Visiting a Dentist

3 months ago, I had a swell in my gums at the front of my lower jaw. It was so painful and uncomfortable that I decided to visit someone that I dread seeing - a dentist. For many years, since the removal of my braces in 2008, I had always avoided the dentist whenever I could because each time I stepped into the dentist's office, it would mean pain. Even though I'm someone who is very tolerant of such sensation, I couldn't stand the piercing pain when a scaler tip touched my gums. And every time, there would be blood.

However, this time, the swell was my turning point. Initially, I thought it was just a minor infection and some medication and sorts would be all. Reality struck me when the dentist revealed my oral condition - general and localised gingivitis (gum infection: general refers to the entire mouth while localised is the prominent swell at the front), receding gums, decay and sensitive teeth. As such, it's the first time I was given antibiotics, asked to go through curettage and did a filling. Curettage is a deep gum pocket cleaning after injecting anaesthesia.  All these might seem alright, nothing serious, but what scared me the most was the effects of receding gums.

Apparently, our gums are not just pieces of flesh filling up the gaps between our teeth; there is bone in the gums which helps to keep our teeth erected and firm. When we don't have good oral hygiene, bacteria are trapped in the gum pockets and slowly degrade the bones. These bones can't be restored. So eventually, the gums will be "eaten away" and the teeth will start to lose their foothold and drop off. This usually happens to people with considerable years of living. Yet, it's happening to me!

So, my oral routine started to change. Now, I brush twice a day followed by a mouth rinse and each brush takes about 3 minutes. Just after a week or so, I could see the great improvement in my gum condition. There was no more bleeding and my gums look healthier with a tinge of pink (instead of red/brown).

I'm not sure if it's coincidental or fate that I found a job at a dental clinic not long after the incident. Having worked there for 3 months, I've seen many oral conditions. Some good but mostly bad, and there were a few really gross ones. They serve as a constant reminder for me to take good care of my teeth and gums. I also became more conscious like always keeping a lookout for trapped food and black spots.

I also came to know that I'm not the only one who's frightened by the thought of seeing a dentist and the reason is always pain. In fact, these are usually the ones who have poor oral hygiene. It's a vicious cycle, really. It's difficult to maintain good oral condition without regular updates on it from a professional. So when people don't do their regular check ups because of fear, their oral conditions deteriorate and it is these poor oral conditions that cause the pain.

Fear of pain -> avoid dentists -> oral problems -> real pain -> continue avoiding dentists

Therefore, my inspiration for this post is to help those who fear dentists and warn those who always think that they have no time, or there is no need, for dental check ups. Don't wait till your gums show signs of swelling and pain before you start taking action; by then, it will be too late. When you feel something, it means it's really bad. Teeth are not just cosmetically appealing, you need them for eating, so don't ignore them!

Below are 3 simple tips to care for your teeth and gums:

1. Practice good oral care
Floss, brush and rinse. Take note of the sequence! When you floss, wrap your tooth with the string and "scoop" out the dirt. Don't scrub your teeth with it; it will just spread the bacteria all over. Morning floss is optional. Brush at least twice a day. Use a soft brush and don't brush too hard, or else your gums will get hurt. Position your toothbrush on your gumline (where the gums and teeth meet) and go in circular motion. Brush for about 2-3 minutes, focusing more on areas that bleed easily or prone to infection/food trapping. Rinsing after you brush helps to clear up remaining bacteria that can't be reach by your toothbrush but rinsing alone does not do the trick! Stubborn dirt are not easily removed by rinsing; you need to dislodge them from your teeth physically by flossing and brushing. Choose the mouth wash that suits you best. Personally, I am not fond of the spicy/tingling feeling of Listerine, so I use Colgate's Fruity mouth wash. I don't think there is any significant difference between mouth washes, so just go with the one you prefer most.

2. Go for regular dental check ups
At least twice a year for scaling and polishing. The dentists can also help to check for decays that are not easily visible from your point of view. At the same time, they can provide you with feedback and help you improve on your brushing etc. I know that prices can be a turn off sometimes but it's just twice a year. Just do a simple scaling and polishing, and maybe a filling or two. If you don't take preventive measures, it will cost you even more when something like root canal/denture is needed.

3. Overcome your fear and relax
If you have been brushing well and going for regular check ups, there's nothing to fear about visiting the dentist. Just get over the first one or two visits and the subsequent ones are no challenge to you. Go in, have a chat with the dentist, rinse your mouth (basic courtesy), lie down and open your mouth, breathe deeply through your nose (it calms you down and prevents fogging on the dentist's mirror). Most dentists, or at least the ones whom I work with, are very friendly and understanding. If you feel really uncomfortable, you can always raise your hand to signal to the dentist or ask for an injection. That's if it's REALLY unbearable, be reasonable.

I'm not publicising for any clinic or for the profession. It's just a heartfelt advice after the horrifying incident of gingivitis. Cheers to healthy teeth and gums, everyone!

Lots Of Love (LOL),
Jensylee

My boyfriend's birthday!

Hi guys!

12 October is a good day for me because it's the day my beloved boyfriend was born 23 years ago. This year's theme was set to be "The First" and here I am, typing the First post about his birthday. :D Because of work, we had to celebrate a day early and this day of surprises was planned in the midst of my mid terms. Despite that, I only hit one solid wall of not being able to get his present (still unknown to him) on time. He was also rather skeptical and afraid of what was planned for him but he did well in cooperating. So here goes our day of adventure...

B1, Fountain of Wealth, Suntec City Mall
It's the first shop on the left of the entrance of Tower 5 (MRT)

He was first led to Suntec City Mall, clueless about where we were going to have our lunch - L'Entrecode! I chose this place because it's known for its steak and we both love steak! The atmosphere was very serene and romantic (because of the dim lights). We settled on a French onion soup with cheese bread, and 2 classic Steak and Fries - medium and medium rare. There was actually a daily lunch special (light Steak and Fries with a soup, drink and dessert for $19.90) but we missed it at the entrance :( Oh wells...

The soup was quite nice but it gets too salty when nearing the bottom. Cheese bread was soaked in the soup and I recommend that you eat the bread before it gets too soggy. Although the soup taste was very strong, it didn't mask the greatness of cheese, which threw me into the clouds when I took the first bite. But as I said, it started to get too salty and I got rather queasy after a while. Luckily, we shared that bowl of soup. If only, there were mushroom soup.

French Onion Soup - $9

Coming to the steak, the portion of a classic looked small initially but we both ended up struggling to clean the plates. The steak was really good and totally worth the price. If you are a big eater, you could try large ($39.90). It was sliced up, so it's very convenient. You don't have to spend your energy on cutting up the steak; you just need to simply indulge in the awesomeness of the meat. What's most special about the dish was the sauce! We couldn't get enough of it, especially when the fries was not spiced.

Steak and Fries (classic) - $29.90

After the filling meal, we went to the Alive Museum on level 3 of the mall. We took about 1 hour to finish the entire museum but we didn't stop at every photo-taking point. So, set aside at least 1.5 hours if you intend to go with photo-philic people. Haha. There were some really interesting and funny scenes while quite a number of the others orbit around superheros like Hulk, Superman, Batman...

 

The third surprise was something that he has always wanted to go - a real-life escape room. There are many of them in Singapore, given the popularity of this game. I came across Xcape (Bugis), FreeSG and Exit Plan (New Bridge Road, Chinatown) when I did my research. Due to budget constraint, we went Exit Plan.

I have tried Xcape before and personally, I think that:
1. Xcape is more suitable for many players because
2. The rooms are bigger and a game can involve more than one room,
3. The clues in the rooms are more messed up, and

4. There are many codes to break in such a short time.

On the other hand, Exit Plan was a right choice for us because:

1. There's only one small room to play in,

2. The progression is sequenced, and

3. We were given unlimited helplines (Xcape only had 2).

Despite all these differences, both are equally challenging and fun. Although we sought help a lot of times and we didn't pass the last obstacle, it was a very good bonding session. I would recommend couples to go and work your brains together once in a while. We also came across 2 other escape rooms that day - Lockdown (Suntec, beside Alive Museum) and The Phantom Joker Escape (Neil Road, near Pinnacle@Duxton).

The next and last stop was the Pinnacle @ Duxton. My plan for that was to bring him up to the level 50 sky bridge to watch the sunset and blow the candles on his surprise birthday cake. So, I sought help from my cousin who lives there for the access cards to the sky bridge (visitors have to pay $5, goodness gracious!) and got her to buy a cake. The sad things were, her aunt gave the cake away when we went up to collect the cards and the haze was so bad that the sun was nowhere to be seen. In the end, we only took some pictures, enjoyed the scenery and ate a bit of the cake. Well, that wasn't too bad anyway.

It was then followed by an impromptu dinner with his family and had ice cream at Daily Scoop, Clementi. And I would like to take this chance to wish him once again, Happy 23rd Birthday! :*

Lots Of Love (LOL),

Jensylee

Module Review 2

Hey guys!

I'm here with more reviews for NUS modules.

6. GEK2204 Reading Visual Images
Semester: 1
Type: Arts GEM
Difficulty level: 4/5
Interesting factor: 2/5
Workload: 1 x 2h lecture, 1 x 2h tutorial (alternate week)

Description: It's an architecture module but there is nothing related to that. It's one of those modules in which you would catch no ball and scold yourself for taking it. The lectures were all pictures of the topics to be covered - Buddha, Hindu god, Muslim calligraphy and art pieces during the French Renaissance. I felt that this module is very subjective and the descriptions given by the lecturer were more of his own opinions. So, I really didn't know how to express myself in this module, especially in the quizzes. However, it did met one of my objectives of taking this module - the French Renaissance topic covered a lot of artistic styles such as cubism. As for tutorial, it was quite chill; the first few were mini lectures while the following tutorials are presentations by students.

Assessment: There were two quizzes of 4 short questions each, whereby you need to name the titles, artists and years published of the 4 pictures shown and describe them, an individual project of a specific art genre and an essay of a given topic. No final exam. Other assessment components will include class participation etc.

Grade: B-/S (I was expecting a C actually)

7. SSA1201 Singapore Society
Semester: 1
Type: SS
Difficulty level: 4/5
Interesting factor: 2/5
Workload: 1 x 2h lecture, 1 x 2h tutorial (alternate week)

Description: As the name suggests, it's everything about Singapore - history, gender, religions, pop culture, art, class... This module is not like those secondary history or social studies lessons; these topics are being looked at with a sociologist's perspective. You will learn to be more critical about issues of Singapore. There was one reading each week, which was rather insightful; you are expected to read it before and discuss them during tutorials. For students who are not familiar with sociology, this module may not be easy to understand at first albeit there's only one concept - sociological imagination. Also, since it's a sociology module, essays are inevitable. Although I'm not fond of essays, I don't regret taking this module because it really broadened my knowledge and made me see Singapore in a different way.

Assessment: There's an essay mid term test, a group project of a given topic and a final exam of essays. Other assessment components will include class participation.

Grade: B-/S

8. ACC1002X Financial Accounting
Semester: 2
Type: Breadth, UE
Difficulty level: 3/5
Interesting factor: 2/5
Workload: 1 x 2h lecture, 1 x 1h tutorial

Description: I think this module is something similar to Principles of Accounting. Basically, you need to know the accounting terms such as debit, credit, asset, liabilities and equity. There are also different financial statements and account names that you will learn throughout the semester. It's somewhat similar to mathematics where the answers are rather structured, in the sense that they all circle around these few concepts. However, the calculations involved are very simple addition and subtractions. The tutorials are very useful in bridging the gaps that formed during lectures.

Assessment: Continuous assessment includes tutorial participation (tutorial question presentation), online assignments, a mid term test of MCQs and final exam of MCQs and short answer questions.

Grade: B+ (expected an A but I guess the bell curve is rather steep since it's a -X module; it's supposed to be easy)

9. MKT1003X Principles of Marketing
Semester: 2
Type: Breadth, UE
Difficulty level: 3/5
Interesting factor: 3/5
Workload: 1 x 2h lecture, 1 x 2h tutorial

Description: This modules was based on the Asian context when I took it and I liked it; some other semesters were focused on the global context. This module is very interesting and I totally recommend non-business students to take it. Marketing reminded me of sales and so, I thought it was boring and all but it's not! Marketing is about how a company or an entity  portray itself to potential customers to gain their interest. So, instead of being very sales-y, it's more of creativity. The lecturer used a lot of actual advertisements and marketing strategies to enlighten our narrow minds and the lecture was full of laughter and fun. The questions gone through in tutorials and the group project allowed us to apply the concepts and analysis that we learnt. It's very enjoyable despite the rather heavy workload.

Assessment: A group project on a real life case study, an individual essay assignment, and a final exam of MCQs. Other components will include class participation, subject pool participation etc.

Grade: A

Don't see that I obtained quite good grades for my UEs, they merely neutralised the bad grades of my core modules. :/ Anyways, enjoy what you do and naturally, you will do well. And as I mentioned in the description of Singapore Society, some modules can be disgustingly difficult to score but they may be very insightful and useful. Don't focus so much on scoring an A; what's most important is to broaden your horizon and enjoy any sh*t the module has to offer. You will do well.

Lots Of Love (LOL),
Jensylee

Module Review 1

Hey guys!

I'm back (not on a regular basis, I know) and I'll be giving reviews for some NUS modules that I took the past 2 years. (I'm in Year 3 now by the way.) I hope these reviews will help some juniors in deciding whether these modules are worth taking. I wouldn't be talking about my core modules since I can't really choose to take them; I'll be assessing Unrestricted Electives (UE) modules and those under university requirement - breadth, SS, General Elective Modules (GEM). They are not ranked in any way, just listed in chronological order. Disclaimer: I'm a Life Sciences student, so what interests me might not interest you but generally, I'm quite lazy and like to procrastinate, so what's easy to me should be easy for you. HAHAHA!

1. PL1101E Introduction to Psychology
Semester: 1
Type: Breadth, UE
Difficulty level: 3/5
Interesting factor: 3/5
Workload: 1 x 2h lecture, 1 x 2h tutorial (alternate week)

Description: For the first half of the semester, the content is very interesting whereby you will get to learn a little about the anatomy of the brain, ears and eyes. There are also things like bystander effect, illusions and other fun facts. The next half is very clinical - experiments, theories... which bored me. And that explains the interesting factor of 3. Generally, it's a very content heavy module but not much of application. So, just memorise and regurgitate (and I mean it! I remember there were a few questions asking about the names of scientists/psychologists). Tutorials were rather easy to prepare for - just read through the questions given and discussed in class. Don't worry, tutorials are fun. We learnt about illusions and even played games to fool our brains. It was an amazing experience!

Assessment: There's only a mid term test of 100 MCQs, a take-home essay and a final exam comprising of 100 MCQ and 5 short essay questions. Other assessment components will include class participation etc.

Grade: B (I expected an A but I guess the 5 short essays during the final exam pulled me down... Oh well...)

2. PC1325 Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness
Semester: 1
Type: Faculty, UE, Science GEM
Difficulty level: 4/5
Interesting factor: 2/5
Workload: 2 x 2h lecture, 1 x 1h tutorial (alternate week)

Description: This was one of the worst modules I have ever taken. It's a super abstract module, even for a Science student because of the quantum part. Many of the modules in NUS have deceiving names; don't believe them!!! In this module, it's a lot about relativity and quantum theory, which are more difficult-to-understand topics in physics. I managed to survive through with the help of two thin but elaborate books on relativity and quantum; I think they are available online (I still have it, if I'm not wrong). The only fun was at the last whereby the lecturer would talk about worm holes, black holes, the formation of stars and composition of stars. Oh, speaking of the lecturer, he seemed too engrossed and passionate that he sounded mad. #justsaying

Assessment: There's a test made up of MCQs, star gazing nights and a fictitious essay story. No final exam. Other assessment components will include class participation and tutorial homework.

Grade: B (good enough for me!)

3. PR2202 Cosmetics and Perfumes
Semester: 2
Type: UE
Difficulty level: 2/5
Interesting factor: 4/5
Workload: 2 x 2h lecture

Description: This was the best module for me! It's really a CAP puller. Maybe because cosmetics and perfumes are sort of like a girl's thing, they are rather easy to understand. Don't misunderstand, guys can benefit a lot of this module as well. The lecturers cover almost everything from head to toe - hair (hair cycle, balding, shampoo), face, dry/oil/mix skin, moisturizers, differences between cream and serum, unisex perfumes, men's colognes, product labels etc. The lecturers made things very easy by regurgitating key words over and over again so that they just get embedded in your brain without any effort from you. Lectures were also made interesting with jokes, examples and product samples. It's really insightful and useful when you are out buying some facial foams or perfume for yourself or your friends.

Assessment: There's a take home quiz made up of MCQs. which you are expected to search for the answers using the URLs given (so it's super easy to get full marks!), a project (we were made to create a product with the general ingredients and labels, and feature it in a posture) and one final exam (MCQs as well).

Grade: A (no doubt about that!)

4. LAB1201 Bahasa Indonesia 1
Semester: 2
Type: Breadth, UE
Difficulty level: 3/5
Interesting factor: 3/5
Workload: 2 x 2h tutorial (I think)

Description: Language modules are never easy but the tutors for this module are very good. They are very friendly and patient. As all lessons are seminar styled, there will always be sufficient interaction with the tutors which ultimately helps in your learning. The tutors will make sure everyone in the class master the contents for that day, so your load is kind of lessen. And also, it's an Asian language (with English alphabets) and is quite similar to the Malay language, so it's quite easy to pick up.

Assessment: There's a mid term test, a cultural project (taking up roles to run a cultural night; there are mainly logistics and performance groups like dance, sing and percussion; I was under logistics and my job involves interviewing one of the performance groups, doing up a poster about it and taking videos on the actual day), oral and listening tests (simple ones). No final exam. Other components will include class participation etc.

Grade: A

5. FMS1207C Gemstones, Minerals and Rocks
Semester: 2
Type: Faculty, UE
Difficulty level: 1/5
Interesting factor: 4/5
Workload: 1 x 2h tutorial

Description: As a FreshMen Seminar (FMS) module, it's no doubt very simple to pass. I don't think there's anymore of it because of the change in CAP system but I'll still briefly mention it. Basically, we learnt about different and more common gemstones, minerals and a few rocks in terms of composition, how they are formed, where they are commonly found, prices... It's an eye-opening module indeed.

Assessment: There's a field trip which requires a written report after that. There's also a presentation to be done on a selected stone.

Grade: CS

I will stop here for the time being and continue the next time. Just a few words before I go, university is the last lap of your education and is also the only time you can choose your modules, so enjoy it with useful and interesting ones that can help pull your CAP, and CCAs.

Lots Of Love (LOL),
Jensylee