Being a doctor is not easy. Now I realise it and I can
relate to the irritation of that orthopaedist I met at a family function a few
months back who was bombarded with questions about diseases. He was really
pissed off at the end. The same things happen with me all the time though on a
less extensive scale because let’s face it what is the maximum number of
diseases that you can encounter in your mouth?
As a dentist I am asked the most typical questions at every
gathering and each time a sigh with grief at how senseless people can people
sometimes act. Here’s a list of questions I am bombarded with mostly-
1) Which is the best toothpaste for
maintaining oral hygiene?
I just can’t seem to get enough of this
question.
Any toothpaste that is certified by American
Dental Association or ADA like colgate or pepsodent or oral-B is good for your
mouth. But the list of questions doesn’t stop here.
2) But a neem stick or baba ramdev’s ayurvedic
toothpaste or Bandar chaap dant manjan does so much better than your ordinary
toothpaste
I am sure they do. But the thing is our
tooth has an enamel covering. Now the toothpastes that are certified by ADA are
tested for use in the oral cavity. Their
side effects are duly studied and they
are actually safe to use. Such things can’t be said about your ayurvedic
counterparts which may or may not work in all people. Instead these ayurvedic
toothpastes might contain abrasive materials which can corrode your enamel layer
over time and not to mention the harm they can potentially cause to the soft
tissues inside your mouth.
3) But some people don’t stop there also. They
cite the examples of their grandmother who has all her teeth intact at the age
of 80
To these people I just make a scorny face
and boy! Would I want to say that your grandma’s teeth are miracles of god
withstanding her sugarcane eating habits for 80 long years! But I am a doctor
and we doctors might not know anything
else but we do know to be patient and calm in all situations. So I just resort
to using the age old phrase “Arre bhai ab pehla wali baat kaha, pehle ke log
akhrot tod lete the daanto se, aajkal ke bachche to chocolate pe palte hain”
and it settles scores with a big laugh! But let me add here, most of my
patients in the hospital are these old people only and you can see 90% of them
have dentures and the remaining 10% have missing teeth. And the average life of
human tooth is not more than 60 years. Though the tooth might remain intact but
it falls down on its own in old age.
4) Should I use sensodyne? Or is sensodyne
better than colgate?
Now this question is really a valid one and
you can’t argue that people are being senseless. Actually it is all the fault
of sensodyne advertisement which advertised the toothpaste only. This
toothpaste ‘sensodyne’ curbs Sensitivity. Sensitivity is itself a disease. Allow
me to explain. Your skin has receptors of hotness and coldness. In the same way
your mouth does too. You experience something when a hot or a cold thing
touches your skin. But you don’t apply any cream or anaesthetic on that, do
you? The same thing is with your teeth. If you drink way too cold coca cola or
drink too hot tea, your pain receptors in teeth naturally trigger signalling
you not to drink that anymore. So why do you want to use sensodyne in such
case?
Sensitivity is actually a disease when you
feel sharp pain even during routine activities such as brushing or eating. Your
teeth feel weak and the softer part of your teeth gets exposed. It is a fairly
common disease but not as common. Almost all the people who have asked me this
question said they did feel pain when they sipped hot tea but never while
brushing or eating. So they were not affected with sensitivity of teeth.
The sensodyne toothpaste has pain blockers
so it is not advisable to use this toothpaste if you do not have sensitive
tooth. Feeling pain while drinking something excessively hot or cold is body’s
own way of telling you to stop.
5) Most people are not satisfied with this
answer so they enquire for more
And I, already so tired of the long list of
their personal oral problems decide to use my final, most embarrassing weapon.
I politely reply to them – ‘see folks, I have not become a dentist as yet. I am
still studying, so save your questions for later!’ And with this short, cheeky
and actually self-harming answer I just scutter away :P
