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| Group A mini reunion @ Nau's |
(This is so overdue)
I’m not going to
apologized AGAIN for not updating as frequently as I used to in the past. Not
that I was busy, it was more of laziness and the lack of motivation to write. These
days I noticed I have somehow developed a pessimistic outlook in my clinical
judgement and execution, often expecting the worst outcome. The dental graduate
that used to be so optimistic and confident in her work has overtime wither away.
Sometimes I questioned why did I chose this field previously. I still in the
midst of sorting out this confusion within me.
Ok, enough rant on my emotion
rollercoaster, this blog entrée is about the events I attended earlier
this year.
MDA SCATE Jan 2018
(WhatsApp msg)
(WhatsApp msg)
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| Finally on some magnification! |
Rach
Jom Pergi Conference MDA? -
Syasya
I replied “Ok”. And hence I
paid a few hundred ringgits to renew my MDA membership and signed up for the
conference.
“Going to conference
again? Why you dentists always have to attend so many conferences?” asked my
mum.
I pretty much looked
forward to SCATE ever since joining the private sector. Coop up in the
clinics 6 days a week doing intricate meticulous work and meeting the demands of
patients can lead to isolation and professional burnt out. For me, dental conference is not only one of
the means for continuous professional development but also a good opportunity
to take a break from the clinic. It is where active learning for dentist happens
post-graduation. There will be brewing conversation about the trends and advances
in dentistry, exchanging clinical experiences and ideas, trying the latest
gizmos and getting a good discount to restock clinical supplies. Some also view
this as a good opportunity reunite with friends and batchmates.
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| Photo credits: Syasya |
There are two major annual
dental conferences held by the MDA; SCATE in the beginning of the year and MIDEC
around mid-year. As compared to MIDEC, I noticed that the lecture topics in
SCATE usually are tailored for the junior dentists.
There were two to three
lecture sessions lined up every hour. We had to choose between the mundane and
the remarkable. I took interest in the full mouth rehab presentations. I was
amazed and humbled by the treatment plans and clinical work presented. One good
take home message was advances like the Digital Smile Design and Chairside CEREC
technology still rely on basics taught in prostho, cons and perio. Fundamentals
are still important. Besides that, I found the lecture on Managing Dentinal
hypersentivity most useful. The sensitive toothpastes in the market all contains
different active ingredients and its effectiveness may varies for each individual.
Patient should be encourage to try out different sensitive toothpaste to find
the one that works the best for them and stick to that particular one.
I wasn’t only attending
lectures but also went around scouting for materials and instrument I needed in
the trade exhibition. The exhibition hall was filled with set up booths, some
with tall kiosks with banners advertising cool new instruments,
appliances and materials that you had never heard of with impressive multimedia
presentations. And of course drs are not oblivious to the ‘bribery’ each booth
has to offer. It’s common to see lines forming while drs giving away their
personal contact info in exchanged for the latest merchandise (often
toothbrushes and toothpaste). You can hear some murmur that this year givings
weren’t as good as previous year. Others were simply handing out souvenirs
(like an innocent pen or tote bags) stenciled with their brand logos together with
paper brochures or catalogues. I felt somehow the exhibition hall was strategically
placed as we have to navigate ourselves to dining area through the maze of
sales booth. Probably they hope that on your way to teatime or lunch your
attention will get caught with the big fancy ads or by a smooth tongue salesperson. Some
companies prepared hands on kiosk for the drs to try out the various products. Also,
some booth had a crowd swarming around a projection screen with a man dressed
in suit and headset microphone giving a short lecture and demo.
As Joe and I were
strolling down each alley, we were lucky enough to stumbled upon a supplier who
was giving a demo on BioLase laser. We signed up for the hands-on session on
the second day. Together with 3 other drs, we were introduced to a transparent
glass high tech looking device in front of us. The sales rep gave a 10 mins PowerPoint presentation
and have us all put on the yellow bug eye looking safety googles before the
demo. Next thing we know, we were happily carbonizing away tomatoes and
sausages. Gingivectomy would have been such a straight forward procedure
instead of using traditional blade. One of the participating dr had a traumatic
ulcer and offered for us to use the laser on him. We were lucky enough witness the
effects of the laser on a real traumatic ulcer without any LA and the
results were instant. All 5 of us were sold that afternoon.
By the third day the meeting
rooms were no more than half filled and the crowd was inside the exhibition
hall instead of the lecture halls. You could sense the enthusiasms for actual
learning have tapered down. Among those attendees, a large chunk either dozed
off or left early to stroll the trade show. For me, I left the conference
early to get some rest before the start of another new week.
Dr Ashwin's Rubberdamology Feb 2018
A few weeks after SCATE, I was lucky
enough to book a spot for Dr Ashwin’s Rubberdamology hands on session @ The Dental
Academy. We all know that the usage of rubber dam is the gold standard for
isolation for any restorative work but many just brush off the idea in the name
of inconvenience. Those who are reluctant often claimed that patient disliked
it and it takes too much effort and time to isolate a tooth for just a simple filling.
Personally, I find that the dam actually gave me a piece of mind to work especially
in the lower posterior regions. Instantly, you do not need to worry about the cheeks,
tongue and the pooling saliva. It makes clinical dentistry more awarding and
stress-free.
I had a bad experience back
in final year of dental school when I had to place a dam on a 12 y/o patient
with the lingual wall of tooth 36 at equigingival level. The clamp kept popping
out and the interdental gingiva were so traumatized. I put off the idea of
using the dam after that. Ever since then, the last time I ever placed a rubber
dam was on the typodont model during our final exams. However, I always wanted
to be comfortable in placing the dam on patients and this course really gave me
that confidence. The confusions on to
use wing or wingless clamps; heavy or medium dam sheets; to dam first, clamp
first or the dam and clamp together technique were answered. According to Dr
Ashwin, is best to give Local Anaesthesia prior to placing the rubber dam as it
can ensure a comfortable experience for you and your patients. Also, you would
not be able to clamp the tooth if significant buccal or lingual wall is missing
so build up that wall first before placing the dam. He also showed some crown cases
done with Vertical Tooth Prep and introduced the Thermacut bur used in DME
cases; both were new concepts to me. We all were also given a set of his famous
rubber dam clamps kit to bring home. I think by far that was the best hands on
course I ever attended and those who are struggling with the dam should really sign
up if there is a next one.
ps:
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| A miracle happened! (Will write a post on my experience of the exam later) |
