for that ??

This art-work, is the only reason why I become a dentist. I hate surgery. I love artsy works. Making something ugly into nice one is definitely my favourite.

Lately, I use this colourflow composite a lot. I love the colour, actually. But most of all, it has no porosity like others.

This class I cavity in buccal side, I make a special heart-shape for my little patient, Kenneth. And he loves it !

He asked me to put another filling with colour composite. So I put this one in his occlusal surface. Nice colour, isn't it ?

Be a dentist, be a passionate one, and you can change a world. It's true ! To see every smiles after they walk in your office - what can be more wonderful than that ? 

6 hours in jakarta

Quick late post from my last Jakarta visit. I came to Jakarta for 6 hours (amazing !) for doing a patient that will go to London, so she can't visit my office in Surabaya. No choice, I come for her to Jakarta. Special thanks for my beloved colleague Dr. Ade for her kindness lending me her dental office !!!

 Meet again with Dr. Ade !!! Her new office is so cozy ! Congrats doc on your new clinic !!

I bring my assistant to come along with me. I am so happy since this is her very first flight in her life. And she can't stop telling me how amazing the journey was. Glad that you enjoy the trip with me :* Next trip will be Bali ! All of us !!! Dentists + assistants + their families. We will have a great time together !

Got my new hair done ! I'm back with my long straight hair. Some told that I looked like a japanese doll with this :)

why it's cool to become a dentist

A lot of patients or almost all patients are wondering :

"Doc, what makes you wanna be a dentist ?"

Well... When I was a teenager, I didn't even think to become a dentist. My uncle was a dentist, and I had a very rare check-up. I had no decays at all. And in my entire life, I only sit 3 or 4 times in dental chair AS A PATIENT ! Rest of it, I sit in the dental stool, as a dentist.

So that question was a brilliant question. I didn't have any interests of working with very strict office hour 8 to 5, 5 days a week. OMG, it's not me !! Or even work in front of screen. I rarely touch my laptop or cellphones if not needed. And also, I have a very big passion into teeth art. I can spend hours, days, just to carve something small, nice, creative, and I like it !

So, if you consider to become a dentist, here I will share some GREAT news about being a dentist...

1. Have you ever realized that as a human, we have 32 teeth which if 1 is not working properly, we can also feel it hurt, painful, can't eat, or even can't sleep properly etc. And there you are comes from heaven ..... (drumrollllllll) THE DENTIST !!! Who come and save the world fix the pain.

2. We can work very cool behind our mask and gloves, holding our drill and all of frankestein's tools  that makes us looked TOTALLY COOL !!! I told you, I work with a very small area every day (you can imagine how big even the biggest mouth of human ever !), I also work with a very small part every day (teeth !!!), and sometimes even smaller (root canals !!!). If you see my equipments for work, the drills, the pliers, those stuffs ARE REALLY-REALLY COOL !!! Definitely it will be more exciting rather than sitting behind the desk with piles of paperworks ;)

3. And you have a profession (it's not job, it's profession !) which lotsa people sometimes scared of. They called this DENTOPHOBIA. And I believe, they will see that this profession is a really serious matter.

4. You can tell lies to polices, to everybody, but not to dentists. They are very good at analyzing. Maybe the best. Once you started to lie, with their magic instinct and anamnesa ability, you will get busted easily, ha !

5. Do you know that this profession, if you're really passionate into it, you can give the most expensive service ever ? So you can save most of your savings from dental treatment, because you can do it yourself !  (Or you can ask your colleagues to do it for free or at least, not too expensive for you, because you know the actual price ! hahaha...)

6. Wouldn't it be nice if you can tell to your friends : "Do you know who is behind Tom Cruise's smile ? It's me." Wow, sounds cool !

7. And guys !! You can easily attract girlfriends once you have a title 'dentist'. Trust me, a lot of not-a-dentist-or-doctor females out there are dreaming for having a dentist or doctor as their partners or their son in laws materials. 

8. And for girls !! A lot of people also demand a wife or daughter in law who is a dentist. Trust me, that female dentists look sexier with their mask, gloves, dentist coat, and their updo hair. Even sexier than bikini, guys ! Alert alert alert :)

9. When you mention 'dentist' as your profession, you will get 'that look' ! "Oh, you are a dentist ? I have a problem with my teeth...." (and there the conversations will continue...)

10.  You can attract your crush with free dental consultation ;) or even free whitening session. Many girls want that !

11. Someone break your heart ? You have your tools !! Drills, pliers, they can do their job nicely for someone who has made your heart suffer, hahaha...
PS : Don't forget to do it BRUTALLY

12. Maybe your kids will be the coolest kids ever since they're not afraid of dentists !

13. Nobody will put you down in medical field. Because you are also a doctor. You get the knowledges as well.

14. People can steal your money, but they can't steal your 'MAGIC HANDS TO HEAL PEOPLE'

15. You don't depend on others. You can work with your own knowledges and abilities. I can say, you can even get money from your own talent.

16. You will have an automatic ability to analyze small stuffs. Such as.... your first impression into people will be their TEETH. And maybe even you don't remember their names, but you will remember their teeth. See how amazing is that !

17. You will get so many interesting questions such as "Is chocolate safe for me ?" or "If I eat candy, will it destroy my teeth ?" or "What kind of toothpaste and toothbrush you will recommend ?" or even silliest question such as "Can you just pull out all of my teeth and replace them with dentures so I don't need to brush them again ?"

18. You can straighten someone's crooked teeth. Even make them get whiter. And even you can replace missing teeth with implants or dentures. What can be cooler than that ?

why you should date a dentist

This post was a repost from my 2009 posting

i was browsing then suddenly I found this article. Read it, it's fun ! *it's officially written by : ehsanbd@live.com and commented by me :)*

10 reasons why you should date a DENTIST :
1. Good Oral Hygiene, nice feelings in kissing
*haha, it might be!!!*

2. They can give you the gift of "missing them" because they are always at work
*usually, if they're really into 'it-dentistry-things', most of their brain part will filled with work, work, and work. They will put the-relationship-matters aside and put the dental-clinic-matters in their top list. That's as far as I know...*

3. They can give you a free dental consultation
*definitely yes. So, wanna date a dentist ? Additional information : If you're a dentist, and your date (also) a dentist, you will have an easier consultation, such as : "Honey, please check for my upper-right molar teeth. I think between the first and second molar, there're cavities." Dating a dentist is kind of, hmmm... having a personal dentist ? Hahaha.*

4.You save yourself the embarrassment of going to a dentist with a foul smelling in ur mouth
*haha, it can be...*

5. They are smart
*definitely !*

6. They know their partners well (know what works and where)
*maybe because we're trained to 'get-into-the-patient' by making anamnesis all the time. Hahaha, so sad but it's true. They are good at analyzing people ! Really !*

7. They are party people in the weekend
*not really like this, im not a party woman, but even dentists are human. And only in weekends they can close their clinic to have a fun.*

8. Free scaling ! no need 2 brush ur teeth
*for the free scaling, yes I think so. But no need 2 brush ur teeth ? Eeeeewww....*

9. They are well trained to listen.
*beside the speaking-ability that we have, yes we are*

10. They know how you feel, or at least pretend to!!
*at least for me, whenever I do something in patient's mouth, I will imagine that I am the patient. Most of really-into-it-dentists do that I think...*

Oh, can I add one more ?
I think you should date a dentist, because they have cute-dentists-uniform. Haha, don't take it seriously~~

short flashback from IDEM

Late post from International Dental Exhibition and Meeting. This huge dentistry event held every 2 years, and it was an amazing experience that my A-team can visit there together. So, me and my colleagues (even we are family, but we always address each other as 'colleague' at work - professionalism is a must), did a lot of dental shoppings for our clinics. Very tired yet fun ! Found a lot of new innovations in dentistry. And to serve our clients the best, we have to well equipped with the newest updates.

Brought back home 2 brand new digital xrays, 2 sets of LED cavity explorer, and a lot of new stuffs for filling, ortho, all very interesting. Dental things and materials are unique. You get what you pay. The more expensive they are, the better quality they are. That's why for providing the best to our clients, we invested a lot. Hope Gigi Sehat dental will serve better and better in future. Cheers !

stage photos released

Got some pictures of mine from last symposium's committee~~ All so nice

Some told that I looked so young, even younger than 27yrs old when I was in stage. Well done, me !

With my Singaporean colleague dentists. Awesome Dr. Yue and Dr. Mok. It was a very nice chit-chat during cocktail session. Shared a lot with Dr. Yue about TMD and yes he's right, we'll always talk about TMD, everytime, everywhere. And thanks for your life wisdom words also. Will noted, noted, noted

Indonesian dentists rocks !!! I learnt a lot from my seniors also. Dentistry is our passion. No doubt !

south east asia invisalign event

I used to take this airline on my every Singapore trips before we have Air Asia. I tried Air Asia last time, but still, China Airlines is the best for me. It's very worth my favourite airline. Well, the way back timing is so lousy, I reached Surabaya last night at 23.30, but still.... compared with all of their facilities, I am still in love with China Airlines. 

Was very exciting to be back in speech. And meet awesome colleague dentists there.  

Changi. From here, I just take 50 minutes walk + MRT to reach Mandarin Hotel Orchard for symposium. It's not a big deal. I will not die because of that.

I can't wait for official pictures from the South East Asia committee... For now, I just upload some pics (and selfies) from my camera

So, Joyce told me that there will be around 10 dentists will give speech and presentation about their cases. But one by one were not confident enough to come in stage. So, in the end, only Dr. Tan and I who presented cases. And Dr. Tan presented from her seat, so officially, only me who presented from stage. It's not a big deal though. Go go Indonesia !!!

This is a very good event and symposium. The G5 launching itself was very informative, and the case sharing went great, and I got a lot of precious knowledge from my colleagues during the break sessions.

After G5 launching, arranged to meet up with my good good friends. Its a nice dinner and chit chat with the newlywed Evan-Inggrid, and also Licu and engkong Andrew. Thanks buddies for your accompanions. During my hectic schedule, all of you still come for me. Thank you in a bunch !

I got also a nice roomate, Dr. Rita from Indonesia. Just figured out that she's a famous singer too. So, she works as a dentist and a singer too. We were coming from different generations. But she shared a lot about life and love to me. I can say that she's not too 'clinician'. Well, it's okay for me haha... Dental seminar doesn't mean that we will always talk about work and work, rite ? Good intermezzo as bedtime story with her.

A very nice breakfast and lunch treat from Mandarin Orchard Hotel. Thanks my committees for your last time's treat for me. It's really a wrap !

These are my favourites. Vegetables with camembert cheese, half done sunny side egg, ham, bread, pork sausage, tom yam soup, and of course.... pancake with maple syrup ! Drink milk and cranberry juice. Something nice about this pancake is..... the maple syrup. The syrup is sooooo fragrant and nice. If I try to make it myself, it can't be as nice as this one.

The symposium itself is really really a wrap for me. I can meet great dentists in south east asia region. And of course, learn a lot too. I sit beside one of most famous dentist in Jakarta, and she taught me a lot lot lot about dentistry since her age is 3x of my age.... She was so well experienced in dentistry. Can't wait to meet you again, Dr. Hilly !

Here we are, a good friend of mine, Dr. Jerry. If I'm not mistaken, now he's still being the president of CGDP Singapore. And his clinic in Singapore with Dr. Ronnie is soooooo awesome. Will catch up later on IDEM meeting soon, Jerry !

These are Dr. Peterpan and Dr. Mos from Bangkok. OMG, their Thai names are just way too difficult to spell. So I called him Peterpan instead of Puttaporn, and called her Mos, instead of her very difficult Thai name. Awesome discussions about sleep apnea and snoring treatment with them. Keep in touch through line, buddies. Will catch up to your clinic when I go to Bangkok. Don't know when, hehe... Hopefully I can join the summit on June so I can meet both of you again.

And daddy Ken !! Can you believe that his age is twice of my age and he's still looked sooooo young. It's very very great to meet up with you again daddy Ken. Since our last meet in Ogilvy meeting, he looked even younger. Should ask for his secrets. Will catch up soon with you on IDEM meeting.

Took picture also with Dr. Sandra from Canada, the main speaker of this event. Adored her for her very valuable lecture and nice speech. I believe that become a speaker, is a talent. Because not all clinicians were meant to speak on stage. But she is one of those dentists who have talent in public speaking. 

Below, introduced you Dr. Ade. She is an expert in TMD and sleep apnea. Had a lot of fun discussion about TMD treatment with this smart dentist. She loved to learn and learn, just like I do. Even i am 16 years younger than her, i think you cant notice it from her look. Yes, she is still looked so young! I must admit, that the most fun part of being a dentist is, once you have a big passion on dentistry, you will enjoy your life and will looked forever young. Just like all of my seniors in these photos.

 

Sonnenblumes. My favourite. Found out in one corner of changi terminal 2. Spent 4 hours at airport before my flight. Didnt intend to go anywhere since im also too tired. So i just take a small walk around airport while waiting for my 10pm flight.

time to get back to business. Had a lot of insights, inputs, and shares from other dentists. Felt so ready and confident to be back in my clinic again.