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.

chinese ?

An italian client walked into my office this morning....

Client : "Hello doctor. Please don't speak English to me. I don't understand."
Me : "Greek ?"
Client : "You can ?"
Me : "No. What's your mother tongue ?"
Client : "Italian. You can ?"
Me : "A bit. Very bit."
Client : "Ok... Chinese ?"
Me : "I can."

In the end, we speak in chinese. And he is my first european client who speaks Chinese fluently.
Even more fluently than me.

postcard from france

It's a very nice surprise when I reached office today and.....

Got this ! Paris postcard !!!!!! And it comes from....

Maman Andree et Papa Christian !!! And they write to me in English too !!!

Merci beaucoup pour vous. C'est tres tres gentil, maman. Hope to see you again in Indonesia very soon.

Here they are... a year ago. Tante Fanfan loved the rhum-raisin ice cream so much ! And maman.... hers is a very nice vanilla. Same as mine. And avocado ice for papa. Thanks for your kind invitation to France. Keep in touch

Me. Last year. Will put the smile still :) 

minor surgery today

Just got a very difficult case just now. A heavy infection in upper right first molar with buccal abscess. The tooth itself has 3' mobility surrounded with a lot of tartars. And based on my x-ray, it has a severe bone loss. No bones at all. I decided to treat this client with minor surgery, open flap, do curretage, bone grafting, suturing, and hopefully in next 2 days, the infection will be gone.

Last time I did this, it was 2 weeks ago, a young lady, but not with this heavy bone loss. And the treatment went very well. It gave a very good result.

For this case, it's quite a tricky and ambigous case. I can't predict the result. This kind of periodontitis can be happen with people with bad oral hygiene. So, better have regular check-up to avoid this kinda thing.