~ It’s possible at the all new Dident Dentist ~
My fellow islanders, I would love to introduce a brand new dental clinic on St. Maarten called Dident Dentist! This is a lovely team of professionals in various aspects of the dental industry and their major goal is to help you get your teeth and gums healthy with as little pain as possible!
When I first heard about this brand new, state-of-the-art clinic, what caught my ears was the whole aim of having a pain-free dental experience no matter what the problem was. First of all, the team is super welcoming and truly cares about your experience; they really want you to have a good one.
New dental techniques used in Holland will be introduced in the coming months.
3D scanner – This makes it possible to have a good fitting zirconium crown within an hour.
Lasers – This instantly kills all the bacteria around the teeth and gum, quite deep in the gum.
Laughing gas – This is used for extreme situations. “We always talk through what the fear is, because often I find ‘try it, come with me’ if there is anything you feel, just raise your right arm, we’ll have a rinse, we’ll have a talk. The same goes with children, we’ll have fun; I’ll make a little face painting as reward, or toys as reward. Or even with the mirror, we count the teeth. I would like them to have a nice association with the dentist, it’s very important.”
General anaesthesia – With a new electric aneastheticum applicator, it’s a painless way to deliver anaesthetics – an anaesthetic that applies not too much pressure upon the gum. Not like a needle that goes in and fills up the liquid, it goes in and slowly disperses the anaesthetic in the mouth. It’s very gentle, and we also have gel that we can use before we put the needle in. We don’t have to go through the fear of one prick by a long needle; we can have a much more soft approach by soft penetrating local anaesthetic going into the soft tissue in your mouth.
Dental Hygienist Lien De Graaf
Lien De Graaf was born in the Netherlands. The married mother of three became a qualified dental hygienist, receiving her diploma at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She also studied dental hygiene at Guy’s Hospital, London. She has more than 25 years of work experience overseas in private clinics, hospital medical services, laser and orthodontic clinics. She has done volunteer dental work overseas in Nepal and has volunteered dental health education programs at various local schools and involved with fundraisings and charities. Her hobbies include sailing, scuba diving, trekking, oil-painting and travelling. Her motto is “Never give up, life is short, give it a try.”
Why you really need to see a dentist
-Plaque is not entirely removed from the surface of the teeth regardless of how rigorous (although not recommended) the teeth are brushed every day.
-While not treated, the bacterial growth progresses downward between the teeth and gum. This is called a pocket. Once this process is ongoing, the gum starts to get inflamed so the bond between gum and teeth gets destroyed. Now it’s “boogy woogy” time for the germs. One of the first warning signs of gum disease is bleeding by brushing teeth, although this won’t happen when somebody smokes, but there is still a disease. Eighty percent of the human population have this problem, but it can be stopped by good treatment.
-Bacteria will penetrate deeply along the teeth’s surfaces while destroying soft tissues responsible for holding the teeth in their position.
-The end of this process is a long period of a foul odour (and possibly taste in the mornings especially) and then finally losing your teeth.
I was so impressed with visiting this beautiful clinic, meeting the wonderful team, interviewing the very delightful Lien, and getting comfortable, that I decided to make an appointment for my very own first visit to their clinic. I now have faith in having a really good dental experience. You should go and visit too!
Dental hygiene treatments are focused on the following issues:
1. Prevention: Dident provides you with health education. Expect to see them soon contributing to the community and visiting the elementary schools on St. Maarten.
2. Treatments for children
3. Regular cleaning
4. Deep laser cleaning: This is for those severe cases of the growth of bacterial pockets alongside the teeth (where bad smell and sometimes loose teeth are the case); the laser treatment is really effective as it sterilizes the space between the teeth and gums. This is not painful at all or intrusive because the impulses are too short to be recognized by the nerves. Lasers are very precise and make the difference between ad broom and a pencil.
5. Maintenance of existing structures in the mouth
6. Making anxious patients feel comfortable; 65% of patients are afraid of the dentist. This is where laughing gas (nitrox gas) comes into play; in most situations, it takes away fear.
7. Teeth whitening: At Dident this is precisely applied gel on the surface of the tooth avoiding the gum line, then it is blasted with laser-light to safely intensify the whitening process.
Dident Dentist is located on One Niger Road, 1(level 3) Cupecoy, Lowlands. Contact 524-5090 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Visit www.dident.sx. The building is situated at the opposite of Porto Cupecoy at the roundabout.
