Smile is perhaps the most beautiful expression one can give that asks nothing more than a smile in return. To maintain the million-dollar smile of ours, taking care of oral hygiene is important. Apart from good food habits and regular brushing, a visit to a dental practitioner once in a while ensures that our smile remains beautiful.
Good oral hygiene is as simple and basic as brushing twice daily and flossing regularly between teeth. As renowned dentists in Pune, this is what Dr. Saif Sayed and Dr. Sanah Sayed share with their patients. They also make sure to create awareness among people during casual social gatherings, conduct small talks at club meetings and more importantly, share such information on their virtual social platforms. They also write informative posts or share the same on their virtual walls.
Here’s how the doctor-duo has been taking care of their patients’ oral health and spreading awareness about it even in the current pandemic.
Kindly brief us about your journey as a dental practitioner and your clinic.
iSmyle is a concept that is born out of a combined creation of two minds, two thought processes and two qualifications.
Dr. Saif Sayed, a general dental practitioner, has been practicing for the past four years. He focuses more on the functionality of a tooth. He ensures that patients under his care undergo required dental treatments such as tooth fillings, root canal treatments and gum treatments, all of which contribute to a healthy chewing habit.
Dr. Sanah Sayed has done her specialization in cosmetic dentistry. She appreciates the finer, aesthetic aspects of teeth.
We combine our qualifications and our approaches, making us come to a common decision of providing the best treatment to you, in terms of both functionality and aesthetics. And that is when we ‘recreate smiles’… all over again!!
What is your opinion on the adaption of novel technologies in dental science?
It is important that every dentist upgrades himself/herself to rapidly evolving technologies and techniques when it comes to clinical dentistry. It is all about ‘evolve or perish’. As dentists practicing in a city like Pune, we had to quickly and regularly upgrade ourselves to Digital Dentistry. With digitization, we can completely design a custom-made smile for our patients in less than 15 minutes. Going digital has made dental implants very predictable and quick, and zero error. Intraoral digital scans are replacing routine mouth impressions is a blessing for the dentist and more importantly, the patient.
Digital IS the future and the same applies to dentistry!
What difficulties has the pandemic brought about for your clinic and the dentistry in general? How are you equipping yourself/your clinic to manage the same?
As dentists, we must realize that no health care worker comes as close to the human saliva as us. We are the ONLY professionals who receive saliva and oral micro-organisms in an aerosol form. This is by far the riskiest form of a viral spread because these aerosols can effortlessly float in the entire dental clinic, eventually settling themselves on the skin, oral mucosa, clothes, and can enter a human body through these channels, along with direct contact with eyes and nostrils.
As dental professional ourselves, these are our set of protocols, and so should be yours, once we all start treating patients:
- Personal protection and staff protection:
We must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) which must involve N95 masks, surgical scrubs that cover the entire body till ends of all four extremities and shoe covers. A surgical, disposable head cap along with eyeglasses and face shield is what we must wear, to ensure there is no cross-contamination.
- Post Treatment and between patients:
After any treatment, thorough surgical washing of hands with disinfectant and then applying sanitizer must be done. The staff must thoroughly clean all surfaces like doorknobs, table tops etc. with an appropriate surface disinfectant. Enough instruments and sterilization packets must be ready and equipped for a day’s practice. Fumigation protocols must be practiced at least twice daily which means closing the premises for two hours after the procedure. Also, we need to maintain social distancing in the reception area.
- Written Consent:
Every patient must sign a written consent, along with the procedure, that they are not currently having any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough, fever, breathlessness, etc. This should be done in addition to screening temperature for every patient who steps inside with a no-touch thermometer.
- Prioritize treatments:
This goes without saying, patients having pain related treatments must be taken in first. As we start our practice, there will be a lot of troubleshooting that we may learn and overcome on the job. It is best to not crowd the practice for a few days to learn the best way to cope up with the situation. The number of patients we see each day can increase as we have an internal management protocol in place with all team members and staff exercising them efficiently.
What have you planned for yourself/your clinic (in terms of expansion or new equipment) in the coming years?
In the coming years, iSmyle plans to go completely digital. We are already into digital smile designs, digitally-driven implant dentistry and digital simulation of a particular treatment. With time, we aim to provide only digital treatment options to our patients, which would result in less chair time, better and more predictable results with no room for error.
The Smile Experts
Dr. Saif Sayed, a certified Implant Surgeon is the Co-Admin at iSmyle. He ensures that you walk out of iSmyle, completely aware of your oral health, along with a promise of best dental treatment. He has been practicing dentistry for the past 10 years and is an expert in various dental treatments. His first instinct is to save your original tooth, improve its functionality, and ensure a natural smile.
Dr. Sayed stays passionately up-to-date on the latest developments in dentistry and brings revolutionary new techniques and technologies into the practice. His certificates proudly displayed in the reception area are proof of his dedication towards his profession. For him, patients are a priority, and he is the main reason why iSmyle is a patient-centric dental practice.
Dr. Sanah Sayed is a certified Cosmetic Dentist, who has completed her post graduate course in Aesthetics from Manipal University, Karnataka. She has also trained for three years with one of India’s leading Cosmetologist, Dr. Suhas Lele. Dr. Sanah has also treated various celebrities and TV personalities and has been the Associate Dentist on the panel of Femina Miss India 2013. She is currently the Smile Mentor for Mr. and Miss. Personality Pune.
At iSmyle, she exclusively practices Cosmetic Dentistry and is the expert in Full Mouth Rehabilitation, as she appreciates the finer, aesthetic aspects of teeth. She carefully and patiently works on one tooth at a time to give it a natural, lively look.
