Price To Be Beautiful

Warning. Explicit UGLY pictures.


As I mentioned previously, I went to Ubi Dental Clinic to get my braces done. Let me explain the procedure. Before they can get my braces done, they would need to take the mould and x-rays of my teeth/jaw. I took 3 photos (full face - normal), 1 of inner upper teeth, 1 of inner lower teeth, and 3 of outer teeth (left, centre, right). Not forgetting 4 x-rays.



Kinda ugly right? I'm actually resting (biting?) on a clear plastic thingy which expands my mouth. This will allow Dr Ho to take the pictures of the outer teeth. Found it funny and ugly, so asked my mom to take this pic. Dr Ho was laughing at me cause she never had a patient who wana take such ugly pic of themselves before. ^_^

As I was saying, I had to take 4 x-rays, of which 2 are the inner teeth, one is of my jaw (the cool machine rotates around my head!!), and the last one I can't really remember, but the machine was also rotating around my jaw area.



Anyway last Thursday, I went back to Ubi Dental and Dr Ho told me she had bad news for me. She found 3 extra teeth. Good news is that I do not need to remove the extra wisdom tooth at the top right. As for the other 2 at the bottom right, if I don't remove, I can't have my braces done. If I remove, it'll hurt as much as a wisdom tooth extraction (which was hell for me during the last time I removed my last wisdom tooth).



Just to make the picture clearer.

Anyway I called NDC on Monday (they are opened from Mon-Fri only..after I made a futile trip down last Sat morning) to book an appointment. I thought I would have to wait a couple of weeks for the consultation, but no. The nurse actually asked me if I wanted to go down on Monday afternoon itself. I told her I'll take Friday. So I went with my mom just now. My appointment was at 8am. Dad drove us there and I had to be there 15min earlier. PIANGZ!! I ISH TIRED LOR!!

Anyway the doctor who was attending to me is a young doctor (late 20s? Mid 20s? who cares) and has a dimple! He's not those macho macho type, but he's those kind of funny, charming and has eyes that speak. Opps! LoL. I had to avoid looking into his eyes too much. Anyway, he wanted to see if my teeth are near the lips or near the tongue, so he had me go take another x-ray. I went, I took and I returned..all in 30min. Dr Yong (the dentist at NDC) told me from the x-ray, one is lying down near the tongue and one is infront. Meaning, he has to cut TWO slits. One behind the teeth and one infront, to remove these 2 teeth. *Faints* Upon hearing this, I asked if I could have GA. He says he would recommend me to do GA as well, due to the complications. And then he said something that made me shiver..I had to do a blood test for anemia. BLOOD TEST!! I've a phobia of needles!!!!! ARGH!!

Oh yah, Dr Yong told me my operation would be next Wed. O..K...that's fast. And he would give me 8 days MC (for what?), cause I'll be under GA. And he says if something happens to me (*touch wood*), he told me to go SGH's A&E, give them my dental appointment card and tell them," I'm a patient at NDC. Don't waste my time by taking my blood pressure or whatever. Just get me a doctor NOW!" *Exact words from the dentist* And then..he told me what to expect...bla bla bla, and told me he'll see me next Wed. I went outside with mom and waited to pay. The consultation + x-ray + misc cost me $91+. And then we went in to get the operation form..that really shocked me.

Total cost of my operation (and only operation + GA, not inclusive of med) is $2500. No wonder Dr Yong told me to remove the "wisdom tooth" as well. Cause 2 teeth is this price, 3 teeth also this price. LoL. Well, I'm having all 3 removed next Wed. And this brave girl went to took her blood test just now, which is just opposite the NDC, at HPB. And guess what? This girl made the nurse very nervous by crying infront of her. She also made the nurse nervous by clenching her fist tightly and continuing to shed tears even during the procedure. And by telling the nurse that she's hyperventilating BEFORE the procedure didn't help at all. When the nurse withdrew the needle, it hurts. I was still in a shock until I reached the MRT. I'm THAT scared of needles. Mom said because of my crying, the nurse slowly withdraw my blood, prolonging my pain. No wonder it took so long. *Shudders* Heng that's over with..now waiting for my op liaoz.

ME IS GOING TO EAT EVERYTHING I WANT THESE FEW DAYS! AND 3 DAYS BEFORE THE OP ME HAV TO STOP SMOKING AND START EATING LIGHT STUFF! Apparently sick people cannot have operations, which includes mild cough, flu or whatever. Hurry hurry do, then 2 years later me have nice nice teeth!! *Pray that the op won't be too painful*


PS: Madeline (Thomas's ex-classmate) says I'm very brave to go through all these just because of teeth. I told her I'm not brave, just crazy enough to do it. LoL. Looking at my needle hole on my arm, me thinks me is really damn crazy. Siao one. Me gotta prepare liao, going to teach tuition at 2:30pm later.... =]