Jointly reported by:
Chloe Soh Ke Er Sr1ScH
Yeo Ju Xuen Sr1ComA
On the 18th of May 2024, the Academic Department of Kuen Cheng High School hosted a talk on the current practices and advancement of technology in dentistry for the students of Senior Middle One and Two. The talk was held in the grand hall at 11.30 a.m.
To kick off the event, Ms. Foo Cheau Yee from the Academic Department presented an appreciation gift to the speaker, Dr. Foo Kent Room. Dr. Foo specialized in restorative dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya.
Dr. Foo started his talk with an introduction to the faculty of dentistry. He then gave a brief introduction to dentistry. Dentistry is a branch of medicine that involves the study, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions and diseases related to the oral cavity and its related structures. The branches of dentistry include restorative dentistry, oral pathology and medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, radiology, orthodontics and paedodontics, and community dentistry. He then followed up by giving a brief insight into the said branches of dentistry.
Dr. Foo Kent Room explaining the various branches of dentistry
After that, it was time for the main topic of the day. Dr. Foo started with a question for the students: What is your first impression of a dental treatment? Many students replied, fear, pain, and discomfort, as well as the stereotype of pulling out your teeth every visit. That leads to the topic of where technologies step into the dental industry. In reality, pulling out your teeth will be the last solution for doctors to think of, as there are many ways technology can help with different dental problems.
Dr. Foo then showed the differences between the old-schooled way of treating dental problems and the advanced way of using technology. In the past, patients would have the fear of injections and anaesthesia as it causes discomfort during the injection. Technology now will solve that problem with accurate measurements of the speed of the fluid injected to eliminate that feeling of the fluid injected. The fear of drills will also be eliminated with the laser technology, eliminating the sound irritating patients.
Dr Foo showing the students a video regarding the use of VR technology in the medical fields
Dr Foo giving his talk facing towards the audience
In the past, to make dental bridges and dentures for patients, dentists would have to go through a very long procedure of taking impressions and sending them back and forth to the laboratory to get the final product, which takes the patient a lot of visits to the dentist. Now, patients can get their digital copy of their oral cavity on the first visit and can get their dental bridges or dentures on the same day. In addition to that, patients can even customize the colour of their dental bridges and dentures.
To end the talk, Dr Foo opened a Q&A session for the students to ask questions related to dentistry, whether it is about oral hygiene or a career related. It was truly an interesting and enlightening session, like how long it takes to finish a degree in dentistry, to which Dr Foo answered that generally, it takes 5 years to finish, while in Taiwan it takes 6 years. Another question being what is the prevention and cure of ulcers, to which the answer is to use gel or aloe vera.
