Dental wise

Dr. Mahfujul Haq Khan BDS, DDS ( Dhaka), PhD (Japan) Oral & Dental Surgeon BIRDEM Hospital

Q. I am 29 years old. For the last three months I am suffering from occasional gum bleeding. This occur specially during brushing and taking any hard food. After that I am reluctant to brush as it cause gum bleeding. Now a days I am finding swollen and little painful gum on my front teeth. What to do?

A. It seems you are suffering from simple gingivitis. Don't worry, just go for dental scaling (professional cleaning) immediately. Before visiting your dentist; you can do gum massage by your finger and warm saline mouth rinses. One should never stop tooth brushing even it cause mild gum bleeding.

Q. My son, 17 years old a diabetic patient (Insulin dependant). He has several loose teeth which cause occasional pain. Doctor told him for dental extraction five months back but we are really don't want this early dental extraction at this young age. Now a days he find the surrounding teeth becoming loose. Please give us some advises how we can preserve this valuable teeth.

A. Many factors contributed to the loss of teeth in
someone who has diabetes. A poor healing response combined with gum disease and destruction of bone anchoring the teeth in place may result in teeth that become loose and eventually fall out. Although diabetics have no control over their response to infection, they can practice good oral hygiene habits (brushing, flossing and interdental brush). Removing plaque will reduce or eliminate infection. Ensuring the diabetes is controlled (taking insulin, altering diet) is also a way of decreasing the risk of tooth loss. For this particular case, it seems very difficult to preserve your loose teeth but still if you have some bony support then it may possible to preserve by some special treatment (root planing, bone graft etc). But still diabetes is factor and I strongly recommend you to take your valuable treatment from BIRDEM hospital.

Q. Why should wisdom teeth be removed if they have not cause any trouble? Actually I went to my Dentist for regular scaling and he found a partially erupted wisdom tooth on right side of lower jaw and did a X-ray. After careful examination of that X-ray,my Dentist advised me for Dental extraction as it may cause trouble in future. I am in real dilemma, Please help me what to do!

A. Without seeing your X-Ray and oral cavity it certainly difficult for me to give proper advice. But Impacted (Unerupted) wisdom teeth are almost certain to cause problems if left in improper positions. This is particularly true of the lower wisdom teeth. Such problems may occur suddenly and often at the most inconvenient times. I strongly believe that your dentist gave you a right decision. It is now recommended by some group of specialists that impacted wisdom teeth be removed between the ages of 14 and 22 years whether they are causing problems or not!! I think I could able to delete your dilemma.

Q.I am 38 years old. I don't have any bad oral habit (smoking, chewing pan etc). But, now days I observed that my teeth are developing yellowish discoloration with black staining. Why and can I do anything to make it whiter?

A. As you mentioned that you don't have any bad oral habit which are responsible for teeth staining, so actual cause for your case is really hard to say without examining your teeth. Regarding your black staining one possibility is drinking water from tube-well.

I would like to elaborate the reason behind tooth discoloration.

Internal Stain: This means the stain occurs from within the tooth. This type of stain cannot be removed by brushing and flossing. Some causes of internal staining are injury to the tooth, certain medications (such as tetracycline) taken during tooth formation.

External stain: This is staining of the tooth surface. Some sources of external stains are cigarettes, cigar, pan, coffee, tea or foods that contain a lot of spices.
Yes, we can make it whiter according to cause. External staining can sometimes be removed by good tooth brushing habits or by your dentist.

By scaling and polishing it is possible to make your teeth brighter. Scaling is recommended once in a year after 16 years old.

For further information visit www.aikodental.com

Road Special

Baily Road

Streets can be quiet, lonely or just too happening like Baily Road, which has aptly been nicknamed the road of joy. This road seems like a wonder to me. For being a 'Viqqi' that was my road for twelve good years. Friends, food, books, all were a part of the road. I remember going to Baily road was more than fun to me. In the early years it was a good source for all the junk food mother used to say no to.

The Natok Para is a place where we see the cross section of people having fun regardless of their identity. The Saree market, food stores piling up the road are just too much to deal with. No wonder why the young boys gather up in that one single road from morning till night. That is a nice meeting place for all age groups. Dhaka doesn't have many places where two persons can sit and have a little chat. Though the place is not quiet enough to have a regular tete-a-tete, as it is way too loud and colourful, it's still a great place to congregate.
As I walk down the footpath of Baily road I see the phuchka ala with the dirty, yet mouth-watering food we all crave for. At times, when there are good shows happening at the Mohila Samiti or Guide House you won't be able to walk down the footpath as the people sit there for hours.

Flowers are also a big part of the road. As a simple flower vase decorates a corner of our house the flower shops have decorates various corners of the road with beautiful roses, gladioli, orchids, flower baskets etc. Malancha, Aparajeeta, and Mohua are the famous flower shops that have been there for years.

The chains of fast food stores like the ancient Swiss, Capital, Bamboo Castle, Palki, Dahlia, Golpea, Euro Hut, Golden Food and new addition Dominous serve the food purpose quite brilliantly like no other road can ever do.

Theatre has a great impact on that road. The great actors and theatre personalities gather up during the late afternoon to catch up with one another for a hot conversation on the latest drama that has been already staged. The discussions the meetings make the road star studded like the beautiful sky up there. A weird sort of wistfulness descends upon me while doing this review. I always write about where I go or what road is good for my lonely summer days but this road has many more stories of many blissful single hearts. Practically it is impossible to distinguish each of the feelings felt by every single heart. The road has rhythm, music, life and stories. Food, flowers, drama, books and cyber cafés. What else can one ask for in one single place?

By Bohemian soul

 

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

Eid and I with it

"Never Again" I proclaimed, as our car got bumped by an impatient Saturday night party go-er's SUV in the busy Manhattan street.

Every year the same negative phrase, and every year as Ramadan comes around I get itchy and scratchy, wanting to taste the fried goodies and be in the badly ventilated clothing shops, hovering shoulder to shoulder with other sari loving women in the Bengali part of Queens, NY. Without experiencing these things I feel my Eid here in the States is an effort not festive enough.
It's not that the rest of Bengalis in the USA are not celebrating; we too have our Eid Jamats, new saris in the few Indian clothing stores, invitations to different family and friends gatherings in honor of Eid. But it's just not enough hubbub for the spoilt ones like me who have grown up seeing Eid being the biggest celebration of all times. So our spoilt eyes long for the sari store clerk's showing women saris trying it on in their own manly bodies, the hot fried food selling in the street corners, the men going for tarabi together in a clan, the smell of raw mehendi cones roaming the air. And to satisfy the spoilt eyes nowhere better to catch these glimpses than Jackson Heights, New York.

You might be surprised or maybe not to know many here are quite strict and self-disciplined about keeping their fasts and celebrating Eid, in as merry way as possible. It is very tough I must admit. Walking into an everyday office with steaming breakfasts in to-go bags all around, and lunch meeting and thousands of delicious food all around being eaten with full enjoyment by every Tom, Joe and Harry, it's hard to not think of food, to not drink having hundreds of different flavored drinks for value less than a dollar. Here nothing and no one encourages keeping our fasts but our own selves.

So to get into my Ramadan mode, to make my fasting days more significant the NY trip was an essential. Entering certain areas of Queens, NY, you will find different mosque's in almost every different block. You will find street venders with dates and lemon juice. You will find the restaurants packed out the door, everyone waiting to break their fasts. Some restaurants even offer home delivery for Iftars; the mosques offer free Iftar regularly to all who joins them for prayers. In the states wherever resides a diverse Muslim community, they join together in different mosques bringing dishes ranging from Egyptian to Indonesian.

There are many who after moving here didn't go through the extra excitement over Eid, but after settling down and having kids, for their children they have started again to celebrate and re-establish their connection with culture and religion. Having Iftar parties and an Eid-reunion is a common way of celebrating among Bengalis living the States.

I realize now being away from home we are not as scattered and negatively nonchalant about our background as we perceive ourselves to be. No matter how we live our lives through out the year, when culture and religion call we do come together, in some unknown bond, let it be for nostalgia or reassurance.

So I wonder, I who mock and laugh about the Desis in
America remaining more Desi than Bangladeshi, why do I rush to the Desi Central hot spots of New York for snagging saris, I who preach health mantras why do I break a whole day's fast with deep fried delicacies. When did my instincts start craving for such expeditions I pondered, was it the day my American colleagues asked me thousand questions about Islam and it's followings and I answered them proudly enjoying the awed looks on their faces, isn't that when I too took in my teachings from childhood and learnt them for the first time and understood what memorized, millions of times recited holly words really meant.

I will not say I am a very religious person, I don't preach about religion or like to be preached at. But one thing for sure, sometimes it's not so bad to be among others who makes a ruckus about all this, holding on to a common tie, because those are the times we here realize where our priorities reside, and what puts a smile on our faces, and in this case stuffing my mouth with Eid favorites and pronouncing the phrase "Eid Mubarak."

By Iffat Newaz