First dentist in singapore to lead lined xray room?

Dr Seow Onn Choong

Modern dental clinics are all equipped with xray facilities. Some dentists attached the xray on the wall of their treatment so that the patient is still seated on the dental chair when the xray is taken. Majority of dentists build a special room to house the machines and in such cases may be more than one type.
This posed a a dilemma for me back in the 1981.
When I started my first clinic in Plaza Singapura then , my lease was only for nine months. Plaza Singapura in the 70's and 80's was a very popular shopping center with Yaohan supermarket as its start attraction. It had a mediacl centre on level 5. This medical centre was very popularwith the Indonesians who at that time came in big numbers. For some reason the owners of the of that building felt that a medical floor did not suit the image of the shopping centre and thus  they were going to convert two floors to office building. Thus all the famous doctors and dentists were asked to leave.
I have found a unit on level 5 situated on level 5 located at he passage from the carpark to the shopping i.e a busy thoroughfare. I was hoping that after the short lease I would be allowed to have a clinic in the building  at another location. This actually came true.

As I planned for the renovation works I realised I had only two choice for an xray room. The most common choice was to build a room with concrete wall of sufficient thickness so as to block off the penetrating xrays. This was not a good option as I needed a stuctural engineer's approval to check and approve the plans  to see if the floor can take the the load of the concrete.
The next option was to import a special xray  box from Japan. This box has special lead line walls and also a lead lined glass window. The only problem was it will cost me $8000 and 3 months for it to be shipped to Singapore. $8000 was a lot of money at that time and also I did not have 3 months to spare.
Well it was good that I had studied Physics in school. I know lead can absorb xrays and thus can prevent the rays from passing through the wall. Now I had plan to fabricate all the partitions of the clinic with gypsum board. Gypsum board partitions were very cheap then, and all the partiitions in the clinic can be done in 2 days. Futhermore when it comes to removal one can do it equally fast. The only problem was where to get the lead sheet.
The first thing that came into my mind was the lead sinkers you use for fishing. So without hesitaion I trooped down to the fishing tackle shopped to buy lead sinkers hoping to hammer them flat. The owner was taken aback when I asked to buy 200 sinkers. He could not control his laughter when I explained to him why I needed so many sinkers. You see to make sinkers he bought lead sheets which he melted down and poured into moulds into the shape of sinkers. Well as s dentist how would I know that.
The kind owner pointed out ot me that that hardware stores In King Georges Avenue were the wholesale merchants for lead and I found out later they sold all types of metal. The shop assistant was amazed that  a finely dressed gentlement like me would come to his shop. He informed me they only sell lead sheet in rolls, they came in certain thickness and  volume. Well it did not really matter to me as lead was a very cheap metal. So I bought 1 large roll. Fortunately at that time aI owned a coupe stationwagon nad I promptly carted it back to Plaza Singapura.
The renovation contractor was amazed when he saw the roll of lead. I had to show him how to cut the sheets and then hang them betwee the hollow gap of the partitions and also between the plywood of the door.
Inspection day for the clinic came .The renovation was done in record time leass than 10 days. It probably was the fastest renovation of a dental clinic ever. All thanks to my good friend and mentor. An engineer by training he enlightenes me on The Critical Path Analysis method . This was something very new to a dentist.
The inspector from the Radiation Department was not impressed when he knocked on the partitions and already he was shaking his head in disapproval. Well since he was here he might as well go through the motions. To his utter amazement he could not detect any xrays leakages. Obviously he wanted to find out how I did it.
Now in Singapore this format of lead lining gypsum board partitions is a standard feature. As the dental suppliers came to visit me they found out about my innovation as they were equally surprised that I had a xray room without concrete wallls. Soon they were recommending this method to other dentists intheir renovations.
I am sure I am the first dentist in Sinagpore to use this method of a xray room. I wonder how many other places in the world that dentist also use this method.
It is good to study all the sciences in school.

My Dental Experience

I graduated from then the University of Singapore dental school in 1978. That makes  it 32 years of practice as a dentist but the oldest patient has been seeing me for 33 years. How can that be?

Well she was my patient when I was a dental student. I made her a cantilever porcelain fused to metal bridge with an anti rotation device. Sounds confusing. Surprisingly it is still in her mouth .Some dentist extracted one of her front tooth.Well in those days  most dentists pride themselves in taking out teeth and made a living on making dentures. Since then shen has never loss a tooth. So thats how far dentistry has progressed.

To tell the truth what we were taught in the dental school then have long been discarded. I have seen tremendous changes in my profession that all of us can go to the next world with all our natural teeth present albeit with a few crowns here and there to make up for the wear and tear. I am sure soon there will be many people who will go through life without having an idea of a filling in their mouth.

There are many things readers of this blog cannot believe.
The most common dental problem is a toothache. I am sure it is the bane of many people especially where dental care is poor.
First I can say all the children who came to me without dental decay and  followed me to adult life has never experience a toothache. Majority will have no fillings in their life.
You can come into my clinic with the most severe toothache and within half an hour leave without pain. You can have a wisdom tooth surgically removed , go a play a game of soccer and celebrate your  party at night.. My daughter did just that .You can have your front tooth broken and be repaired in half an hour. The best is even if you to take it out we can glue back the tooth so that you can leave  the clinic as if you have not taken out the tooth.

Isn't it a wonderful world.

Dental Charity



 Many of my patients would tell their children that they should be a dentist when they grow up as dentists makes a  lot of money. I am sure some dentists make a lot of money especially those who look after the teeth of movie stars, bankers or have many  tycoons as their client. Little do they realise that the dentist is just a daily rated worker and in fact paid on piecemeal work.
Well we have our perks and one of the most important our ability to help fellow human beings improve their dental health , their looks and thus  their social well being.
I am a sucker for volunteering for jobs that others do not want. When my good friend Lewis Lee the then SDA president asked me to take charge of Singapore Dental Health Foundation, it was then in the process of being wound up because the existing committee no longer had the energy to run it.
It looked fairly straight forward since I  have just retired .
Now I know why  the previous committee is tired . Even though we are supported by the Singapore Dental Association they have not been able to recruit more members to help out. Thus the same few people have been running around doing all the work.
As far as I am corncern I have been benefiting from the job so far.
First I use my position to pressure my friend Dr Myra Elliot to allow me to participate in her annual charity trip to Dsskit,  a small town in the  Ladakh region which is in the Himalaya mountain range of North West India. This is probably my most memorable journey I have undertaken.