Going to dentist

[BillV 8-16-2004]

I took my wife after she first arrived to an American/Chinese dentist who could speak some Cantonese. He was fairly rough during the cleaning and I questioned his denistry skills. I then took her to a specialist to have a wisdom tooth pulled since he said the tooth in front of it needed a filling but drilled though the tooth,so she had to have crown, the wisdom tooth was a bad experience for her since they use some kind of gas she was allergic to. Now she goes to my dentist and hygientist who she likes as far as cleaning, she goes three times a year. She has had around 6 cavities fixed, one crown and a wisdom tooth pulled and many cleanings now, she even flosses her teeth now and knows the importants of good dental hygiene.

Edited September 10, 2008 by BillV 8-16-2004 (see edit history)

[lostinblue]

Yan had one tooth pulled in china . she only has one filling total. overall her teeth are in good shape. Age will have a lot to do with quality of the teeth. Back in the cultural revolution the diet was not as good as later years.

[shushuweiwei]

When we first arrived here last August i did take my lao po to my dentist and she needed root canal which she was fine with, but she refuses to get her teeth cleaned. Today the reality hit when the dentist told me that her gums are no good and that she has 3 cavities. So tomorrow we go to a Chinese woman dentist. Hopefully all will be taken care of for my beautiful lao po. I might ask the dentist to please clean her teeth as well, but i need to feel it out when we get there.

Yeah, bad gums can lead to bigger problems down the road. Hopefully the female dentist can convince her that something needs to be done.

Best of luck.

 

Yes, chronic gum infection increases risk for heart disease, if that helps.

[tsap seui]

The lil' rabbit brushes 3 or 4 times a day and she flosses once a day...where in the world did she learn that?

 

tsap seui

[NewDay2006]

A few thoughts ...

 

- I went with her the first couple of times, actually went into the room and stayed for the whole procedure

 

- I prebriefed her on the details of what would happen

 

- Remember, dental procedures are sometimes done without pain killers in China so she may be expecting a painful experience, which is not what happens in America

 

- Teach her to floss, have the hygienist teach her again, have people in white coats tell her this is important. Tell her that bleeding is normal when you begin to floss; show her how you don't bleed when you floss because you practice such exemplary dental hygiene

 

- We use SoniCare brushes, they work very well for us. Our practice is: manual brushing with a good toothpaste, floss, then SoniCare with no toothpaste, then prolonged swish with mouthwash ... it works wonders.

Very good points Jim,

 

A dentist smacked me when I was a little boy because I bit him ... he told me to raise my hand if it hurt , I did and he didn't stop, hense I bit the sucker, never told anyone, because I thought I would get in trouble, it was in the old south... Still I grew up with a fear of dentist, I have spent a lot of money in my adult life because of this, but I have a dentist that is sensitive to the "pain issue",.... I will make sure Lao po doesn't go the same route.

Edited September 14, 2008 by NewDay2006 (see edit history)

[jim_julian]

Which reminds me of a joke my childhood dentist, back in the days when they didn't wear gloves, must have told us ten times:

 

 

Patient: Doctor, I'm so sorry, I know this appointment is just after lunch but I just didn't have time to brush my teeth.

 

Dentist: That's OK, Mrs Smith, I completely understand how sometimes time gets away. For example, I just went to the bathroom and didn't have time to wash my hands. Open wide ....

 

[shushuweiwei]

The lil' rabbit brushes 3 or 4 times a day and she flosses once a day...where in the world did she learn that?

 

tsap seui

 

My weiwei brushes a lot too. I know she and the lil' rabbit are Liaoning girls. I don't want to generalize but do you think northern girls treat the teeth different from the southern girls?

 

I heard once that Guangdong people think differently about tooth care but I ignored it as a probable prejudice. Is there really a dental difference between the provinces?

[mao mao so]

The lil' rabbit brushes 3 or 4 times a day and she flosses once a day...where in the world did she learn that?

 

tsap seui

 

My weiwei brushes a lot too. I know she and the lil' rabbit are Liaoning girls. I don't want to generalize but do you think northern girls treat the teeth different from the southern girls?

 

I heard once that Guangdong people think differently about tooth care but I ignored it as a probable prejudice. Is there really a dental difference between the provinces?

 

After reading this and several other threads like it, I was wondering the same thing. Jie is from Guangxi, she and her son brush diligently, twice a day. I got them flossers I have yet to convince them to use, and a good mouth wash to use after, which they also use diligently. I'll keep working on the flossers. I've stressed how important it is, and the expense of dentists here, but progress is in baby steps (I think).

 

Jeff

[NYTIMES]

No my lao po goes to a Chinese dentist and we found out she has a periodontal disease. She had a deep cleaning a few days ago and now is on antibiotics and takes Motrin for the pain. There are other problems that she has with a tooth that has a crack in it and might need crown work. .....So lao po is going to dentist today for a recheck, but the main thing is she trusts this dentist since she can communicate in her language, so i highly recommend anyone who is going to use a dentist should find someone that speaks the same language.

[Ovahimba]

Which reminds me of a joke my childhood dentist, back in the days when they didn't wear gloves, must have told us ten times:

 

 

Patient: Doctor, I'm so sorry, I know this appointment is just after lunch but I just didn't have time to brush my teeth.

 

Dentist: That's OK, Mrs Smith, I completely understand how sometimes time gets away. For example, I just went to the bathroom and didn't have time to wash my hands. Open wide ....

 

 

That reminds me of a cartoon strip I saw a while back. A woman sitting in a dental chair having work done had a hold of the dentist by the crotch. The caption read: "I'll let you know it it hurts".

 

Coming from China there is good chance that your SO's teeth have never been throughly cleaned. My wife had a tartar build up that looked like it have been there for ten years, even though she had her teeth cleaned by a Chinese dentist 3 months before coming to the US.

 

The latest recommendations are brush two times a day with a fluoride toothpaste. Floss is not common in China, even in the big cities, but it is important to use to ward off gum disease.

[NYTIMES]

Thank you Ova for the info, btw great pics on your web.