|
Howard:
|
It is a huge honor today to be sitting here one degree of the north of the equator in Singapore, in beautiful downtown Singapore where there's no fall, there's no winter, there's no spring, it's just summer. I thought this would be very fun because I'm with the next generation of Singapore dentists. You've been out of school one year, and you've placed ... How many implants have you placed?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Three.
|
|
Howard:
|
Three. You've been out of school one year, and you've placed ...
|
|
Melissa:
|
About two.
|
|
Howard:
|
Two. You've been out one year, and you've placed ...
|
|
Candice:
|
Zero.
|
|
Howard:
|
Zero. You've been out four years, and you've placed four.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Okay, so what I want to do is, I want to give you the microphone and tell us your name. We'll just go from here, left to right. Tell us your name, your age, where you were born, why did you become a dentist? I think a lot of these people, they hear all the fifty and sixty year old people talk all the time, all the old people. I think it'd be really fun to listen to all the brand new dentists out of Singapore. What's got you excited? Why did you become a dentist? Tell us your name. Tell us about you.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Sure. My name is Kevin. Singaporean. I graduated from the University of Adelaide two years ago.
|
|
Howard:
|
Adelaide, Australia.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yes, that's right. The reason why I got into dentistry is because I think it's a great profession. You meet different kinds of people everyday. You work by yourself, you do your own thing. I think that's quite comfortable for me.
|
|
Howard:
|
Were there dentists in your family? Mom, dad, uncle, cousin?
|
|
Kevin:
|
No, no.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're the first dentist in your family.
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right. Yes. Growing up, I used to see my orthodontist, and she inspired me that dentistry can be a great and satisfying career, and then I got from there.
|
|
Howard:
|
You've been out of school one year.
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
Where are you working? Are you working for someone else?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I'm working for someone else, at a neighborhood practice.
|
|
Howard:
|
It's just you and one other dentist?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Me and three other associates.
|
|
Howard:
|
There's four dentists in there. How many operatories are in the dental office?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Four rooms.
|
|
Howard:
|
Four rooms. DO you all four work at the same time?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Most of the time.
|
|
Howard:
|
Most of the time, it's the same ... What are your hours?
|
|
Kevin:
|
We start at nine thirty in the morning, and then we finish about five to six in the evening.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many days a week?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Five or five and a half days a week.
|
|
Howard:
|
Five or five and a half?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah. Depends on how you feel.
|
|
Howard:
|
Yeah? Depends how you feel? You've been doing that all year?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right, yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
How's it going?
|
|
Kevin:
|
It's all right. Fresh out of uni, you're trying to find your own path, your own groove. Right now, you are responsible for your own treatment procedures, and you take a lot of pride in what you do. Trying to get as good as you can.
|
|
Howard:
|
What procedures do you like to do? What do you like to treat?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Extractions, mainly.
|
|
Howard:
|
Is that mostly wisdom teeth, or is that teeth that had cavities, or is that gum disease? Why does the average tooth need extracted when you're extracting a tooth in Singapore?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I usually do quite a bit of teeth and gum problems. Hopeless teeth that have a very, very poor prognosis. I think, fresh out of uni, I wasn't very experienced with getting extractions done, so I think trying to get better at extractions myself. That is why I guess I prefer extractions now, because I get more experience.
|
|
Howard:
|
You like extractions, and now you're going into placing implants.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many did you say you've placed?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Three.
|
|
Howard:
|
Three. What do you think of it? Did you place any in dental school in Adelaide?
|
|
Kevin:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you think that's going to be part of your practice in the future?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right, yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Talk about why that is. Why are you excited about implants?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I think implants are the future of dentistry. People have longer life expectancy, people have high demands for their oral health. I think it's a much better alternative compared to dentures. I think we implants is something we should all be able to provide in the future.
|
|
Howard:
|
What system are you going to go with?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Right now I'm using Megagen Anyridge.
|
|
Howard:
|
Megagen? Why did you go with Megagen?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's the system that my superior uses, my boss uses.
|
|
Howard:
|
More a relationship to ... Your boss uses Megagen, and you like placing them and restoring them? What other procedures do you think you'll like? Did you think you'll ever do orthodontics or endodontics?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah. Orthodontics is something I'm trying to get myself into as well. People like straight teeth, and that's a good way to be able to practice with orthodontics.
|
|
Howard:
|
What about endodontics?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Not so much endodontics, I think.
|
|
Howard:
|
Now, in your practice, when someone needs a molar root canal do you send it to one of the other three dentists in your practice?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
One of the dentists in there likes endodontics?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you like pediatric dentistry?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Not so much.
|
|
Howard:
|
Not so much. You basically don't like endo or pediatric dentistry.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Anything else you don't like?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's pretty much. That's it.
|
|
Howard:
|
You like crown and bridge?
|
|
Kevin:
|
It's okay.
|
|
Howard:
|
Just okay.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Just kind of boring, or ...?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I'll do it.
|
|
Howard:
|
You don't have a real passion for it.
|
|
Kevin:
|
It doesn't make me feel, "Oh, yes."
|
|
Howard:
|
What makes you feel, "Oh, yes?"
|
|
Kevin:
|
Getting someone out of pain. I think that's what means the most.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's what I like too. I like emergency room the most. Everyone's different. Your name must be Giggles, because you're always laughing. Why are you always laughing and giggling? Are you just that happy?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Not exactly.
|
|
Howard:
|
What's your name? Tell us your story.
|
|
Melissa:
|
I'm Melissa. I'm born in Singapore, and I studied at the University of Adelaide as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
You both went to Adelaide. Were you classmates then?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yup, we were classmates.
|
|
Howard:
|
Did you copy off him or did he copy off you? What's got you excited about dentistry?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I just thought it's interesting, not doing a routine nine to five desk job. With dentistry, everything is always changing. You're always to think on your feet. You just got to solve the problem on the spot. It's not always going to be the same. It's always different, it's not constant. That's not too boring. It's just a different challenge every time, even if you are trained to manage a certain situation. Things can go differently sometimes. I just like challenges.
|
|
Howard:
|
That is such a interesting, fresh perspective, because there's never a dull moment in dentistry. Every patient and every tooth is different.
|
|
Melissa:
|
It's good when you can solve the problem, but when you can't, sometimes it's not the nice after all.
|
|
Howard:
|
Where are you practicing now? You've been out of school a year. Where are you practicing?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Practicing at a [inaudible 00:08:29] clinic as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
In a clinic?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
With how many other dentists and how many chairs?
|
|
Melissa:
|
We're actually practicing at the same clinic [crosstalk 00:08:38]
|
|
Howard:
|
Oh, you guys are in the same place?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
There's four chairs and four dentists.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yep.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you find a big part of the happiness is being able to talk to three other dentists, as opposed to if you were in your own practice by yourself?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I guess that's the ups and downs of it. It's good when you need support and you need to consult someone about a case. There's more, it's thinking and coming up with a solution. Sometimes we're not all going to agree on one thing. I guess that's a good thing as well. You learn how to filter out what you're comfortable with and what you're not and make a decision you're most comfortable with and is best for the patient.
|
|
Howard:
|
What procedures do you like to do and what do you not like to do?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I'm still fresh out, so everything is still q quite new. I still haven't gotten bored of something. I don't particularly like molar endos, as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
Is that right? We have two people that don't like molar endo.
|
|
Melissa:
|
It's good when you can find the canals, but once you start spending a lot of time on it and the patient is tired, you're tired, it gets a bit draining after a while.
|
|
Howard:
|
What's the part you don't like about molar endo? Is it finding the canals?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Sometimes it's finding the canals, sometimes it's negotiating a canal. I don't always have very smooth sailing with molar endos thus far, so naturally I've started to focus on other aspects of dentistry.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many implants did you say you've placed?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Two.
|
|
Howard:
|
Are you excited about learning how to place implants?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah, definitely, yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Definitely? Why is that?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Well, a lot of people are quite educated, they know what implants are nowadays. They come in asking for it. We didn't come out of dental school knowing how to place implants. We know the theoretical aspect of it, that we don't actually place it. It just feels better if you're able to provide the treatment that a lot of people are asking for. There's a demand for it, and being able to cater to this market, and not turning patients away makes you feel better about things, more accomplished. You are able to satisfy the greater percentage of people.
|
|
Howard:
|
You both went with Megagen because, there's four dentists in your practice, and you're two of the four, the senior dentist already chose that system.
|
|
Melissa:
|
That's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's why you're learning that system.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah, that's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
What other procedures do you want to do or are you excited about? Are you going to learn, do you think, orthodontics, or veneers, or CAD/CAM dentistry? What else do you have your eye on?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I've got plans to learn ortho.
|
|
Howard:
|
Ortho. Now, how old are you two?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I'm twenty five.
|
|
Howard:
|
Twenty five.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Twenty seven.
|
|
Howard:
|
Twenty seven. You're half my age. You're making me feel really old. You have your eye on ortho.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yup. Ortho, and eventually it would be good if I can CAD/CAM as well, but currently my clinic isn't equipped with the machinery.
|
|
Howard:
|
You want to learn how to do CAD/CAM?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
What system would you use if you went and got a CAD/CAM?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Not too sure at this stage. I guess I would do more research on it before I make a decision.
|
|
Howard:
|
Now, are you on the website Dentaltown?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I liked the page on Facebook.
|
|
Howard:
|
You liked Dentaltown on Facebook? Have you gone to the website or downloaded the app on your phone?
|
|
Melissa:
|
No, I haven't. I just heard about the app today.
|
|
Howard:
|
Oh, you just heard about the app today?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yes, so I'll do it later.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's why I'm over here. Have you been on Dentaltown?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yes, I subscribe to the newsletter.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you ever go the the website?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Not recently.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's why I'm here. That's why I'm 9,219 miles from home, so I can get you there. I'm not counting the miles, but that's why I'm here. I think it's a really neat Internet where you can all learn from each other. What other procedures? You think you'll learn ortho, you say?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yup.
|
|
Howard:
|
What kind of ortho?
|
|
Melissa:
|
The Clearliners, definitely, and the normal metal straight wire ones.
|
|
Howard:
|
You want to learn both the fixed brackets and wires, and the removable clearliners, like Invisalign, or something like that.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah, that's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
What about children? Do you like pediatric dentistry?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I don't mind children. Lots of patients that coming in with their children first, then you build the practice up because the family members that coming in. I wouldn't say I particularly enjoy working with kids at this stage. It takes a lot of energy sometimes. It's good when you manage to get the kid's cooperation, and they like you, but sometimes we just go nowhere.
|
|
Howard:
|
Did you think about specializing, or did you always know you wanted to be a general dentist, family dentist?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I'm still open to the idea of specializing, but it's not something that I'm going to pursue at this stage, especially because I'm only one year out. I haven't really found a particular aspect of dentistry that I would want to commit the rest of my career to. I'm open to just trying everything out and seeing what I'm actually most comfortable, and what I enjoy doing best before I go and specialize and focus only on one region.
|
|
Howard:
|
Now, are either of you married?
|
|
Melissa:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
No? You're still single?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yep.
|
|
Howard:
|
Both of you were born in Singapore?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Why did both of you go all the way to Adelaide, Australia, for dental school? Is it just because the dental school class here is small, and it was just where you got accepted?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Pretty much, yes. For me, for myself.
|
|
Howard:
|
For yourself? Did you enjoy Adelaide, Australia?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah, I loved it.
|
|
Howard:
|
How long did you live in Australia?
|
|
Melissa:
|
For five years.
|
|
Howard:
|
Five years? How about you?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah, same. Five years.
|
|
Howard:
|
Did you think about staying in Australia, or what made you want to come home to Singapore? Was it mom, dad and family? Did you like Singapore more than Australia? Tell me your thoughts on that.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Primarily because of family, and also because the year of our graduation, the job market there was much tougher. It was harder to get a job then, because it was oversaturated with dentists. It seemed like the more logical option to just come back to Singapore and start building up my patient base.
|
|
Howard:
|
What was your favorite city in Australia?
|
|
Melissa:
|
I liked Adelaide.
|
|
Howard:
|
You liked Adelaide the most? How about you?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Same. Adelaide.
|
|
Howard:
|
Really ?More than Sydney?
|
|
Melissa:
|
More than Sydney. Sydney is too much like Singapore.
|
|
Howard:
|
I agree, I see that. Or Hong Kong. All those three cities are very similar. You know what my favorite city is over there? It's always Perth.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Perth?
|
|
Howard:
|
I think Perth is the neatest city, one of the neatest cities in the world. Let's go to the left side. Thank you so much for sharing your stories. Now we're over here. You've been out of school one year too?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
What is your name and where did you go to school?
|
|
Candice:
|
I'm Candice. I went to Western Australia University in Perth.
|
|
Howard:
|
What city was that?
|
|
Candice:
|
In Perth.
|
|
Howard:
|
Oh, you went to Perth. That's my favorite city in the world. Did you ever go to Antarctica?
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
It's only three hours from Antarctica. You went to dental school in Perth, Australia.
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
You were there five years?
|
|
Candice:
|
I think I was there for only three years. I was from a university in Malaysia, and then I got transferred over to Perth for the clinical years.
|
|
Howard:
|
Where were you born, in Malaysia?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
In Kuala Lumpur?
|
|
Candice:
|
No, in Johor.
|
|
Howard:
|
Which is across the river from Singapore?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Then you started to go to dental school in Malaysia?
|
|
Candice:
|
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
|
|
Howard:
|
Then transferred to Perth, Australia. What made you not stay in Adelaide, or not go back to Malaysia? What made you stay in Singapore? What was the decision there?
|
|
Candice:
|
It was closer to home for Singapore. I guess dental market here safer.
|
|
Howard:
|
Safer dental market?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
I love the way they giggle all the time. You guys are so young and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Everything's happy and funny. I've been watching you do this implant course today, and all you girls do is just laugh and giggle and smile. That's very ... What have you been doing this year? Are you working in a clinic?
|
|
Candice:
|
I'm working in a private clinic in the west.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many dentists are in that clinic? How many dental chairs?
|
|
Candice:
|
We have four others, full time dentists. There's actually five chairs, I think.
|
|
Howard:
|
Four dentists and five chairs. What are your hours?
|
|
Candice:
|
My hours is mostly nine thirty in the morning to nine at night.
|
|
Howard:
|
Nine in the morning to nine at night.
|
|
Candice:
|
For three days a week, and then another two days will be nine thirty to five.
|
|
Howard:
|
So nine to nine three days a week, and nine to five two days a week?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
You never work a sixth day or a seventh day?
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many hours is that?
|
|
Candice:
|
That is out thirteen sessions, so each session will be about four hours.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many total hours, nine to nine three days a week?
|
|
Candice:
|
Fifty two.
|
|
Howard:
|
Fifty two hours?
|
|
Candice:
|
I think so.
|
|
Howard:
|
I find so amazing because fifty two hours ... An American dentist, they only work like thirty two hours. They're always saying, "Well, how do I make more money, or pay off my student loans?" I tell them, "Well, in Asia, they actually work. If you were in Asia, you'd work fifty two hours and you'd make a lot more money and pay down your bills." When they only work thirty two hours, and they don't work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, they're bored, so what do they do? They go shop, and they go buy stuff, and they're spending money. Then I say, "What is your main problem?" They say, "Well, I have $350,000 student loans." I go, "Well, pretend you're Asian and work six days a week, and pay off all your bills, and quit spending money." I love the Asian work ethic. You guys were just born to work in Asia. They're always giggling and they're always working. I love it.
|
|
|
You've been working in a clinic for a year. What's got you excited? What do you like to do?
|
|
Candice:
|
It got me excited when the patient is really happy for what I've done. If they came in with pain on the first visit, so after maybe one treatment or several times of seeing them, they got out of pain completely and they didn't have to suffer much after that. They are really happy. If they are really appreciative of what I've done, I'm happy too.
|
|
Howard:
|
When you're getting them out of pain, is that usually a root canal, or an extraction?
|
|
Candice:
|
Sometimes, by just doing cleaning and wait for it to heal, it get them out of pain. They don't have to lose any teeth, they don't have to do any invasive procedure and they are really happy. I'm really happy too.
|
|
Howard:
|
That is so awesome. What procedures do you like to do?
|
|
Candice:
|
I guess, for now, I love doing surgical extraction. That is quite a new thing to me because I don't do much in school. Some new things that I'm learning, but of course a lot of procedures are great as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
I wonder, if everyone here likes extraction, but that may be a skewed sample because I'm here at an implant course. Maybe it's safe to say that people who like to learn how to place implants already like extractions.
|
|
Candice:
|
Probably.
|
|
Howard:
|
Some people don't like any blood and guts. I call those types of dentists "vegan vampires." You're supposed to be a dentist. You're supposed to like blood, but now you're a vegan vampire. You haven't placed any implants yet.
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
You want to. Why do you want to?
|
|
Candice:
|
There's some patient who really needs it, and that really wants it. When you give the option of what they can do after the extraction, and they try denture for example, and they don't like it, so eventually they're left with implant as an option. If I'm able to do it to help them, that would be great.
|
|
Howard:
|
Why did you go with Megagen? Was that already in your clinic, or did you pick that yourself?
|
|
Candice:
|
Our company uses.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's already what your company uses.
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
What other procedures got you excited?
|
|
Candice:
|
For now, it's really about the patient, because I'm still fresh out of dental school, so I'm open to all procedures, whatever a patient needs it. As long as anything I can do to help the patient gets me really excited, even though going to work nine to nine everyday ...
|
|
Howard:
|
Is that a long day for you? Nine to nine?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes, really long.
|
|
Howard:
|
It's really long.
|
|
Candice:
|
You have lunch and then you're, "Oh, I need to go back to work," and then you have dinner, and, "Oh, go back to work."
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you like endo?
|
|
Candice:
|
I don't mind doing endo if the patient really needs it. I do have a few endo molars, and if I have to do it, I will do it.
|
|
Howard:
|
That's interesting. It makes me realize that I think the older people need to focus on, "Why do the younger kids not really like endo as much?" It seems to be a common thing where many, many procedures sound more fun than a molar root canal. I don't know what about it... My favorite procedure is an extraction, but my second favorite is a molar root canal. That's something everyone needs to think about. Instead of trying to think of how to teach a child a root canal, I think maybe we should first look at, "How can we make it fun," so that they want to learn how to do a molar root canal. It's a common thing in dental schools where they don't really seem to think it's fun. Do you think you'll ever learn ortho?
|
|
Candice:
|
Maybe in the future. Not any time soon, because to me there's a bit of more cosmetic procedures. For now, I'm more focusing on helping the patient which are in pain, so I will learn it in the future. I'm good with anything else.
|
|
Howard:
|
We have a lot in common. When I got out of school, there was the big cosmetic revolution. I got out of school in '87, and the big cosmetic revolution was probably '93 to 2000. I saw it as all the doctors just wanted to do face lifts and tummy tucks, and I felt like a real doctor should be getting you out of pain, and extracting the tooth, or doing a root canal. I never really got into the cosmetic revolution. It's just personal preference. Some of my friends just love cosmetic. They don't like to do root canals or extractions, so everybody's different. Do you like pediatric dentistry?
|
|
Candice:
|
If they are not crying, yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
If they're not crying? Do any of you have children? Are any of you married?
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
Are you married? You have children though? Huh, so it's universal. They don't like molar endo or crying children. I don't know how you can make anyone like our crying children. Even when I had four babies at home. One, two, three ... I had four babies in sixty months, so you would think I just love babies. I still didn't like pediatric dentistry, even though the love of my life was my four children, I still didn't like it. What about CAD/CAM? Is that something that interests you down the road, or not really?
|
|
Candice:
|
Not really.
|
|
Howard:
|
Not really?
|
|
Candice:
|
I prefer the conventional way of doing crown and bridges.
|
|
Howard:
|
We had two Adelaides, a Perth ... Did you ever go to Adelaide, Australia?
|
|
Candice:
|
I've been there once.
|
|
Howard:
|
What did you like more? Perth or Adelaide?
|
|
Candice:
|
Can I say Melbourne?
|
|
Howard:
|
Melbourne? You like Melbourne the most?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Melbourne is kind of the ... In America, that would be the mid-western industrial city. I think Melbourne's like Kansas City or Houston. A mid-western industrial, and Sydney is like Singapore or Hong Kong. You like Melbourne the most?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Thank you very much. Last but not least, what is your name?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Tsing Wen.
|
|
Howard:
|
Tsing Wen.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Your name was Candice?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
Does that mean "candy?" The kind that causes decay?
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
Your name's not really Candy. What's your name?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Tsing Wen.
|
|
Howard:
|
Tsing Wen. You've been out of school ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
Four years, almost. [crosstalk 00:27:42]
|
|
Howard:
|
Four years, so you're the oldest one here?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I am, yeah, unfortunately.
|
|
Howard:
|
You've been out four years, and you've placed four implants.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Where were you born and raised? Where did you go to dental school?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I was born in Malaysia.
|
|
Howard:
|
Kuala Lumpur, or just across the river?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Nearby Kuala Lumpur.
|
|
Howard:
|
Nearby Kuala Lumpur.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah, yeah, okay. I did my dentistry in Ireland.
|
|
Howard:
|
In Ireland?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Dental school.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
I'm a hundred percent Irish.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Oh, are you?
|
|
Howard:
|
What dental school did you go to?
|
|
Tsing:
|
University of Cork.
|
|
Howard:
|
Cork. Wow. Did they teach you how to drink?
|
|
Tsing:
|
A little bit, yeah. Yeah. Most of our class buddies are out drinking.
|
|
Howard:
|
The Irish and the Russians, they're both the two cultures that like to drink a lot. Did you like dental school there?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed it, yeah. I didn't really like the town, though. I found it a bit quiet. Yeah, it was really serene, and most of the shops are closed by five. There wasn't much activity after five, if you're not drinking.
|
|
Howard:
|
It was in Cork?
|
|
Tsing:
|
It was in Cork, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
How far was that from, what was the next major town, like from Dublin?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Dublin. Dublin. About three hours by car.
|
|
Howard:
|
Three hours. Now, you were born in Malaysia, so the weather was very different.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Very, very different. It was raining almost every day in Cork, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
What do you like more? Right now, we're one degree north of the equator. Do you like one degree north of the equator? What would Ireland be about? What would you guess, thirty three degrees? Was there snow in the winters?
|
|
Tsing:
|
There wasn't much snow in cork because it was nearer to the sea. It was a coastal town, so there wasn't much snow, although it goes down below zero.
|
|
Howard:
|
Why do you like more, the equator, or do you like up north?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Actually, I prefer the cold.
|
|
Howard:
|
You prefer the cold?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I prefer the cold, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Over Singapore. You'd rather live in the ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
Definitely, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
You'd rather live in a big city ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
I'd rather live in a cold area rather than the heat in Singapore.
|
|
Howard:
|
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Switzerland.
|
|
Howard:
|
Switzerland?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Wow. Have you been there?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yes.
|
|
Howard:
|
What city did you like there?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Actually loved Geneva.
|
|
Howard:
|
Geneva?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
I'll never forget the first time I lectured there, I said, "What's the name of that mountain? It's a beautiful mountain." They said, "The Matterhorn." I said, "Oh, well, that's the name of the roller coaster in Disneyland." They go, "Yeah, that's the same mountain." I never made the connection as a kid in Disneyland. I love Geneva, Switzerland. That Matterhorn is just beautiful. Why were you in Switzerland? Did you just go there on vacation?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I was just on vacation. I used to travel quite a bit around Europe when I was still studying there.
|
|
Howard:
|
So you've been out of school four years?
|
|
Tsing:
|
No, actually I did a short, a year class back in Malaysia. It was mostly in public hospitals, we did the first year training program.
|
|
Howard:
|
You were born in Malaysia.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
You practiced one year in Malaysia at a government clinic, and then three years in Singapore.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
What's the pros and cons of Kuala Lumpur or Singapore? What made you pick Singapore over ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
[crosstalk 00:31:11] The government clinics back in Malaysia, it was more of providing just the basic dental treatment, meaning scaling, extractions, and fillings and not anything else. It was routine work every day, doing scaling, fillings, extractions, and just do that every day all day long. I just wanted more variation in what I do.
|
|
Howard:
|
Would you make more money in Singapore than Malaysia?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I would say so.
|
|
Howard:
|
You would say so?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Are you liking Singapore?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I'm enjoying myself so far.
|
|
Howard:
|
You've placed four implants.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Tell me what you like. What's got you excited in dentistry? How old are you?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Thirty this year.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're going to turn thirty this year. So you're twenty nine. What's got you excited?
|
|
Tsing:
|
About dentistry? I actually enjoy seeing kids.
|
|
Howard:
|
You do enjoy seeing kids?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Fantastic.
|
|
Tsing:
|
I actually love seeing kids, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you like seeing them enough that you might specialize in pediatric dentistry?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I thought about specializing in pediatric dentistry, but then I decided not to do any specialization at all.
|
|
Howard:
|
What were your thoughts there?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Basically, I just didn't want to spend time doing the whole specialization course and come out and start over again. I was just thinking, just continue with general dentistry.
|
|
Howard:
|
I imagine, in Singapore, if you just want to get a reputation of liking kids, it might not matter that you're a pediatric dentist.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yes, yes, true. There are not many general dentists who actually are willing to see kids.
|
|
Howard:
|
You see that a lot in Singapore? Do a lot of the dentists in Singapore just say on the phone, "I don't treat children?"
|
|
Tsing:
|
Not really, they actually attempt, but then there isn't much they can actually do for the child. There are actually dentists who just examine the child and just refer them to dental hospitals to get the treatment done instead, because they actually don't even want to attempt, doing any treatment on the child.
|
|
Howard:
|
What does the childhood situation in Singapore? Are they drinking a lot of canned ... You got fluoridated water.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
The average six year old child. Would the average six year old child have six cavities? Three cavities? One cavity?
|
|
Tsing:
|
It varies, really. There are children who comes in with cavities on all their teeth. There are children who come in with perfect dentition. It really varies. There's no real pattern in what we see.
|
|
Howard:
|
Think about this, because you're in a very racial variety of Singapore. In the United States, in my country, if the child eats traditional ... Like if the mom and dad are Asian and they eat a traditional Asian diet, the parents have no cavities, the grandparents have no cavities, neither does the kid. If they eat a western diet of McDonald's and french fries and ketchup and candy and Coke, they have lots of cavities. Do you see children's decay rate reflecting upon their ethnic diets, cultural diets?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Most of the children I see with a lot of cavities are usually those with milk bottle caries.
|
|
Howard:
|
Baby bottle caries?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Baby bottle caries, yes. They actually go to bed either with a milk bottle, or they wake up in the middle of the night asking for milk, and their parents actually give them. They tend to develop a lot of milk bottle caries. That's the major cause.
|
|
Howard:
|
That wouldn't matter what the diet is. It's just baby bottle ... They used to call it baby bottle tooth decay. Now what do they call it?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Milk bottle caries?
|
|
Howard:
|
Something carie ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
Rampant caries?
|
|
Howard:
|
What is it?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Rampant caries? Rampant childhood caries?
|
|
Howard:
|
Rampant childhood caries. Is that what it is?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
You see a lot of baby bottle tooth decay out here.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Quite a lot, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Quite a lot. Does Singapore have a national education program fighting baby bottle tooth decay?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I'm not really aware of that, yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Sounds like something they really need. I wonder if you guys should go down to the minister of health and tell him what you're seeing. Maybe the minister of health could do some type of campaign. What else has got you excited?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Orthodontics. I haven't really done much orthodontics, but I do have an interest in ortho.
|
|
Howard:
|
What kind of ortho? Would it be fixed bracket, or would it be removable clearliners?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Just ortho in general, so fixed, clearliners ...
|
|
Howard:
|
You're here at an implant course. Why do implants have you excited?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Obviously, people are tending to move away from dentures in this day and age. I actually had a patient who just jumped off the chair when I told her about the option of replacing her teeth with a denture. People are getting more and more ... They are [inaudible 00:36:21] for something that's more fixed in their mouth, that doesn't actually have to remove. So far, implants would be the most ideal replacement options for missing teeth at this point.
|
|
Howard:
|
Implants are positive for mental health and oral health, and a denture is good for oral health, but it's not very good for mental health, You're right. A lot of people get very, very depressed and sad when they lose all their teeth. You want to learn ortho? You want to learn how to place implants? Why did you pick Megagen? Where are you working? Are you working in a clinic?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah, I'm working in a clinic at the moment. Since I started working at this clinic, I haven't placed implants. It has been a while since I placed my last implant. My boss was actually asking me to go for a refresher course, so I joined this course. This course, it so happened that this course they're using Megagen. It wasn't that I picked Megagen to use as my preferred implant system.
|
|
Howard:
|
How many dentists in your clinic? How many chairs, how many dentists?
|
|
Tsing:
|
We have eight chairs.
|
|
Howard:
|
Wow.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah. Eight chairs will be ...
|
|
Howard:
|
With how many dentists?
|
|
Tsing:
|
All eight dentists.
|
|
Howard:
|
So there's eight dentists?
|
|
Tsing:
|
On some days. On some days, sometimes, we go down to four dentists at once.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do all of you usually work out of one chair?
|
|
Tsing:
|
No, no, we have eight chairs.
|
|
Howard:
|
I mean, you personally. If there's eight chairs and eight dentists, everybody's working in one room.
|
|
Tsing:
|
No, we have separate rooms.
|
|
Candice:
|
ON different says we work in different rooms.
|
|
Howard:
|
Different days you work ...
|
|
Candice:
|
Different rooms.
|
|
Howard:
|
Different rooms. Do you usually work one chair at a time, or do you usually jumping back between ...
|
|
Tsing:
|
One chair.
|
|
Howard:
|
One chair at a time.
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're normally not working back and forth with two chairs. Do you all have a dental assistant? Do you have someone helping you?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yup.
|
|
Howard:
|
You all four? All four have a dental assistant? Do any of you use a dental hygienist to clean teeth?
|
|
Melissa:
|
We have a dental hygienist in our practice, but haven't really engaged her services. I will just do it on my own.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're all doing your own cleanings?
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're all doing your own clearings. What do you think of the state of dental hygienists? DO you think that's something down the road where you would want a hygienist cleaning the teeth, or do you think you'll always do your own cleanings?
|
|
Candice:
|
I still have the passion for cleaning. I always do it myself.
|
|
Howard:
|
You still like it?
|
|
Candice:
|
Yes. I still like it for now, so I will do it myself.
|
|
Howard:
|
Do you like cleaning teeth?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I don't mind doing scaling at this point.
|
|
Howard:
|
DO you think you'll use ... I notice Singapore ... Ryan, when was their first graduating class? 2003 and graduated 2006. It was a three year old program, so it's 2006. So they've been graduating twenty five hygienists a year for ten years. That's only two hundred fifty for a country of five and a half million. Right now, you all four clean your own patients' teeth, and that's the way it's going to be in the future? Anything else? Anything else you would like to share with dentists your age around the world?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Learning is a lifelong journey.
|
|
Howard:
|
Learning is a lifelong journey.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Everyone gets there, so don't stress. There's life outside of dentistry. Find your own hobbies. It's important to stay positive throughout your career, because dentistry can be stressful. Don't let it affect you all the time.
|
|
Howard:
|
How do you deal with the stress of dentistry?
|
|
Kevin:
|
You talk to your peers. You have problems, you talk to your friends. They understand, and we share ideas. We'll try and overcome. It's a group effort kind of thing.
|
|
Howard:
|
Let me ask another question. Did you guys all graduate with a lot of student loans? Are you in a lot of debt?
|
|
Kevin:
|
No. My parents paid my school fees.
|
|
Howard:
|
Your parents were not dentists, but they paid your dental school fees.
|
|
Kevin:
|
That's right.
|
|
Howard:
|
What about you?
|
|
Melissa:
|
The same for me as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
Your parents paid for you to go to dental school?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Were they dentists?
|
|
Melissa:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
Were you the first dentist in your family?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yes, I am.
|
|
Howard:
|
That is so neat. What about you?
|
|
Candice:
|
Same.
|
|
Howard:
|
Your parents paid for your dental school? There were no dentists in your family?
|
|
Candice:
|
No.
|
|
Howard:
|
What about you?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Same.
|
|
Howard:
|
Same. You were the first dentist?
|
|
Tsing:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
All four of you were the first dentist in your family? None of you really have any student loan debt? That's interesting. That's very interesting. A bug problem in the United States is they're coming out with about three hundred to four hundred thousand dollars in debt US. It's a big nut to pay every month, just the minimum monthly payment. None of you guys have debt. Now, do you think you will just continue to work where you work, or do you think you'll start your own practice or buy into the practice? Will you just stay working for someone else, or will you eventually start your own practice someday?
|
|
Kevin:
|
At some point of my career, I would like to own my own practice. Right now, I'm just trying to get as much experience as I can.
|
|
Howard:
|
How old are you?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Twenty seven.
|
|
Howard:
|
How old do you think you'll be when you start your own practice?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Let's see. Maybe thirty plus?
|
|
Howard:
|
Thirty years old?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I'll get a family first.
|
|
Howard:
|
Three or four years.
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah.
|
|
Howard:
|
Will you buy land and building, or will you rent a space?
|
|
Kevin:
|
I'm not too entirely sure.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're not sure?
|
|
Kevin:
|
Yeah. Probably [crosstalk 00:42:25]
|
|
Howard:
|
What about you?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Eventually, I would hope to own my own practice as well.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're twenty five?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yup.
|
|
Howard:
|
How old do you think you'll be when you own your own practice?
|
|
Melissa:
|
Preferably, before forty.
|
|
Howard:
|
Before forty.
|
|
Melissa:
|
Yup. When I'm still young and energetic.
|
|
Howard:
|
I have a feeling you'll still be young and energetic when you're seventy. What about you?
|
|
Candice:
|
Actually, I have no plan for that yet.
|
|
Howard:
|
You're perfectly fine working for someone else, and you don't need to own your own business. That's not one of your goals right now. What about you?
|
|
Tsing:
|
I'm actually fine working at a practice at the moment. I have no plan to open my own clinic.
|
|
Howard:
|
We have four people. Two of you are just fine working somewhere and don't really want the headache of owning your own office, and you two, you want to do it in three years, you want to do it in thirteen years. Very good. Well, hey, I just want to tell you it was an honor that you four kids wanted to spend an hour with me today. I think that folks around the world, I think they really found it fun to listen to what the next generation, because we're all going to retire, and you guys are going to inherit the entire profession of dentistry. After talking to you four fine folks, it looks like dentistry's in very good hands. I would feel very, very safe handing the whole profession over to you guys, You guys seem like you're really good people and really are fired up to want to do the right things in dentistry. Thanks for spending an hour with me today.
|