Doctor Yong.

14:25hrs, earlier.

The first thing Dr. Yong Hui Ping (a local Chinese dentist) asked me wàs:

"Are you from here?". heh.
I told her about the countless tìmes I was asked that question, and that perhaps I should begin to tell Malaysians that I was from Hawaii! `We both laughed. l.o.l.
Then she asked me if I worked around this area. I told her I didn't have àny work.\
A few mìnutes later, I was on my back horizontally, in the Dental chair. ^$he Took One Look inside my mouth and began to mention All The Things That Were WRONG With My teeth and gums.

"ßite", she said. I did.

Unsatisfìed with what she saw, she repeated "Bite". I closed my jaw agáin.
"You don't really enjoy your food, do you?? ` All your teeth are out of alignment...but I suppose if you're comfortable with it.." she stopped mid-sentence.

-

I clenched my fist as she cleaned up the abscessed infected tooth on the upper left side. It hurt somewhat, but I withstood the pàin. Gawd...I can still hear the sound øf that electric drill, right now!
-

Mirror, Mirror, On The...

There was a mirror attached to the overhead arm of that Dental chair, right next to the bright spotlight, [unlike the chair at Dr. Paul's clinic three years agø] and so...for the first time, I viewed the Entire Procedure. Didn't realize I had such ugly teeth. Dr. Yong also explaíned whilst showing me in that mirror, that àll the small dots on the other OUTER areas were plague, which in her exact words: "had gone right down" to the roots, even onto the INNER areas of the gumline.
The cost of Cleaning The ENTIRE Mouth?
Four Hundred and Fifty bucks!
--Now THAT would be more painful than the dental surgery itself. / Whyy...That's more money than I have in my bank àccount, damnit! L.O.L. ha aha haa.--
$he told me to gø home and think about it.
-
When the entire surgery was over, she prescribed a Painkiller and àn Antibiotic to reduce and eventually eradicate the swelling. They cost 35 Ringgit.

Dosage: 2 tablets, 3 times a day.

`I think the Antibiotic was Flagyl.

I mentioned that I had taken Amoxyl; Papase and Flagyl back in 1997, when I had the other tooth extracted./

I was fortunate tøday. If it became really necessary to get the tooth extracted, ít would've cost a whole lot More than 35 Ringgit.
- Send The Money Now!

When I told Dr. Yong that I normally brush my teeth 3 or 4 times a day...and flossed once ør twice a week, she said ìt wàsn't simply ábout how many times...but "The quality of the brushing", which was important. For upper teeth, always brush from the gums Downwards. For lower teeth, brush from the gums Upwards...às far ás the toothbrush will go.

-

Now as I run my tongue over that tooth, it feels smoother than before, due to all that drilling. heh ...but I know ìt will only be A Matter Of Time, before the Whole Mouth needs to be surgically cleaned.

-

Dr. Yong spoke English well and I understood Èverything she said.

$he even pronounced my name right.

I felt relieved that For Once ín a løng time, ínstead of asking "say that again, please?", I was able to Actually Communicate with a Malaysian fàce to fáce.

#0FDDAF