Personal Narrative: My Experience At Edison Dental

This past summer I was able to intern at Edison Dental 27, which is located on Route 27. For the past 5 years my siblings and I have been coming to this clinic. This was where we got our braces and got our cavities filled. Out of the many dentists in Edison Dental, I was able to observe Dr. Yau-Ting Lam, a Pediatric Dentist. I know Dr. Lam personally because he filled all of my cavities from when I was young. Dr. Lam treats me as family and each time I go to him either for a checkup or getting my teeth cleaned he gives me useful advice and life lessons. When I asked him about the internship last June he told me that I shouldn’t try to look anywhere else for an internship because he would be proud to let me work in the clinic. In the clinic …show more content…
Lam filled many of my cavities, and I felt better when I observed Dr. Lam fill a cavity on another patient. A person can get a cavity when foods like bread, cereal, milk, soda, fruit, cake, or candy stay on your teeth. First Dr. Lam would numb the area using anesthetics. Then after 5-10 minutes Dr. Lam uses a special dental drill, an air abrasion instrument to remove decayed tissue. The instruments that he uses depend on where the cavity is and how severe it is. The air abrasion instrument is a new technique in the field and involves using a device to spray a tiny stream of aluminum oxide particles on the area where the cavity has to be filled. The particles hit the tooth and blast away the desired amount of tissue without any heat or vibration. However, if you have a very deep cavity then Dr. Lam would use the dental drill. Once the decayed material is removed, Dr. Lam will clean out any debris and place the filling in the cavity. There are 4 types of fillings that Dr. Lam would use and each as a special purpose. Gold fillings are stronger that could last about 15 years, however this costs more than the rest of the fillings. Silver-colored amalgam fillings are a mixture of metals like silver and copper; this type is strong, durable, and inexpensive, but the silver could be seen in the mouth. Composite fillings are made of mixtures of glass composite can match the color of your teeth, but they are not as durable as metal and may need to be replaced more frequently. Ceramic fillings are often made of porcelain and when they are filled in a tooth it looks very natural. After getting the tooth filled Dr. Lam polishes the tooth and the procedure is complete in roughly about 1