Unlock the secrets to a healthier life from the inside out; our conversation with Dr. Awua will change the way you view the simple act of brushing your teeth. Discover why pausing before you brush post-meal can protect your pearly whites from acid erosion and preserve your smile for years to come. Tackling the sometimes-awkward subject of bad breath, we offer tactful strategies to address this common issue and maintain not only your oral health but also your social well-being.
Brush twice, floss regularly, and don't forget to check in with your dentist—sounds simple enough, right? This episode goes deeper, revealing how these fundamental habits can be a game-changer for your overall health, especially if you have chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Dr. Awua and I dissect the tools of the trade, from soft-bristled toothbrushes to mouthguards, and underline the critical role of preventive measures in warding off oral cancer. Hear about the stealthy dangers lurking behind a hard-bristled brush and learn how the right approach can safeguard your gums and enamel.
Ever wondered about the best path to a dazzling smile? We weigh the pros and cons of teeth whitening treatments and orthodontic options, such as the ever-popular Invisalign. This isn't just about vanity—aligning your teeth correctly can have significant health benefits. Wrapping up, we reflect on the mantra "never stop learning," a cornerstone of personal growth that resonates beyond dental care, encouraging you to continuously seek improvement in all aspects of your life. Tune in for this enlightening episode and join the journey toward a brighter, healthier you—both inside and out.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We could have people who die as a result of 2DK.
When you're done eating,there's something that happens
in your mouth.
We call it an acidic challengeand it's not advised that you
brush immediately after eating.
You wait for at least 30minutes.
Sore throats can cause badbreath.
People with lung cancer couldhave bad breath.
People with gastric ulcer.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Number one business and self-development podcast.
Connected Minds podcast.
Dr Uwa, I have a question, andmy first question is you know,
there are some people who liketo eat first before brushing
their teeth, and then there arepeople who brush their teeth
(00:44):
first in the morning before theyeat.
What's the best way?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
great question.
So when you're done eating andthere's something that happens
in your mouth, it's called wecall it an acidic challenge,
where your, your mouth becomesreally, really acidic and it's
not advised that you brushimmediately after eating.
So both work, but I advise thatthose who want to brush after
eating, you wait for at least 30minutes.
By that time, that acidicchallenge or that acidic nature
(01:13):
in your mouth would have calmeddown a bit.
So when you're brushing, you'renot rubbing all the acids all
over your teeth.
So both of them are goodschools of thoughts.
But if you're going to brushafter you finish eating, wait
for at least 30 minutes beforeyou do that.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Why 30 minutes?
Why not 45 minutes?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So 30 minutes.
Research has shown that after30 minutes there's a graph that
shows the acidity coming down onthe graph.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So we realize that at least 30 minutes you're good to
go, but this acidity is part ofthe normal flora of the mouth,
right?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
It's part of the normal flora.
But also our diet has changed.
The Western diet has a lot ofprocessed sugar, so the germs
feed more on the sugar andproduce more acids as compared
to you not taking foods that areultra-processed, so the acidity
is quite high.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
We call it a Stefan's cave the acidity goes up and
then it starts to dip down butthen sometimes to say you brush
your teeth right and then youhave your meal and then, let's
say, two hours after that, youcould feel that you could feel
this extra things beneath yourgum.
You know, it's not food leftthere, but it's just whitish
(02:25):
stuff.
What causes that?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
exactly that's what we call a plaque biofilm.
So it's this pellicle layerthat forms, constantly, keeps
forming on your teeth.
So in a way it contains germs.
Some also contain a little bitof some food remnants in your
mouth, so they more or lesscover.
There's a layer that forms onthe teeth and that layer can
only be removed when youactually brush your teeth.
But immediately you're donebrushing your teeth, the layer
(02:49):
starts to form again.
So in a way it's protective.
But if the type of bacteria inthe plaque is a harmful type of
bacteria then for instance thestreptococcus mutans then it
starts to cause all sorts ofadverse effects in the mouth.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Right, because of that.
So there's a lady I've heardthis is a story.
Someone was telling me that sheactually takes her toothbrush
with her.
You know she takes it to work,so anytime she eats she goes to
the bathroom and then brushesher teeth.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
That's actually quite a good habit.
I wouldn't say it's going tocause any bad effects on your
teeth, but if she's brushing herteeth 30 minutes after she eats
, it's going to help her,because you realize that there
are certain foods, like onionsand garlic.
They have their own inherentsmell to it.
No matter the candy or the mintyou take, you still perceive
(03:44):
that.
So what you do is that whenyou're done taking such foods
maybe 30 minutes after you canbrush.
When you're done brushing, youuse a tongue scraper to scrape
the coatings off your tongue,because some of these food
molecules get imbibed into thetongue.
So, irrespective that you brushyour teeth, you still have that
smell in your mouth if youdon't brush the tongue well.
So you're not just brushing theteeth after 30 minutes after
eating, but brushing the tongueand flossing, because the brush
(04:06):
to cannot get in between thetight spaces of the teeth.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Hence you need to floss all those food remnants
out flossing okay, um, now Ihave another burning question,
which is if you have a friend ora family member who has got bad
breath.
One, how do you find a way totell that person?
(04:36):
And then, two, should we betelling them?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
good.
So when it comes to bad breath,I've realized that people have
issues trying to tell theircolleagues, depending on the
relationship they have withtheir loved one.
Some people may take it veryoffensive, especially those who
go and buy toothpaste, brush itor package it and then leave it
on their desk at work.
Or maybe buy a mouthwash andsay, oh, use this mouthwash.
(05:03):
It depends on the rapport thatyou've built with the person.
But usually what I advise myclients is that if you have a
colleague who has bad breath, ormaybe a loved one that has bad
breath, first things first.
You could even tell the personthat you know what I'm going to
see a dentist.
Could you escort me to go seethat, or maybe could you drop me
(05:24):
off here.
You enter the clinic if thereare certain vouchers where maybe
you have these promos whereit's like two for one.
So when you're done seeing thedentist, you tell the person oh,
I just finished, but thevoucher I've purchased allows me
for another person to also seethe dentist.
So it's the job of the dentistfor him to examine the mouth,
see certain things in the mouthand advise the client that, oh,
(05:45):
maybe I've seen some plaque inthe tartar, this plaque in the
tartar can cause gum disease.
It can also cause bad breath.
So we are the professionals whocan see it without it feeling
offensive, but you as anindividual.
(06:07):
It's like the person doesn'tbelieve, or even if the person
believes, it's ingrained intheir heads that constantly,
even if bad breath is going,they'll still have that in their
mind.
That oh this person told me Ihave bad breath.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Oh, it's still there.
Even though we've actuallytreated it, it'll still be
ingrained in your head, so itmay actually affect your
relationship.
Yes, yes it does.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It does and I've had clients where I've treated them
for bad breath but because ofsomething that was said to them
when they were younger beforethe bad breath is not good.
I get all my nurses to smelltheir mouths but I'll tell you
that, doc, it is still there,can't you smell it?
And it's like what you've doneis a cause.
So even before I start I tellthem that get a confidant,
somebody who knows you, who cantell you that, oh, maybe I can't
smell it.
You come to the dental clinic,we do clean for you, it's gone.
(06:35):
You go back, the person smellsand say, oh, it's gone, I don't
feel it.
But if the person stillbelieves that the bad breath is
there, forget it.
Everything you do for theperson, the person would never
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
But do you also recognize that sometimes bad
breath may not necessarily be afault of something wrong in the
mouth?
I agree, I totally agreebecause I I know a gentleman.
He has a big issue with that.
He has an awesome oral health,I I must say.
But there was an issue with theupper cardiac sphincter, so the
(07:08):
smell was actually coming fromthe stomach, right right, right,
right, I agree.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So when it comes to what we call genuine bad breath,
it can be the pathological one.
We can have intraoral andextraoral.
So intraoral is coursespertaining to the mouth and the
extraoral are the causes outsidethe mouth.
So causes outside the mouth youcan have your tonsils, the
structures behind your tooththat gets infected and then
(07:35):
cause sore throats can cause badbreath.
Your sinuses, these air-filledcavities on the sides of your
nose, can cause bad breath.
Nasal blockade if there's atumor or there the sides of your
nose, can cause bad breath.
Nasal blockade If there's atumor or there's something
blocking your nose that couldresult in bad breath.
People with lung cancer couldhave bad breath.
People with gastric ulcer canhave bad breath.
People with this condition wecall gastroesophageal reflux
(07:58):
disease.
Those people are also prone tobad breath.
Sometimes even people withdiabetes.
They have this bad breath thattends to be a bit sweet.
They have that type of badbreath.
So, aside the mouth, there aresome extra oral causes and even
medications.
Certain medications can cause abad breath because when they
are metabolized in the body, thegases that are released can
(08:20):
also especially theantidepressants, can have the
adverse effects, of course, andbad breath so the patient comes
to your um, your practice, andyou realize that, hey, it's got
nothing to do with the mouth.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Then how do you then proceed from there?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
yeah, so, um, we take a thorough history, examine, do
our investigations and we tryto keep all the possible causes
in their mouth.
Once that is done, we give thema referral letter to see their
GP and the GP can do furthertests and if he or she needs to
refer to an ENT specialist, anendocrinologist, they take over
(08:55):
from there.
But we need to take care of the80% of the courses in their
mouth.
Make sure we've attended tomost of the courses.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Then we can go ahead to refer for them to also check
the other courses since you'retalking about percentages, um,
in terms of bad breath, whatpercentage do you think will be
attributed to what is in themouth and then what would be the
rest of the parts of the bodythat's causing it?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
right.
So inside the mouth is 80,outside the mouth is 80%.
Outside the mouth is 20%.
That's the main reason why theyfirst come to the dentist
before you go and see the otherspecialist.
You go and see the otherspecialist, they will say, no,
where's your dentist?
First Let them sort out the 80%and then come back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I see, wow, now let's really delve into now that I'm
done with my questions, my firsttwo questions.
Let's delve into oral hygieneBecause, you see, connected
minds is about self-developmentand this is all part of it,
(09:57):
right, holistically, um, youknow, taking care of yourself,
making sure you're in the rightspace, so you know what would be
a good care for oral healthright when we talk about oral
health.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I'll give you a backstory to this.
An average guinean would onlyvisit the dentist when he or she
is in pain.
If there is no pain, forget it.
They are not going to visit thedentist.
And some of these oral diseasesor oral conditions some tend to
be a bit more silent.
They don't cause you any painand the results in maybe a
terminal stage where you have totake out the tooth, you need to
(10:34):
do certain procedures.
That tends to be expensive.
Other people say, oh, dentistryis expensive, but dentistry is
expensive.
But if you put preventivemeasures in place, then you you
tend not to spend too much money.
So I come to the why.
Why do we need to take care ofour mouth?
And the mouth is linked to thegeneral body.
As this year's world oral healthday, the theme was a healthy
(10:55):
mouth is a healthy body.
If you don't have a healthymouth, you're not going to have
a healthy body because, bear inmind, the mouth is the gateway
to the body.
So there are certain things,for instance, um, if you have a,
you have poor oral hygiene, yourealize.
Or gum disease, you may realizethat you have a difficult uh
difficulty in managing diabetes.
(11:17):
Diabetes management becomes anissue.
And one other thing too isrespiratory diseases.
If you have oral diseases orgum diseases, you're more prone
to getting infections likepneumonia, especially in people
who are immunocompromised or theolder individuals, the elderly
individuals.
One other thing is the heart.
Some oral diseases have a link.
(11:40):
There's been research showingthat there's a link between
severe gum disease and peoplewith heart diseases, even stroke
.
There's been a link between thetwo, according to research.
Also, the fact that pregnantwomen during pregnancy, because
of the hormonal imbalances, ifthey don't take care of their
teeth and their gum disease,they tend to give birth to
(12:05):
preterm babies or babies withlow weight, which is also an
issue.
So, looking at all these issues,realize that none of these
things I said had pain in them.
They are all silent things thatare happening.
So there's a need for us totake care of our mouth.
Taking care of our mouth.
There are four highlights I'mgoing to dwell on.
The first is brushing yourteeth twice daily.
(12:26):
The second is staying away fromsugary foods and drinks.
The third is maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
And lastly, the fourth isvisiting your dentist regularly.
So when we talk about brushingyour teeth twice daily, most
guardians have the notion thatwe're supposed to use a
hard-bristled toothbrush becauseif the hard-bristled toothbrush
is able to clear the foodremnants, the smokest toothbrush
(12:47):
.
Yes, it's able to take care ofthe plaque and all that, but
they are wrong.
The hard-br toothbrush in asmuch as it's taking some of the
food debris and the plaque ofthe teeth, it's also damaging
the outer protective layer ofthe teeth.
So you realize that you end uphaving these tiny crevices along
the tooth towards the gum area.
So it gets to a point you'retaking cold water.
(13:08):
You feel a lot of sensitivityon your teeth because the hard
brush has damaged the teeth.
It's caused gum recession.
The gums have receded or movedaway from the teeth because of
the hard vessel toothbrush thatyou are using and also the
technique that you're using tobrush your teeth.
So you realize that you, yougrow up, you get to a certain
age and your gums have allshifted away from the teeth.
It's not any food that hascaused that, but it's actually
(13:30):
your your technique and also thetexture of the brush that
you're using.
So it's advisable that you usea soft-bezel toothbrush and a
fluoride-containing toothpasteto help reduce the incidences of
tooth decay in your mouth.
You should also be brushing yourteeth at least two minutes.
Some people enter the washroom.
They spend just a few seconds.
They are done.
They are late for work.
You're going to have issueswith that, and you should be
(13:52):
flossing your teeth as well.
So that has to do with thefirst highlight.
I spoke about brushing yourteeth twice daily.
The second is cutting down oravoiding sugary foods and drinks
.
Would you be surprised if Itold you that an adult is not
supposed to take more than sixteaspoons of sugar in a day?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I won't be surprised, because it's really bad for you
.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yes, and with kids too.
They're not supposed to takemore than three teaspoons of
sugar in a day.
But these teaspoons, somebodywill be certain our audience
will be there saying that, oh, Idon't put that much sugar in my
tea or in my coffee.
This sugar is also found indrinks.
The drinks we buy, the cake,all come together to form more
(14:35):
than that six teaspoons of sugarthat people take in a day.
So we really need to watch oursugar because the bacteria in
our mouth or the germs in ourmouth feed on the sugar.
They ferment the sugar and theyproduce acids and these acids
now start to destroy the outerstructure of the teeth, called
the enamel, and gradually itmoves into the innermost layer.
Then it starts to feel pain.
(14:56):
But if you avoid the sugar, itwouldn't even start in the outer
layer for it to even movedeeper in the tooth to cause
pain.
And also it's important, talkingabout the sugary foods and
drinks, it's important we don'tsnack in between meals, because
snacking in between meals has anadverse effect in your mouth.
It increases your chances ofgetting to decay.
(15:17):
So that has to do with thehighlight on avoiding sugar
foods and drinks, maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
When I talk about maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
Um, people who engage incontact sports um, they are they
.
They tend to have a lot offalls people coming in contact
with them football, basketball,rugby so it's important that
such people always have mouthguards on so that they don't get
(15:39):
damages to their teeth.
Also, staying with thathighlight, it's also important
that people stay away fromtobacco intake and smoking.
It's really, really importantBecause, with tobacco yes, also
shisha With tobacco intake whathappens is that tobacco has been
known to be one of theprecursors for oral cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
It's been noticed, and even combining tobacco with
alcohol even increases yourchances.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
It's even worse.
It's even worse.
It increases your chances, butit goes so well together on the
street.
It goes so well together too.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So that's that.
And the fourth one is visitingyour dentist regularly and this
part of our world, people don'tprioritize going to see the
dentist.
It's, as I said, it's only whenthey have pain.
So the fourth highlight is it'svery important you go and see
your dentist whether or not youhave pain, go for your dental
cleaning check for 2dk and allthat.
You're good to go.
So these four highlights aresomething I thought the general
(16:34):
population should know of.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So my auntie is probably sitting at home
thinking this guy is saying youknow a teaspoon, do we take it
flat or we fill it up?
You see what I mean?
Yes, so which one is it whichone would classify as a full
teaspoon?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
A level teaspoon Level right.
A level teaspoon Right right,Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Now I've read somewhere that fluoride um and I
know he's a dentist's bestfriend.
I know quite a few dentists.
They love to talk aboutfluoride and I'm sure you are no
different.
There's a video I saw of you onyour on your Instagram, and as
(17:18):
soon as I saw it I had toquickly go find an article Is
fluoride good for us and whatmakes it good for us?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Great question.
Back in school, when I was inmedical school, we had a course
in pharmacology.
I remember one of the firstlectures was by one of our
pharmacology lecturers and hebrought up this quote from one
Swiss chemist and physiciancalled Paracelsus.
What Paracelsus said was thatall things are poison, but the
(17:53):
poisonous nature of somethingdepends on the dose of it.
So I would say Freud is adouble-edged sword.
In very extreme quantities itcan cause issues, but in
moderate amounts or thespecified range that we are
supposed to use, you're going toget the good effects from
fluoride.
Same with water.
Too much water can cause issues.
(18:13):
Too much bananas can causeissues because they contain a
lot of potassium and all that.
It's the same thing withfluoride.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
If fluoride is not being used properly, it can
cause adverse effects you know,um, I'm sure look, see whenever
is good, right, we don't reallyfocus on on that, so let's Focus
on the extreme cases whereyou've taken it overload or
(18:39):
overdose what can happen.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Great.
So the overdose of fluoride.
It's in two forms.
The first is a short-lived one,the other one is a long-term
one.
So the short-lived one or theacute one.
For instance, if your childswallows excessive amounts of
fluoride, it becomes an issuebecause he or she will start
complaining of stomach issues,diarrhea and all that Because
(19:03):
excessive amounts of fluoridebeing swallowed can cause that
issue.
But it's not something that canlead to maybe a serious
infection or something, acondition where you need to Like
death.
No, you're going to have sometummy issues and with a
long-term use of um, fluorideswallowing, keep swallowing
(19:23):
excessive amounts of fluorideduring childhood.
When your baby teeth fall offand your adult teeth appear in
the mouth, you would have these,um, shall I say, whitish flecks
on the front surfaces of theteeth and that we call fluorosis
.
You can even have someyellowing of the teeth.
That's if excessive amount offluoride is taken.
(19:45):
For instance, if you swallow alot of toothpaste when you're
younger, or maybe you lived in acommunity where the groundwater
contained excessive amounts offluoride.
For instance, take the Bongodistrict in the Upper East
Region, where a study wascarried out and they realized
that the amount of fluoride intheir water bodies was extremely
high, so such individualsdidn't have to decay, but the
(20:05):
adverse effect was the fact thatit had caused yellowing of
their mouth because their waterbody had too much fluoride.
The adequate amount of fluoridethat should be in water should
be one part per mil, but intheir their case, it was way
more than one.
It was quite a lot and thatcould cause that adverse effect.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So it's a double-edged sword double-edged
sword indeed, um, but you stillsay, as a dentist, that it is
important to have fluoride inour toothpaste I agree for
reasons for reasons being thefact that fluoride protects your
teeth from decay.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
It makes the outer shell of your teeth much more
resistant to the acids producedby the germs in our mouth.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Do you think, though, in Ghana we have crisis?
We do, we do.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
When I was working at Rage Hospital, Greater Accra
Regional Hospital, there werecases where we could have people
who die as a result of toothdecay.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Wow, yes, or at least with sepsis.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yes.
So the tooth decay, especiallyin the immunocompromised people.
The immune system doesn't mounta proper response to it.
The decay, infection keepsmoving from the jaw moves to the
throat and when it gets to thethroat it compromises on the
airway because of the swelling,the abscess.
We call it Ladwik's angina.
It compromises on the airwayand kaput takes over.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Wow, yeah, it got killed.
I guess you know, when peoplehear you can die, then they'll
probably say I'm taking itserious.
Teeth whitening.
Um, before I came to Ghana Ialways wanted to do it, but
(21:51):
before I, you know, it wasn't aspopular.
But when I came to Ghana Irealized that it's everywhere.
It's so popular and I guessit's so cheap as well.
You know, are we supposed to bedoing that?
Is it healthy for our teeth,our gums?
Um, and how often?
(22:13):
If it's good, how often shouldwe be doing it?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I would use the teeth whitening analogy to going to
wash a car.
When you go to the car wash,yeah, you first have the car
washed and all that, and whenyou're done you can decide to go
for a waxing where they use achemical to bring out the shine
of the car.
It's the same thing with goingto see the dentist for a
cleaning and later, if you wantto widen, you do the widening.
(22:38):
So the cleaning is to take careof the dirt, the plaque and
tartar that forms on the teeth.
So that's more of functionalhealth, where you're trying to
improve the health of your teethand improve the health of your
gums when that is done.
As a human being, our teeth arenot supposed to be extremely
white.
The actual natural color ofteeth is yellowish, white or
grayish white.
It's as a result of how thelayers of the teeth are
(23:00):
structured we are not actuallyborn with.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
A4 sheet white teeth.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
That's what we want, man.
Hollywood has changed thatperspective for us to feel that
it's how extremely white teeth.
So when you're done with takingcare of the health of your gums
and teeth and you want toimprove upon the aesthetics of
your teeth, that's when you dothe cosmetic aspect of dentistry
, that is, teeth whitening.
It's a non-invasive procedurewhere called carbamide peroxide
in very high quantities to tryand lighten the color of the
(23:28):
teeth.
There are certain instanceswhere people use um over the
counter, um whitening strips toget wider teeth at home, but
those ones are not thateffective.
Yes, it can improve mouthstains, but it wouldn't be as
massive as what we would do foryou at the clinic because we use
controlled high amounts of thechemical to get the white teeth
that you desire.
(23:48):
So I wouldn't say it's bad, butit's something just to improve
the aesthetics of your teeth.
But it should be done by aprofessional, a dentist, because
we need to protect your gums,we need to be able to manage the
sensitivity that comes alongwith the whitening yeah, because
sometimes when I do it, it canbe, it can be very sensitive yes
even when I drink water, I canfeel the tingling exactly,
(24:09):
exactly that's why I asked thequestion how often are we
supposed to do it?
right.
So after your first or yourfirst two sessions you could
give a break, maybe um five tosix months to do a top up for
the widening, depending on howwell you take off your teeth.
You realize that after wideninga set of distractions are given
to you.
Um, avoid, coffee, tea, wine.
(24:30):
These things contain what wecall tannins.
These tannins naturally dye theteeth.
So if you take more of thatafter having a session of
widening you can go back to howyour teeth was before.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
But then in most cases, when you go and you lay
in that widening dental seat,you could do three or four
sessions.
But how many sessions am Isupposed to be doing in a time?
Because sometimes I just feellike they just want their money.
Do you know what I mean.
How many sessions can I do at atime before I go and come back
(25:04):
again?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So it depends solely on the percentage or the
chemical that you're using.
There are certain chemicalsthat tend to be a bit milder, so
you need to do a lot ofsessions.
They are more diluted.
You need to do about maybethree, four sessions before you
get the effect.
But there are other chemicalsof the carbamide peroxide or the
hydrogen peroxide.
They're a bit higher than whenyou apply on the teeth.
Within a matter of 10-15minutes you've gotten the effect
(25:28):
that you want.
But bear in mind that thehigher the concentration to the
higher chances of getting thesensitivity associated with that
can the whitening make yourteeth brittle?
whitening on its own cannot makethe teeth brittle.
Yes, it doesn't.
Doesn't make the teeth brittle,okay because sometimes when I,
(25:51):
after whitening, I see umwhitest spots on some of my my,
my tooth that's the impact ithas on the outer layer of the
teeth, because in as much asit's trying to change the color
of the teeth, if there are anystains on the teeth it also dyes
those internal stains on thetooth.
So it's it's not making abrittle, but it's due to the,
(26:14):
the mechanism of action of theteeth, widening chemical you.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You speak about invisalign um, but when I was
growing up, it was always umbraces um that.
I used to see my colleagues, myfriends in college wear them,
but these days it looks like youtalk about Invisalign a lot.
What's the difference betweenthe two?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Right.
So Invisalign is a brand.
The actual name of the plasticis what we call clear aligners,
so we have differentmanufacturers who manufacture it
.
So Invisalign is more of abrand for clear align.
The.
The plastic is what we callclear aligners, so we have
different manufacturers whomanufacture so.
Inverse Line is more of a brandfor clear aligners.
So with Inverse Line clearaligners there are these series
of plastic trays that you fit onyour teeth.
It's custom fit for your teethand your teeth only.
(27:00):
So we may make about 20, 25 or30 aligners, depending on how
you want to align your teeth.
Some people present to us withspaces in between their teeth
you want to align your teeth.
Some people present to us withspaces in between their teeth
they want to close their gaps.
Maybe some people, their upperand lower teeth at the front
don't meet when they bite.
Some people have what we callovercrowding.
Their teeth are not arrangedproperly.
They are all jumbled uptogether.
(27:20):
They are good candidates forhaving clear aligners.
So what happens is that theclear aligners you may wear it
for maybe a year, a year and ahalf or two years.
It has the same mechanism ofaction as you would if you're
wearing braces, but the thewhole clear liner movement came
into light because of the factthat adults don't like to have
(27:43):
the wires and brackets or theirteeth.
So I also want something.
They want something morediscreet, so that it doesn't
look like they are still youngand they are still trying to
correct their teeth.
Some also want something.
They want something morediscreet, so that it doesn't
look like they are still youngand they are still trying to
correct their teeth.
Others who want something wherethey can eat properly.
Bear in mind, with the brackets, the wires or the braces, there
are certain foods you can eatyour apapun, your goods, your
(28:03):
pork and all that.
If you bite into hard stuff, itcan break the metal off your
teeth and it means that you aredelaying the time at which you
finish treatments, whereas withthe clear aligners you just have
to take off the aligners, eat,brush, floss and put it back on.
And with the clear aligners,too, you have a better gum
(28:23):
health as compared to somebodywho's wearing braces or the
brackets and wires, because youhave access in between your
teeth, you can floss properly,you can brush all the nooks and
crannies, all the corners ofyour teeth.
But people wearing braces theyhave difficulty maintaining a
good oral hygiene because youhave all that wire in your mouth
, you can't clean all thesurfaces well and you tend to
have more of gum disease.
But trust me, both of thesemethods are good methods to
(28:45):
align your teeth, but dependingon your comfort.
Both of these methods are goodmethods to align your teeth, but
depending on your comfort.
Like we're moving from a crowdto come and say somebody can
take a plane, somebody can takea bus, we'll still reach our
destination.
But you're looking at yourcomfort, you're looking at your
convenience does one take longerto align your teeth?
um, I would say that both ofthem take almost the same time,
(29:07):
but I've noted from practicethat the clear aligners it takes
a slightly shorter time ascompared to the braces.
Okay, yeah, depending on howyou you use it, but bear in mind
the teeth don't move faster ifyou're using clear aligners are
compared to braces.
It all depends on the movementsthat are happening
spontaneously at the same time.
(29:27):
That gives advantage that theclear liners has over the braces
wow, I see you brought sometools yes, I shares how to keep
a good oral health.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes, there's gonna be hello.
You're gonna have to describeit a lot because we have a lot
of audio listeners as well,right?
So while you do your videodemonstration, please speak a
lot so that you know everyonecan enjoy the experience I'll do
that.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So when that's a big mouth, yeah, the very big mouth.
So when it comes to brushing,as I mentioned, you're supposed
to brush for two minutes, use asoft bristle toothbrush, not a
hard brush, and also use afluoride containing toothpaste
as well.
So the issue that a lot ofpeople have is that whenever
they are brushing their teeth,some tend to hold their brush
(30:15):
and then they brush up and downvigorously.
The disadvantage with that isthat you have your gums receding
away from your teeth if youbrush up and down like this.
The other thing is that thosewho also brush vigorously side
to side, they also tend to havethese tiny crevices that form at
the top part of your teeth getinto your gum area.
You realize that there arethese tiny, tiny crevices or
(30:38):
tiny tiny holes.
It's not the key, but it'sactually wear or abrasion due to
the texture and also thetechnique that you use to brush
your teeth.
So evidence-based literaturehas showed us that whenever
you're brushing your teeth, youangle the brush towards your gum
Some may even add the value ofthe angle, let's say 45 degrees
(30:59):
towards the gum area, and thenyou brush in short strokes,
short circular strokes, and thenyou push down.
So it's like you're brushing inthe short circular strokes you
are dislodging the bacteria ofthe teeth and you brushing down
now pushes the jabs or the foodremnants, off your teeth.
That's the right way to brushthe front surfaces of your teeth
(31:21):
when you open your mouth whileyou're doing it, I kept smiling
because I was just thinkingthat's a lot of work.
That's a lot of work, right,right, okay, and this is with
the manual brush.
Those who use the electricpower toothbrush they don't have
to go through all that.
They bypass that whole 45degrees and all that.
(31:42):
So those have an advantage.
And also the inner aspect ofyour teeth where your tongue
touches.
You also need to brush thoseareas with the same method.
Angle it 45 degrees towards thegum area, brush in short
circular strokes and then youswipe upwards, brush in short
circular strokes, swipe upwards.
When you come to the inneraspects of your lower front
(32:04):
teeth and upper front teeth, youhold the brush vertically
behind the teeth and with thatone, you with them.
For the lower teeth, for theupper front teeth, you still
hold it vertically and then youbrush downwards.
You're flicking against theback surfaces of your front
teeth.
When it comes to the chewingsurfaces what you used to bite
into your apple, what you usedto chew your meat you also need
(32:25):
to brush on those surfaces asyou brush normally.
So with that one you don't havethat 45 degree angle.
You do that for the lower teethand you do that for the upper
teeth as well.
So this is going to take twominutes.
So if we divide the mouth intofour parts, so we put a line in
the middle like a cross, so wedivide it into what we call
quadrants.
(32:46):
Each quadrant you're supposedto spend 30 seconds.
That comprises the two minutesthat you need to brush your
teeth.
When you're done with that, youneed to clean your tongue.
A lot of people brush theirteeth, but not they don't brush
their tongue.
Their tongue is like a sponge.
It picks up a lot of germs,food debris causes bad breath
and it's important that youbrush the tongue.
Brushing the tongue, you takethe brush to the back, push it
(33:07):
to the front, take it to to theback, push it to the front, take
it to the back and then push itto the front.
When you're done with that, ifyou are privileged to have what
we call a tongue scraper sothere's a metallic tongue
scraper with the tongue scraperto you, the whole construction
work, the whole constructionwork.
So you hold the left side andthe right side with two hands.
You take the scraper to theback and you scrape for it, take
(33:28):
it to their back and you scrapefor it.
It's really, really effectivein keeping a very clean tank.
There are certain brushes thathave this gummy pad at the back.
I don't know if you've noticedthat.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Oh yes, yes, yes, yes , you know it's very designed.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
It's for the tank.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I tell you, tank, so those projections help to get
into the deep pores of the tankto clean them.
So if you have that type ofbrush, after brushing this way
you take, turn it and then brushthe same manner from back to
front.
You don't brush in anyhaphazard manner.
If you're not too careful youpush the gems in front to the
back, so it's rather back tofront.
So unclean to clean, unclean soyou're cleaning the surfaces
like that and that's how tobrush.
When're done, you need to use adental floss to floss your
(34:11):
teeth.
A lot of people brush theirteeth and they don't floss.
Because if you brush your teethand you don't floss, the
analogy I use is that it's liketaking a shower but not cleaning
your armpits.
You've done that much so youreally need to floss your teeth.
That's a lot of work.
Really need to floss your teeththat's a lot of work, it is it's
a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
You know, when you started describing how to brush
your teeth, I was thinking I'vedone it like this all this while
and then at some point, youknow, my dentist must have told
me I need to brush it in acircular motion, slowly.
But now you're saying that youknow it needs to go up closer to
the, to the, to the, to thegarment.
It's just anyway, we'll seewhat we can do.
We'll see what we can do, butyeah, no, that's amazing.
(34:53):
We have a question from ourprevious guest and the question
is would you change your brandname if you believed so much in
it?
So I think the context of thiswas that I was speaking to one
of the twins in the previousepisode and then Sammy was
saying that when they first hadthe name Twins Don't Bake, they
(35:20):
spoke to someone and the personsaid they should change the name
, but they believed so much init and it's worked.
So that's why he gave you thatquestion.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
That's quite an intriguing question.
I strongly believe that a brandis not highly dependent on the
name.
It's more than the name thebrand.
The brand tells yourexperiences.
Um, a brand brand tells yourcore values and also the brand
(35:54):
is way bigger than the name.
But there are instances where,if you need to change the name
of the brand, maybe because ofthe fact that maybe there's
copyright or the trade, it'salways trademarked that name.
Yes, with that, you'd have tochange the name of that.
But I feel that the brand goesmore than the name.
You can have a very nice brandname, but if your core values
(36:16):
don't align with what peoplebelieve in, you don't give your
clients, don't have goodexperiences from you.
No matter how nice your brandname sounds like, it's cost 90.
So I feel that the brand goesmore than right the name?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
yeah, gotcha, gotcha.
Well, I hope you have youranswer there.
Um, our questions will startnow from connected minds.
Um, since it's a personaldevelopment or self-development
podcast, the first question ismotivation or discipline?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
right.
Um, I feel there's a there's amisconception when it comes to,
uh, motivation and discipline.
People feel that, oh, I'll takemotivation by discipline.
Someone will say, well, I'lltake discipline over motivation.
But I feel these two are linkedin a way.
The reason I'm saying that is Ibelieve that motivation is the
(37:14):
spark that ignites you to startsomething.
Once that spark ignites you tostart something, you now need
discipline to hold you throughor help you to progress or keep
doing what you're doing.
These are linked in a way.
One cannot go without the other.
It's like an engine of the caryes, you need to spark it have
(37:35):
that engine started and you needfuel in the engine for the
engine to keep running.
The two cannot stand alone.
So I feel these two are linkedand they lie side by side.
When Jack supports the two, oneis not higher than the other,
so I would say both of them areequally important.
Even when setting up yourbusiness, when it comes to life,
(37:57):
family, these are really twokey values that one should
possess.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Wow, what's the best advice you ever received?
Speaker 1 (38:07):
The best advice I've ever received was from my uncle,
wafata.
What Wafata told me when I wasyoung he said it to me fancy.
He was like my brother.
I tried to recall the exact,but the English translation was
that never stop learning.
(38:28):
My brother enjoy addition Right.
Yes, that, never stop learningmy buffer enjoy addition, right,
yes, never stop learning.
And when we were younger wenever understood what is never
stop learning.
But we realize that in thisglobal world, things keep
changing.
If you don't keep abreast withwhat is happening at every point
in time, you'll be left behind.
You see, some new form oftechnology?
(38:48):
You go like, ah ai, ai, is notsomething I want to learn.
No, no, no, no.
But it'll get to a point.
You'll be left behind if youdon't have any firm foundation
in it.
Years ago we never had thecomputer, we never had the
internet.
All those who thought like, oh,it's not going to work, and all
that now, all those people whodon't know how to even use the
internet or use the computer,they're at a disadvantage.
(39:10):
So I feel that in this world,whatever you find your hands
doing, whatever comes your way,take the opportunity to learn in
.
As much as I am a clinicalperson I work in the, in the
hospital, and all that I have Ihave I have a keen interest in
information technology it thatI've taken it upon myself to
learn a bit of data analytics.
Because I feel that I have akeen interest in information
(39:31):
technology, it, that I've takenit upon myself to learn a bit of
data analytics because I feelthat it will get to a point in
this world where now we have thedata, we can't make use of the
data.
Everybody's collecting data.
I realized that I can tap intothat aspect healthcare data
analytics.
For instance, maybe a hospitalor a dental clinic.
They are seeing a decline inthe number of patients that come
(39:52):
to their clinic.
They have the data, but theycan't make use of the data.
You tap it into data analytics.
You're able to interpret thatdata and make them find that
data useful.
So it's one thing that I cameacross.
I was like you know what, letme try and learn something in IT
that's data analytics.
And across I was like you knowwhat, let me try and learn
something in it that's dataanalytics and see how I can
apply myself in that field.
So I feel that every individualshouldn't restrict their
(40:14):
themselves in their niche.
Try to think outside the box,go outside and learn certain
things and improve yourself wow,that's, that's solid um.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Have you got a question for our next guest?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
let me see, yes yes, I have a question for our next
guest.
My question to my to the nextguest.
Let me see.
Yes, yes, I have a question forour next guest.
My question to the next guestwould be that if you had an
opportunity to set up abillboard in your hometown for
one month and this billboardcould display any message at all
(40:46):
, what would that message be andwhy?
Speaker 2 (40:49):
Wow, this is so different.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
yeah, wow, okay so the person can have a lot of
things to say it's been such anawesome conversation with you.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
I've enjoyed from the moment you walked in up until
now.
I coupled with the fact thatyou know you've produced for me
before.
You know it's amazing seeingyou.
Is there anything you want totell our audience?
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Right.
I want to tell my audience thatit's important that you brush
your teeth your teeth twicedaily.
Floss at least once everysingle day.
Cut down your sugar intake.
Visit the dentist at least onceevery six months.
It's really going to help toimprove your oral health.
Even if you can't go and seeyour dentist twice in a year, at
(41:41):
least on your birthday, justtry as much as possible to visit
the dentist.
The other thing I would alsowant to leave with you guys is
that you should never stop beingthe best version of yourself.
Never say that you are at alevel you are fulfilled at that
level.
Keep asking why, why is thishappening?
What can I do to improve this?
(42:01):
Always try to learn and improveyourself.
And I also want to thank Derekfor having me on this podcast.
It's been an honor being onthis podcast.
I really this podcast.
I really love it.
Connected minds.
If you've not subscribed tothis channel, please, please
subscribe.
It's on apple apple podcast.
It's on youtube.
It's even on instagram.
You get shot except of that oninstagram.
(42:21):
So please do well to subscribeand you'll never regret it he's
already done the job for me, sostay connected.
We could have people who die as a result of 2DK.
When you're done eating,there's something that happens
in your mouth.
We call it an acidic challengeand it's not advised that you
brush immediately after eating.
You wait for at least 30minutes.
Sore throats can cause badbreath.
People with lung cancer couldhave bad breath.
People with gastric ulcer.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Number one business and self-development podcast.
Connected Minds podcast.
Dr Uwa, I have a question, andmy first question is you know,
there are some people who liketo eat first before brushing
their teeth, and then there arepeople who brush their teeth
(00:44):
first in the morning before theyeat.
What's the best way?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
great question.
So when you're done eating andthere's something that happens
in your mouth, it's called wecall it an acidic challenge,
where your, your mouth becomesreally, really acidic and it's
not advised that you brushimmediately after eating.
So both work, but I advise thatthose who want to brush after
eating, you wait for at least 30minutes.
By that time, that acidicchallenge or that acidic nature
(01:13):
in your mouth would have calmeddown a bit.
So when you're brushing, you'renot rubbing all the acids all
over your teeth.
So both of them are goodschools of thoughts.
But if you're going to brushafter you finish eating, wait
for at least 30 minutes beforeyou do that.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Why 30 minutes?
Why not 45 minutes?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So 30 minutes.
Research has shown that after30 minutes there's a graph that
shows the acidity coming down onthe graph.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So we realize that at least 30 minutes you're good to
go, but this acidity is part ofthe normal flora of the mouth,
right?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
It's part of the normal flora.
But also our diet has changed.
The Western diet has a lot ofprocessed sugar, so the germs
feed more on the sugar andproduce more acids as compared
to you not taking foods that areultra-processed, so the acidity
is quite high.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
We call it a Stefan's cave the acidity goes up and
then it starts to dip down butthen sometimes to say you brush
your teeth right and then youhave your meal and then, let's
say, two hours after that, youcould feel that you could feel
this extra things beneath yourgum.
You know, it's not food leftthere, but it's just whitish
(02:25):
stuff.
What causes that?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
exactly that's what we call a plaque biofilm.
So it's this pellicle layerthat forms, constantly, keeps
forming on your teeth.
So in a way it contains germs.
Some also contain a little bitof some food remnants in your
mouth, so they more or lesscover.
There's a layer that forms onthe teeth and that layer can
only be removed when youactually brush your teeth.
But immediately you're donebrushing your teeth, the layer
(02:49):
starts to form again.
So in a way it's protective.
But if the type of bacteria inthe plaque is a harmful type of
bacteria then for instance thestreptococcus mutans then it
starts to cause all sorts ofadverse effects in the mouth.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Right, because of that.
So there's a lady I've heardthis is a story.
Someone was telling me that sheactually takes her toothbrush
with her.
You know she takes it to work,so anytime she eats she goes to
the bathroom and then brushesher teeth.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
That's actually quite a good habit.
I wouldn't say it's going tocause any bad effects on your
teeth, but if she's brushing herteeth 30 minutes after she eats
, it's going to help her,because you realize that there
are certain foods, like onionsand garlic.
They have their own inherentsmell to it.
No matter the candy or the mintyou take, you still perceive
(03:44):
that.
So what you do is that whenyou're done taking such foods
maybe 30 minutes after you canbrush.
When you're done brushing, youuse a tongue scraper to scrape
the coatings off your tongue,because some of these food
molecules get imbibed into thetongue.
So, irrespective that you brushyour teeth, you still have that
smell in your mouth if youdon't brush the tongue well.
So you're not just brushing theteeth after 30 minutes after
eating, but brushing the tongueand flossing, because the brush
(04:06):
to cannot get in between thetight spaces of the teeth.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Hence you need to floss all those food remnants
out flossing okay, um, now Ihave another burning question,
which is if you have a friend ora family member who has got bad
breath.
One, how do you find a way totell that person?
(04:36):
And then, two, should we betelling them?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
good.
So when it comes to bad breath,I've realized that people have
issues trying to tell theircolleagues, depending on the
relationship they have withtheir loved one.
Some people may take it veryoffensive, especially those who
go and buy toothpaste, brush itor package it and then leave it
on their desk at work.
Or maybe buy a mouthwash andsay, oh, use this mouthwash.
(05:03):
It depends on the rapport thatyou've built with the person.
But usually what I advise myclients is that if you have a
colleague who has bad breath, ormaybe a loved one that has bad
breath, first things first.
You could even tell the personthat you know what I'm going to
see a dentist.
Could you escort me to go seethat, or maybe could you drop me
(05:24):
off here.
You enter the clinic if thereare certain vouchers where maybe
you have these promos whereit's like two for one.
So when you're done seeing thedentist, you tell the person oh,
I just finished, but thevoucher I've purchased allows me
for another person to also seethe dentist.
So it's the job of the dentistfor him to examine the mouth,
see certain things in the mouthand advise the client that, oh,
(05:45):
maybe I've seen some plaque inthe tartar, this plaque in the
tartar can cause gum disease.
It can also cause bad breath.
So we are the professionals whocan see it without it feeling
offensive, but you as anindividual.
(06:07):
It's like the person doesn'tbelieve, or even if the person
believes, it's ingrained intheir heads that constantly,
even if bad breath is going,they'll still have that in their
mind.
That oh this person told me Ihave bad breath.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Oh, it's still there.
Even though we've actuallytreated it, it'll still be
ingrained in your head, so itmay actually affect your
relationship.
Yes, yes it does.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It does and I've had clients where I've treated them
for bad breath but because ofsomething that was said to them
when they were younger beforethe bad breath is not good.
I get all my nurses to smelltheir mouths but I'll tell you
that, doc, it is still there,can't you smell it?
And it's like what you've doneis a cause.
So even before I start I tellthem that get a confidant,
somebody who knows you, who cantell you that, oh, maybe I can't
smell it.
You come to the dental clinic,we do clean for you, it's gone.
(06:35):
You go back, the person smellsand say, oh, it's gone, I don't
feel it.
But if the person stillbelieves that the bad breath is
there, forget it.
Everything you do for theperson, the person would never
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
But do you also recognize that sometimes bad
breath may not necessarily be afault of something wrong in the
mouth?
I agree, I totally agreebecause I I know a gentleman.
He has a big issue with that.
He has an awesome oral health,I I must say.
But there was an issue with theupper cardiac sphincter, so the
(07:08):
smell was actually coming fromthe stomach, right right, right,
right, I agree.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So when it comes to what we call genuine bad breath,
it can be the pathological one.
We can have intraoral andextraoral.
So intraoral is coursespertaining to the mouth and the
extraoral are the causes outsidethe mouth.
So causes outside the mouth youcan have your tonsils, the
structures behind your tooththat gets infected and then
(07:35):
cause sore throats can cause badbreath.
Your sinuses, these air-filledcavities on the sides of your
nose, can cause bad breath.
Nasal blockade if there's atumor or there the sides of your
nose, can cause bad breath.
Nasal blockade If there's atumor or there's something
blocking your nose that couldresult in bad breath.
People with lung cancer couldhave bad breath.
People with gastric ulcer canhave bad breath.
People with this condition wecall gastroesophageal reflux
(07:58):
disease.
Those people are also prone tobad breath.
Sometimes even people withdiabetes.
They have this bad breath thattends to be a bit sweet.
They have that type of badbreath.
So, aside the mouth, there aresome extra oral causes and even
medications.
Certain medications can cause abad breath because when they
are metabolized in the body, thegases that are released can
(08:20):
also especially theantidepressants, can have the
adverse effects, of course, andbad breath so the patient comes
to your um, your practice, andyou realize that, hey, it's got
nothing to do with the mouth.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Then how do you then proceed from there?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
yeah, so, um, we take a thorough history, examine, do
our investigations and we tryto keep all the possible causes
in their mouth.
Once that is done, we give thema referral letter to see their
GP and the GP can do furthertests and if he or she needs to
refer to an ENT specialist, anendocrinologist, they take over
(08:55):
from there.
But we need to take care of the80% of the courses in their
mouth.
Make sure we've attended tomost of the courses.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Then we can go ahead to refer for them to also check
the other courses since you'retalking about percentages, um,
in terms of bad breath, whatpercentage do you think will be
attributed to what is in themouth and then what would be the
rest of the parts of the bodythat's causing it?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
right.
So inside the mouth is 80,outside the mouth is 80%.
Outside the mouth is 20%.
That's the main reason why theyfirst come to the dentist
before you go and see the otherspecialist.
You go and see the otherspecialist, they will say, no,
where's your dentist?
First Let them sort out the 80%and then come back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I see, wow, now let's really delve into now that I'm
done with my questions, my firsttwo questions.
Let's delve into oral hygieneBecause, you see, connected
minds is about self-developmentand this is all part of it,
(09:57):
right, holistically, um, youknow, taking care of yourself,
making sure you're in the rightspace, so you know what would be
a good care for oral healthright when we talk about oral
health.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I'll give you a backstory to this.
An average guinean would onlyvisit the dentist when he or she
is in pain.
If there is no pain, forget it.
They are not going to visit thedentist.
And some of these oral diseasesor oral conditions some tend to
be a bit more silent.
They don't cause you any painand the results in maybe a
terminal stage where you have totake out the tooth, you need to
(10:34):
do certain procedures.
That tends to be expensive.
Other people say, oh, dentistryis expensive, but dentistry is
expensive.
But if you put preventivemeasures in place, then you you
tend not to spend too much money.
So I come to the why.
Why do we need to take care ofour mouth?
And the mouth is linked to thegeneral body.
As this year's world oral healthday, the theme was a healthy
(10:55):
mouth is a healthy body.
If you don't have a healthymouth, you're not going to have
a healthy body because, bear inmind, the mouth is the gateway
to the body.
So there are certain things,for instance, um, if you have a,
you have poor oral hygiene, yourealize.
Or gum disease, you may realizethat you have a difficult uh
difficulty in managing diabetes.
(11:17):
Diabetes management becomes anissue.
And one other thing too isrespiratory diseases.
If you have oral diseases orgum diseases, you're more prone
to getting infections likepneumonia, especially in people
who are immunocompromised or theolder individuals, the elderly
individuals.
One other thing is the heart.
Some oral diseases have a link.
(11:40):
There's been research showingthat there's a link between
severe gum disease and peoplewith heart diseases, even stroke
.
There's been a link between thetwo, according to research.
Also, the fact that pregnantwomen during pregnancy, because
of the hormonal imbalances, ifthey don't take care of their
teeth and their gum disease,they tend to give birth to
(12:05):
preterm babies or babies withlow weight, which is also an
issue.
So, looking at all these issues,realize that none of these
things I said had pain in them.
They are all silent things thatare happening.
So there's a need for us totake care of our mouth.
Taking care of our mouth.
There are four highlights I'mgoing to dwell on.
The first is brushing yourteeth twice daily.
(12:26):
The second is staying away fromsugary foods and drinks.
The third is maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
And lastly, the fourth isvisiting your dentist regularly.
So when we talk about brushingyour teeth twice daily, most
guardians have the notion thatwe're supposed to use a
hard-bristled toothbrush becauseif the hard-bristled toothbrush
is able to clear the foodremnants, the smokest toothbrush
(12:47):
.
Yes, it's able to take care ofthe plaque and all that, but
they are wrong.
The hard-br toothbrush in asmuch as it's taking some of the
food debris and the plaque ofthe teeth, it's also damaging
the outer protective layer ofthe teeth.
So you realize that you end uphaving these tiny crevices along
the tooth towards the gum area.
So it gets to a point you'retaking cold water.
(13:08):
You feel a lot of sensitivityon your teeth because the hard
brush has damaged the teeth.
It's caused gum recession.
The gums have receded or movedaway from the teeth because of
the hard vessel toothbrush thatyou are using and also the
technique that you're using tobrush your teeth.
So you realize that you, yougrow up, you get to a certain
age and your gums have allshifted away from the teeth.
It's not any food that hascaused that, but it's actually
(13:30):
your your technique and also thetexture of the brush that
you're using.
So it's advisable that you usea soft-bezel toothbrush and a
fluoride-containing toothpasteto help reduce the incidences of
tooth decay in your mouth.
You should also be brushing yourteeth at least two minutes.
Some people enter the washroom.
They spend just a few seconds.
They are done.
They are late for work.
You're going to have issueswith that, and you should be
(13:52):
flossing your teeth as well.
So that has to do with thefirst highlight.
I spoke about brushing yourteeth twice daily.
The second is cutting down oravoiding sugary foods and drinks
.
Would you be surprised if Itold you that an adult is not
supposed to take more than sixteaspoons of sugar in a day?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I won't be surprised, because it's really bad for you
.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yes, and with kids too.
They're not supposed to takemore than three teaspoons of
sugar in a day.
But these teaspoons, somebodywill be certain our audience
will be there saying that, oh, Idon't put that much sugar in my
tea or in my coffee.
This sugar is also found indrinks.
The drinks we buy, the cake,all come together to form more
(14:35):
than that six teaspoons of sugarthat people take in a day.
So we really need to watch oursugar because the bacteria in
our mouth or the germs in ourmouth feed on the sugar.
They ferment the sugar and theyproduce acids and these acids
now start to destroy the outerstructure of the teeth, called
the enamel, and gradually itmoves into the innermost layer.
Then it starts to feel pain.
(14:56):
But if you avoid the sugar, itwouldn't even start in the outer
layer for it to even movedeeper in the tooth to cause
pain.
And also it's important, talkingabout the sugary foods and
drinks, it's important we don'tsnack in between meals, because
snacking in between meals has anadverse effect in your mouth.
It increases your chances ofgetting to decay.
(15:17):
So that has to do with thehighlight on avoiding sugar
foods and drinks, maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
When I talk about maintaining ahealthy lifestyle.
Um, people who engage incontact sports um, they are they
.
They tend to have a lot offalls people coming in contact
with them football, basketball,rugby so it's important that
such people always have mouthguards on so that they don't get
(15:39):
damages to their teeth.
Also, staying with thathighlight, it's also important
that people stay away fromtobacco intake and smoking.
It's really, really importantBecause, with tobacco yes, also
shisha With tobacco intake whathappens is that tobacco has been
known to be one of theprecursors for oral cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
It's been noticed, and even combining tobacco with
alcohol even increases yourchances.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
It's even worse.
It's even worse.
It increases your chances, butit goes so well together on the
street.
It goes so well together too.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So that's that.
And the fourth one is visitingyour dentist regularly and this
part of our world, people don'tprioritize going to see the
dentist.
It's, as I said, it's only whenthey have pain.
So the fourth highlight is it'svery important you go and see
your dentist whether or not youhave pain, go for your dental
cleaning check for 2dk and allthat.
You're good to go.
So these four highlights aresomething I thought the general
(16:34):
population should know of.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So my auntie is probably sitting at home
thinking this guy is saying youknow a teaspoon, do we take it
flat or we fill it up?
You see what I mean?
Yes, so which one is it whichone would classify as a full
teaspoon?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
A level teaspoon Level right.
A level teaspoon Right right,Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Now I've read somewhere that fluoride um and I
know he's a dentist's bestfriend.
I know quite a few dentists.
They love to talk aboutfluoride and I'm sure you are no
different.
There's a video I saw of you onyour on your Instagram, and as
(17:18):
soon as I saw it I had toquickly go find an article Is
fluoride good for us and whatmakes it good for us?
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Great question.
Back in school, when I was inmedical school, we had a course
in pharmacology.
I remember one of the firstlectures was by one of our
pharmacology lecturers and hebrought up this quote from one
Swiss chemist and physiciancalled Paracelsus.
What Paracelsus said was thatall things are poison, but the
(17:53):
poisonous nature of somethingdepends on the dose of it.
So I would say Freud is adouble-edged sword.
In very extreme quantities itcan cause issues, but in
moderate amounts or thespecified range that we are
supposed to use, you're going toget the good effects from
fluoride.
Same with water.
Too much water can cause issues.
(18:13):
Too much bananas can causeissues because they contain a
lot of potassium and all that.
It's the same thing withfluoride.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
If fluoride is not being used properly, it can
cause adverse effects you know,um, I'm sure look, see whenever
is good, right, we don't reallyfocus on on that, so let's Focus
on the extreme cases whereyou've taken it overload or
(18:39):
overdose what can happen.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Great.
So the overdose of fluoride.
It's in two forms.
The first is a short-lived one,the other one is a long-term
one.
So the short-lived one or theacute one.
For instance, if your childswallows excessive amounts of
fluoride, it becomes an issuebecause he or she will start
complaining of stomach issues,diarrhea and all that Because
(19:03):
excessive amounts of fluoridebeing swallowed can cause that
issue.
But it's not something that canlead to maybe a serious
infection or something, acondition where you need to Like
death.
No, you're going to have sometummy issues and with a
long-term use of um, fluorideswallowing, keep swallowing
(19:23):
excessive amounts of fluorideduring childhood.
When your baby teeth fall offand your adult teeth appear in
the mouth, you would have these,um, shall I say, whitish flecks
on the front surfaces of theteeth and that we call fluorosis
.
You can even have someyellowing of the teeth.
That's if excessive amount offluoride is taken.
(19:45):
For instance, if you swallow alot of toothpaste when you're
younger, or maybe you lived in acommunity where the groundwater
contained excessive amounts offluoride.
For instance, take the Bongodistrict in the Upper East
Region, where a study wascarried out and they realized
that the amount of fluoride intheir water bodies was extremely
high, so such individualsdidn't have to decay, but the
(20:05):
adverse effect was the fact thatit had caused yellowing of
their mouth because their waterbody had too much fluoride.
The adequate amount of fluoridethat should be in water should
be one part per mil, but intheir their case, it was way
more than one.
It was quite a lot and thatcould cause that adverse effect.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So it's a double-edged sword double-edged
sword indeed, um, but you stillsay, as a dentist, that it is
important to have fluoride inour toothpaste I agree for
reasons for reasons being thefact that fluoride protects your
teeth from decay.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
It makes the outer shell of your teeth much more
resistant to the acids producedby the germs in our mouth.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Do you think, though, in Ghana we have crisis?
We do, we do.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
When I was working at Rage Hospital, Greater Accra
Regional Hospital, there werecases where we could have people
who die as a result of toothdecay.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Wow, yes, or at least with sepsis.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yes.
So the tooth decay, especiallyin the immunocompromised people.
The immune system doesn't mounta proper response to it.
The decay, infection keepsmoving from the jaw moves to the
throat and when it gets to thethroat it compromises on the
airway because of the swelling,the abscess.
We call it Ladwik's angina.
It compromises on the airwayand kaput takes over.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Wow, yeah, it got killed.
I guess you know, when peoplehear you can die, then they'll
probably say I'm taking itserious.
Teeth whitening.
Um, before I came to Ghana Ialways wanted to do it, but
(21:51):
before I, you know, it wasn't aspopular.
But when I came to Ghana Irealized that it's everywhere.
It's so popular and I guessit's so cheap as well.
You know, are we supposed to bedoing that?
Is it healthy for our teeth,our gums?
Um, and how often?
(22:13):
If it's good, how often shouldwe be doing it?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I would use the teeth whitening analogy to going to
wash a car.
When you go to the car wash,yeah, you first have the car
washed and all that, and whenyou're done you can decide to go
for a waxing where they use achemical to bring out the shine
of the car.
It's the same thing with goingto see the dentist for a
cleaning and later, if you wantto widen, you do the widening.
(22:38):
So the cleaning is to take careof the dirt, the plaque and
tartar that forms on the teeth.
So that's more of functionalhealth, where you're trying to
improve the health of your teethand improve the health of your
gums when that is done.
As a human being, our teeth arenot supposed to be extremely
white.
The actual natural color ofteeth is yellowish, white or
grayish white.
It's as a result of how thelayers of the teeth are
(23:00):
structured we are not actuallyborn with.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
A4 sheet white teeth.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
That's what we want, man.
Hollywood has changed thatperspective for us to feel that
it's how extremely white teeth.
So when you're done with takingcare of the health of your gums
and teeth and you want toimprove upon the aesthetics of
your teeth, that's when you dothe cosmetic aspect of dentistry
, that is, teeth whitening.
It's a non-invasive procedurewhere called carbamide peroxide
in very high quantities to tryand lighten the color of the
(23:28):
teeth.
There are certain instanceswhere people use um over the
counter, um whitening strips toget wider teeth at home, but
those ones are not thateffective.
Yes, it can improve mouthstains, but it wouldn't be as
massive as what we would do foryou at the clinic because we use
controlled high amounts of thechemical to get the white teeth
that you desire.
(23:48):
So I wouldn't say it's bad, butit's something just to improve
the aesthetics of your teeth.
But it should be done by aprofessional, a dentist, because
we need to protect your gums,we need to be able to manage the
sensitivity that comes alongwith the whitening yeah, because
sometimes when I do it, it canbe, it can be very sensitive yes
even when I drink water, I canfeel the tingling exactly,
(24:09):
exactly that's why I asked thequestion how often are we
supposed to do it?
right.
So after your first or yourfirst two sessions you could
give a break, maybe um five tosix months to do a top up for
the widening, depending on howwell you take off your teeth.
You realize that after wideninga set of distractions are given
to you.
Um, avoid, coffee, tea, wine.
(24:30):
These things contain what wecall tannins.
These tannins naturally dye theteeth.
So if you take more of thatafter having a session of
widening you can go back to howyour teeth was before.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
But then in most cases, when you go and you lay
in that widening dental seat,you could do three or four
sessions.
But how many sessions am Isupposed to be doing in a time?
Because sometimes I just feellike they just want their money.
Do you know what I mean.
How many sessions can I do at atime before I go and come back
(25:04):
again?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So it depends solely on the percentage or the
chemical that you're using.
There are certain chemicalsthat tend to be a bit milder, so
you need to do a lot ofsessions.
They are more diluted.
You need to do about maybethree, four sessions before you
get the effect.
But there are other chemicalsof the carbamide peroxide or the
hydrogen peroxide.
They're a bit higher than whenyou apply on the teeth.
Within a matter of 10-15minutes you've gotten the effect
(25:28):
that you want.
But bear in mind that thehigher the concentration to the
higher chances of getting thesensitivity associated with that
can the whitening make yourteeth brittle?
whitening on its own cannot makethe teeth brittle.
Yes, it doesn't.
Doesn't make the teeth brittle,okay because sometimes when I,
(25:51):
after whitening, I see umwhitest spots on some of my my,
my tooth that's the impact ithas on the outer layer of the
teeth, because in as much asit's trying to change the color
of the teeth, if there are anystains on the teeth it also dyes
those internal stains on thetooth.
So it's it's not making abrittle, but it's due to the,
(26:14):
the mechanism of action of theteeth, widening chemical you.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You speak about invisalign um, but when I was
growing up, it was always umbraces um that.
I used to see my colleagues, myfriends in college wear them,
but these days it looks like youtalk about Invisalign a lot.
What's the difference betweenthe two?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Right.
So Invisalign is a brand.
The actual name of the plasticis what we call clear aligners,
so we have differentmanufacturers who manufacture it
.
So Invisalign is more of abrand for clear align.
The.
The plastic is what we callclear aligners, so we have
different manufacturers whomanufacture so.
Inverse Line is more of a brandfor clear aligners.
So with Inverse Line clearaligners there are these series
of plastic trays that you fit onyour teeth.
It's custom fit for your teethand your teeth only.
(27:00):
So we may make about 20, 25 or30 aligners, depending on how
you want to align your teeth.
Some people present to us withspaces in between their teeth
you want to align your teeth.
Some people present to us withspaces in between their teeth
they want to close their gaps.
Maybe some people, their upperand lower teeth at the front
don't meet when they bite.
Some people have what we callovercrowding.
Their teeth are not arrangedproperly.
They are all jumbled uptogether.
(27:20):
They are good candidates forhaving clear aligners.
So what happens is that theclear aligners you may wear it
for maybe a year, a year and ahalf or two years.
It has the same mechanism ofaction as you would if you're
wearing braces, but the thewhole clear liner movement came
into light because of the factthat adults don't like to have
(27:43):
the wires and brackets or theirteeth.
So I also want something.
They want something morediscreet, so that it doesn't
look like they are still youngand they are still trying to
correct their teeth.
Some also want something.
They want something morediscreet, so that it doesn't
look like they are still youngand they are still trying to
correct their teeth.
Others who want something wherethey can eat properly.
Bear in mind, with the brackets, the wires or the braces, there
are certain foods you can eatyour apapun, your goods, your
(28:03):
pork and all that.
If you bite into hard stuff, itcan break the metal off your
teeth and it means that you aredelaying the time at which you
finish treatments, whereas withthe clear aligners you just have
to take off the aligners, eat,brush, floss and put it back on.
And with the clear aligners,too, you have a better gum
(28:23):
health as compared to somebodywho's wearing braces or the
brackets and wires, because youhave access in between your
teeth, you can floss properly,you can brush all the nooks and
crannies, all the corners ofyour teeth.
But people wearing braces theyhave difficulty maintaining a
good oral hygiene because youhave all that wire in your mouth
, you can't clean all thesurfaces well and you tend to
have more of gum disease.
But trust me, both of thesemethods are good methods to
(28:45):
align your teeth, but dependingon your comfort.
Both of these methods are goodmethods to align your teeth, but
depending on your comfort.
Like we're moving from a crowdto come and say somebody can
take a plane, somebody can takea bus, we'll still reach our
destination.
But you're looking at yourcomfort, you're looking at your
convenience does one take longerto align your teeth?
um, I would say that both ofthem take almost the same time,
(29:07):
but I've noted from practicethat the clear aligners it takes
a slightly shorter time ascompared to the braces.
Okay, yeah, depending on howyou you use it, but bear in mind
the teeth don't move faster ifyou're using clear aligners are
compared to braces.
It all depends on the movementsthat are happening
spontaneously at the same time.
(29:27):
That gives advantage that theclear liners has over the braces
wow, I see you brought sometools yes, I shares how to keep
a good oral health.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes, there's gonna be hello.
You're gonna have to describeit a lot because we have a lot
of audio listeners as well,right?
So while you do your videodemonstration, please speak a
lot so that you know everyonecan enjoy the experience I'll do
that.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So when that's a big mouth, yeah, the very big mouth.
So when it comes to brushing,as I mentioned, you're supposed
to brush for two minutes, use asoft bristle toothbrush, not a
hard brush, and also use afluoride containing toothpaste
as well.
So the issue that a lot ofpeople have is that whenever
they are brushing their teeth,some tend to hold their brush
(30:15):
and then they brush up and downvigorously.
The disadvantage with that isthat you have your gums receding
away from your teeth if youbrush up and down like this.
The other thing is that thosewho also brush vigorously side
to side, they also tend to havethese tiny crevices that form at
the top part of your teeth getinto your gum area.
You realize that there arethese tiny, tiny crevices or
(30:38):
tiny tiny holes.
It's not the key, but it'sactually wear or abrasion due to
the texture and also thetechnique that you use to brush
your teeth.
So evidence-based literaturehas showed us that whenever
you're brushing your teeth, youangle the brush towards your gum
Some may even add the value ofthe angle, let's say 45 degrees
(30:59):
towards the gum area, and thenyou brush in short strokes,
short circular strokes, and thenyou push down.
So it's like you're brushing inthe short circular strokes you
are dislodging the bacteria ofthe teeth and you brushing down
now pushes the jabs or the foodremnants, off your teeth.
That's the right way to brushthe front surfaces of your teeth
(31:21):
when you open your mouth whileyou're doing it, I kept smiling
because I was just thinkingthat's a lot of work.
That's a lot of work, right,right, okay, and this is with
the manual brush.
Those who use the electricpower toothbrush they don't have
to go through all that.
They bypass that whole 45degrees and all that.
(31:42):
So those have an advantage.
And also the inner aspect ofyour teeth where your tongue
touches.
You also need to brush thoseareas with the same method.
Angle it 45 degrees towards thegum area, brush in short
circular strokes and then youswipe upwards, brush in short
circular strokes, swipe upwards.
When you come to the inneraspects of your lower front
(32:04):
teeth and upper front teeth, youhold the brush vertically
behind the teeth and with thatone, you with them.
For the lower teeth, for theupper front teeth, you still
hold it vertically and then youbrush downwards.
You're flicking against theback surfaces of your front
teeth.
When it comes to the chewingsurfaces what you used to bite
into your apple, what you usedto chew your meat you also need
(32:25):
to brush on those surfaces asyou brush normally.
So with that one you don't havethat 45 degree angle.
You do that for the lower teethand you do that for the upper
teeth as well.
So this is going to take twominutes.
So if we divide the mouth intofour parts, so we put a line in
the middle like a cross, so wedivide it into what we call
quadrants.
(32:46):
Each quadrant you're supposedto spend 30 seconds.
That comprises the two minutesthat you need to brush your
teeth.
When you're done with that, youneed to clean your tongue.
A lot of people brush theirteeth, but not they don't brush
their tongue.
Their tongue is like a sponge.
It picks up a lot of germs,food debris causes bad breath
and it's important that youbrush the tongue.
Brushing the tongue, you takethe brush to the back, push it
(33:07):
to the front, take it to to theback, push it to the front, take
it to the back and then push itto the front.
When you're done with that, ifyou are privileged to have what
we call a tongue scraper sothere's a metallic tongue
scraper with the tongue scraperto you, the whole construction
work, the whole constructionwork.
So you hold the left side andthe right side with two hands.
You take the scraper to theback and you scrape for it, take
(33:28):
it to their back and you scrapefor it.
It's really, really effectivein keeping a very clean tank.
There are certain brushes thathave this gummy pad at the back.
I don't know if you've noticedthat.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Oh yes, yes, yes, yes , you know it's very designed.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
It's for the tank.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I tell you, tank, so those projections help to get
into the deep pores of the tankto clean them.
So if you have that type ofbrush, after brushing this way
you take, turn it and then brushthe same manner from back to
front.
You don't brush in anyhaphazard manner.
If you're not too careful youpush the gems in front to the
back, so it's rather back tofront.
So unclean to clean, unclean soyou're cleaning the surfaces
like that and that's how tobrush.
When're done, you need to use adental floss to floss your
(34:11):
teeth.
A lot of people brush theirteeth and they don't floss.
Because if you brush your teethand you don't floss, the
analogy I use is that it's liketaking a shower but not cleaning
your armpits.
You've done that much so youreally need to floss your teeth.
That's a lot of work.
Really need to floss your teeththat's a lot of work, it is it's
a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
You know, when you started describing how to brush
your teeth, I was thinking I'vedone it like this all this while
and then at some point, youknow, my dentist must have told
me I need to brush it in acircular motion, slowly.
But now you're saying that youknow it needs to go up closer to
the, to the, to the, to thegarment.
It's just anyway, we'll seewhat we can do.
We'll see what we can do, butyeah, no, that's amazing.
(34:53):
We have a question from ourprevious guest and the question
is would you change your brandname if you believed so much in
it?
So I think the context of thiswas that I was speaking to one
of the twins in the previousepisode and then Sammy was
saying that when they first hadthe name Twins Don't Bake, they
(35:20):
spoke to someone and the personsaid they should change the name
, but they believed so much init and it's worked.
So that's why he gave you thatquestion.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
That's quite an intriguing question.
I strongly believe that a brandis not highly dependent on the
name.
It's more than the name thebrand.
The brand tells yourexperiences.
Um, a brand brand tells yourcore values and also the brand
(35:54):
is way bigger than the name.
But there are instances where,if you need to change the name
of the brand, maybe because ofthe fact that maybe there's
copyright or the trade, it'salways trademarked that name.
Yes, with that, you'd have tochange the name of that.
But I feel that the brand goesmore than the name.
You can have a very nice brandname, but if your core values
(36:16):
don't align with what peoplebelieve in, you don't give your
clients, don't have goodexperiences from you.
No matter how nice your brandname sounds like, it's cost 90.
So I feel that the brand goesmore than right the name?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
yeah, gotcha, gotcha.
Well, I hope you have youranswer there.
Um, our questions will startnow from connected minds.
Um, since it's a personaldevelopment or self-development
podcast, the first question ismotivation or discipline?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
right.
Um, I feel there's a there's amisconception when it comes to,
uh, motivation and discipline.
People feel that, oh, I'll takemotivation by discipline.
Someone will say, well, I'lltake discipline over motivation.
But I feel these two are linkedin a way.
The reason I'm saying that is Ibelieve that motivation is the
(37:14):
spark that ignites you to startsomething.
Once that spark ignites you tostart something, you now need
discipline to hold you throughor help you to progress or keep
doing what you're doing.
These are linked in a way.
One cannot go without the other.
It's like an engine of the caryes, you need to spark it have
(37:35):
that engine started and you needfuel in the engine for the
engine to keep running.
The two cannot stand alone.
So I feel these two are linkedand they lie side by side.
When Jack supports the two, oneis not higher than the other,
so I would say both of them areequally important.
Even when setting up yourbusiness, when it comes to life,
(37:57):
family, these are really twokey values that one should
possess.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Wow, what's the best advice you ever received?
Speaker 1 (38:07):
The best advice I've ever received was from my uncle,
wafata.
What Wafata told me when I wasyoung he said it to me fancy.
He was like my brother.
I tried to recall the exact,but the English translation was
that never stop learning.
(38:28):
My brother enjoy addition Right.
Yes, that, never stop learningmy buffer enjoy addition, right,
yes, never stop learning.
And when we were younger wenever understood what is never
stop learning.
But we realize that in thisglobal world, things keep
changing.
If you don't keep abreast withwhat is happening at every point
in time, you'll be left behind.
You see, some new form oftechnology?
(38:48):
You go like, ah ai, ai, is notsomething I want to learn.
No, no, no, no.
But it'll get to a point.
You'll be left behind if youdon't have any firm foundation
in it.
Years ago we never had thecomputer, we never had the
internet.
All those who thought like, oh,it's not going to work, and all
that now, all those people whodon't know how to even use the
internet or use the computer,they're at a disadvantage.
(39:10):
So I feel that in this world,whatever you find your hands
doing, whatever comes your way,take the opportunity to learn in
.
As much as I am a clinicalperson I work in the, in the
hospital, and all that I have Ihave I have a keen interest in
information technology it thatI've taken it upon myself to
learn a bit of data analytics.
Because I feel that I have akeen interest in information
(39:31):
technology, it, that I've takenit upon myself to learn a bit of
data analytics because I feelthat it will get to a point in
this world where now we have thedata, we can't make use of the
data.
Everybody's collecting data.
I realized that I can tap intothat aspect healthcare data
analytics.
For instance, maybe a hospitalor a dental clinic.
They are seeing a decline inthe number of patients that come
(39:52):
to their clinic.
They have the data, but theycan't make use of the data.
You tap it into data analytics.
You're able to interpret thatdata and make them find that
data useful.
So it's one thing that I cameacross.
I was like you know what, letme try and learn something in IT
that's data analytics.
And across I was like you knowwhat, let me try and learn
something in it that's dataanalytics and see how I can
apply myself in that field.
So I feel that every individualshouldn't restrict their
(40:14):
themselves in their niche.
Try to think outside the box,go outside and learn certain
things and improve yourself wow,that's, that's solid um.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Have you got a question for our next guest?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
let me see, yes yes, I have a question for our next
guest.
My question to my to the nextguest.
Let me see.
Yes, yes, I have a question forour next guest.
My question to the next guestwould be that if you had an
opportunity to set up abillboard in your hometown for
one month and this billboardcould display any message at all
(40:46):
, what would that message be andwhy?
Speaker 2 (40:49):
Wow, this is so different.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
yeah, wow, okay so the person can have a lot of
things to say it's been such anawesome conversation with you.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
I've enjoyed from the moment you walked in up until
now.
I coupled with the fact thatyou know you've produced for me
before.
You know it's amazing seeingyou.
Is there anything you want totell our audience?
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Right.
I want to tell my audience thatit's important that you brush
your teeth your teeth twicedaily.
Floss at least once everysingle day.
Cut down your sugar intake.
Visit the dentist at least onceevery six months.
It's really going to help toimprove your oral health.
Even if you can't go and seeyour dentist twice in a year, at
(41:41):
least on your birthday, justtry as much as possible to visit
the dentist.
The other thing I would alsowant to leave with you guys is
that you should never stop beingthe best version of yourself.
Never say that you are at alevel you are fulfilled at that
level.
Keep asking why, why is thishappening?
What can I do to improve this?
(42:01):
Always try to learn and improveyourself.
And I also want to thank Derekfor having me on this podcast.
It's been an honor being onthis podcast.
I really this podcast.
I really love it.
Connected minds.
If you've not subscribed tothis channel, please, please
subscribe.
It's on apple apple podcast.
It's on youtube.
It's even on instagram.
You get shot except of that oninstagram.
(42:21):
So please do well to subscribeand you'll never regret it he's
already done the job for me, sostay connected.
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