Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Children Dentist Singapore : Mikail's Second Visit

This is my 4 year old's second visit to a children dentist in Singapore. The first time was in December 2011 and we tried GPA Dental at Parkview Square. This time around, I decided to give Dr Ong Yean Sze from Smile Focus. Based on previous experience, I decided to call up early to arrange for an appointment as Dr Ong is very popular, the earliest appointment on a weekday I got is 2 months away, while Saturdays appointment are already full for the next 8 months.. wow. talk about being popular.(Please note that Dr Ong has opened her own practise called Kids Dental World and is no longer with Smile Focus)

Smile Focus Pediatric Dental Clinic is located on the 14th floor of Camden Medical Centre (swanky facade but kind of small once you are inside the buiding). The children dental clinic has two separate waiting rooms, one for the adults that comes complete with coffee and tea making facilities and another for the kids with interesting, colorful and in-a-very-good-condition books, toys, coloring sets, video games and tv. My 4 year old was hooked on the video games from the start, while my 2.5 year old enjoyed the books with Madagascar playing on the tv. My first son was so engrossed that he forgot that he was there to visit the pediatric dentist!


Kids' Dentist Singapore: Smile Focus' waiting area


It was a short wait since no one else was there, Dr Ong was very cheerful and friendly, she addressed my son directly and explained to him that she needs to talk to me for a bit. The kids' dentist asked me a few questions to have an idea of my son's teeth history and brushing and feeding habits. Like whether my son had tooth injury before, is he using adult toothpaste and is he still drinking milk. I also shared with the dentist that my main concern is my son's teeth discoloration and I don't think that he has any cavities.


Kids' Dentist Singapore: My 4 year old playing video games while waiting to see Dr Ong

I really like the way she checks my kid's teeth, this is one pediatric dentist that knows her way with children. She starts with a very cute story book showcasing different animals with big pop out teeth and lets my son hold her mirror tool to count the animal's teeth. My son counted once and then it;s her turn to count my son's bottom teeth, and my son counted another page, and the pediatric dentist counted his top teeth. A few repetitions and she easily checked his teeth condition without him being apprehensive! Dr Ong from Smile Focus also easily identified that my son's front tooth that has turned grey (and was bothering me a lot cos I kept brushing it but to no avail) was due to a previous injury where he could have fallen and hit his mouth and  caused internal bleeding thus the grey color. Phew, that was a relief for me to finally know the reason behind that grey tooth. It was actually because of that tooth that I took my son to his first dental visit at GPA Dental last December, but the dentist didn't even say anything when I told him regarding my concern. She also advised me to change my kids' toothpaste to adult toothpaste as he is able to spit out his toothpaste and kids' toothpaste is no longer effective for kids his age. Milk feedings are also to be reduced to twice a day only as milk drenches the entire teeth and can cause cavities. She advises me to offer my kid food first before giving him milk to reduce his dependency on milk feedings (this is going to be a bit difficult to follow cos my son just prefers milk to solid food).

After the teeth checking (which was not done on the dentist seat), the kids dentist asked my son to take a seat at the special seat, and me to sit next to him with his feet resting on my lap. The kids dentist took out te polishing tool and immediately my son started crying (he fears this and has told me before the visit that he didn't want the whirring tool) the previous dentist couldn't polish my son's teeth due to him screaming and wailing, while Dr Ong was so fast my son only managed a whimper and a tear before she was done. Needless to say I am impressed! My son came out with gleaming white teeth and my husband was super shocked when we came out from the kids dentist's room. 

My son's bright smile after the dental visit :)

Teaching brushing habit to my 2.5 year old :)


Last, come the payment time, well this efficiency, high-end waiting room and free tooth brush is sure to cost me an arm and a leg and sure enough this short dental visit costed about $180 more or less, that's about $50-$60 more than GPA Dental, but if your child is fussy and you have money to spend, then Dr Ong from Smile Focus should be the best kids dentist in Singapore (judging from her popularity). For myself, the damage on the wallet was lessened by using my son's under utilised CDA Account, the procedure is a bit relaxed here, they just need you to fill in the form and bring the ATM card. They didn't ask for my son's birth certificate nor for my IC. Not that I'm complaining, it just makes it easier for us :)  

3 comments:

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