Test-Driving a New Dentist

Today I tried out a new dentist (Dr. Joanne Le on Piikoi) that my friend Elle suggested. It went well considering I hadn't been to a tooth doc for probably three or four years.

My last dentist (the late Dr. Daniel Lui in Waipahu) was actually our neighbor's son when my family used to live in Newtown. Unfortunately, it's been several years since he's passed away and I have not been able to find a good dentist since.

I had continued going to Dr. Lui's partners for my dental care for about a year but have since moved into town. It's too inconvenient to drive out there just for a 30 minute check up and my laziness overwhelmed me so I just gave in to it. I didn't even try looking for another dentist in town till now.

It's literally been years since I've sat with one of those paper bibs 'round my neck and had to say "Ahhhhh." I'm glad to say that since I've been gone for so long technology seems to have improved. Either that or Dr. Le is just on it when it comes to new technology.

The office had x-ray machines, computers and large monitors. They were able to show me my x-rays in minutes and told me about each image. They were even able to demonstrate what tooth decay looks like using computer imagery. Pretty nifty to convince people they really need to floss every day.

Overall, the experience wasn't too bad. Because I hadn't been to the dentist in a while and I'm not a habitual flosser, I had a decent amount of plaque build up. No cavities though (I've never had any before so I guess my record is still holding up). Because they had to scape all the gunk off my teeth, the process too a while. At my old dentist, I could be in and out in 15 minutes. This time I stayed for over an hour (with probably 10 minutes waiting throughout) and have to go back next week for another cleaning. They want to make sure they got all the plaque.

I will try to be more diligent and floss every day but can't make any promises. My mouth and gums ache a little from being picked at. But other than that I'm good. Hopefully it won't be as sore.