For Mama

Every time that I smile,
Every time that I sigh,
It is your face that I see
Many tears fill my eyes.

You were my world,
My inspiration and my heart,
But then you had to go,
Leaving me all torn apart.

I didn't want to live without you,
But you would have wanted me to,
And if there's anyone I wanted to make happy,
That anyone is you.

I would have given anything to have you back,
But it was God Himself who sent you home
I won't question, argue and complain
I'll let you go for now, I'll withstand all the pain.

I'll make you proud mama,
I'm going to fulfill your every wish,
You're going to see me from above and smile,
Till we walk again together, in His heavenly aisle.

written by Joee Guilas for his mother Elenita


I would have written this for my beautiful mom Blandina Araojo,

I miss her quiet and soft words of advice to me
Her kind, smiling, lovely face
Her sense of humor
Her laugh  
Her sense of style (simple and elegant)
Her thoughtfulness, her cooking
Her look to my dad (love)
Her amusement to us, her children and grandchildren
Her everyday prayer of the rosary to our Lady of Perpetual Help
She grew up in the province of Bicol
She was an epitome of a good mother
And I love her so much

This Coming Presidential Election

The summer heat is taking its toll on the land and its water resources. And now the coming election is taking its toll on our natural resources, the Filipino people. We are bombarded by the different advertisement of these presidential candidates in television, print media, etc. Their follies and lunacy are now showing in their campaign ads and once they open their mouth you can tell the content of their brain cell (have you seen their debates). You can tell their mindset in this campaign. Here are some of my observation: 1 or 2 candidates are vindictive, 1 or 2 are full of hatred and anger (how can we move on to the future), everybody wants the (intoxicating) power and 2 as if not here (2 como si no aqui).

This election is no laughing matter. The future of this country is on the line and this is our moment to make a change. Filipinos should weigh everything they read and hear. It's up for us to decipher what's true or what's false, this is a democratic country. I respect other people's opinion but it is up to me to decide whom I will choose.

I'm not related to Pres Arroyo or anyone in her cabinet. In my view, she is a very hard working president but one cannot deny that media is giving her a bad light. She accomplished a lot of thing like the infrastructures, the PNR got a new lease of life (it's a great way to travel to the country), the LRT and MRT is the most efficient and cheapest way to go around the metro, there's the pasig catamaran (less traffic), the ro-ro (roll on - roll off) connecting the islands, and the beautiful NLEX and SLEX etc etc etc. Isn't it unfair to read or hear commentators saying negative things about her. Alright it's a free country and everybody is entitled to his/her opinion but please give credit where credit is due. With her vice-president Noli de Castro, they accomplished a lot that no other president or vice-pres. has done before. To paint her as a villain is totally unfair. Kudos to Gibo and Edu for standing by her and being gentlemen. Of course, I want GMA's plans for the country to continue.

We are facing a very challenging times and Year of the Tiger is not for the faint hearted. The next leader has to be able to possess a FORESIGHT to carry this country ahead of these challenges we are facing and will be facing. Never let emotion get the best of you when choosing a leader, think logically, decipher their words and when they open their mouth, look for the telltale signs if they are lying or not. Trust me in your heart you will know. Remember our future (children) is at stake here so pray that we'll be guided by the Holy Spirit.

An alternative Fixed Partial Denture

Of course this is a case to case basis. I suggested this after assessing my patient's case. She has a missing central incisor (left), wearing a removable partial denture, and all her teeth are in good condition but her gum on 21 is knife edge. Definitely implant is out of the question due to her financial status and she doesn't want to have her 2 adjacent teeth be minimized or prepared as abutment for Fixed Partial Denture. So I offered this alternative, a Maryland Bridge framework using Ribbond ( bondable reinforcement ribbon) and no laboratory or no waiting for days. I chose a plastic pontic shade 66 (A2), put retention holes at the back and followed the instruction of ribbond. I checked my record , this ribbond Fixed Bridge was made on March 23, 2004 for my 34 years old female patient. She had it checked only once last year due to some sharp thing sticking out at the lingual side. I just trimmed it with round diamond bur and it's still in good shape. You could see in the photos the steps i did on my patient.

A BRIGHT SMILE - BRIGHT FUTURE FOR MANILA PATRIOTIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

It's been a year since my 1st Kiddie Health Talk with the kindergarten and nursery students of MANILA PATRIOTIC SCHOOL (AY KOK). This year the event was held much later due to some unforeseen natural calamity like the typhoon Ondoy and Santi, but I am proud to say that we (at the clinic department) presented a highly engaging Health Talk with these new batch of adorable kids last friday (Dec 4, 2009). Nurse Janet Sison showed these students the very basic of proper hygiene, Dr Jescelyn Sison (not related) lectured on the importance of nutritional food to a growing child, and the title of my lecture 'Oral Health is Wealth'.

I was fortunate enough to be accommodated by Ms Jac Saez-Abadia (Bright Smile Bright Future Manager of COLGATE-PALMOLIVE PHIL.) for making this event a success . Each students received their colgate toothpastes and toothbrushes. Thanks also to Iam or Ayam my colgate dent rep. who gave me the name of Ms Jac Abadia.

What I've noticed with some people especially children, they don't know the proper way of toothbrushing. Some don't even use dental floss or are not aware of flossing. I like this Kiddie Health Talk because in this way I can influence, inform and teach the parents as well as their children how to care for their teeth (their great asset). It's like hitting two birds in one stone. I've also noticed that some filipinos are not too keen with their oral health and that they are more discerning with their outward appearances. In recent studies it shows that severe gum disease is somewhat associated to certain medical conditions.

Parents, your children should brush their teeth at least twice a day for 2 mins (make it fun and a bonding moment ), let them floss after every meal and visit your dentist twice a year. It's never to early to start cleaning the gum of your child with wet gauze after he/she finished his/her bottled (formula) milk and don't put them to sleep with their bottle in their mouth, that's when the sugar from milk start to destroy the enamel of the teeth (milk caries).

In the photos, there's the vice-principal Ms Lim, the great teachers of kindergarten and nursery (locals and imported from china), the cool clinic department personnel and the parents of the winner of mr and ms hygiene 2009.

PRICE LIST OF ISDC

Ivory Sky Dental Clinic

738 T. Mapua Street Santa Cruz Manila 1003 Phone no. (632) 7352686 Fax (632) 7352686

Aesthetic Dentistry	unit	php	usd
Zoom 21 Tooth Whitening	person	20,500	436
BriteSmile Tooth Whitening+HOC	person	25,000	532
Home tooth bleaching		10,000	213
General Dentistry/ Preventive
Check-up, treatment plan	visit	Free	Free
oral prophylaxis (mild-heavy)	person	700-1200	15 - 26
op w/ flouride (child)	person	800	17
scaling and planing	person	10000	213
X-ray Films
Periapical film (small)	film	350	7.45
Filing Replacements
Composite resin	per surface	800	170
Glass Ionomer cement	per surface	600	128
Crowns
Porcelain (Shofu) fused to standard alloy	crown	6,000	128
Porcelain (Vita) fused to standard alloy	crown	7,000	149
Porcelain (Zeo) fused to semi-precious alloy>50% Tilite	crown	9,500	202
Porcelain fused to semi-precious alloy >85% Bio-Gold	crown	20,200	430
IPS E Max All Ceramics	crown	20,000	426
(new) Cerconia ceramic	crown	27,500	585
(new) Captec ceramic	crown	27,500	585
(new) ceramage	crown	12,000	255
Veneers
Porcelain veneer: IPS Empress II	veneer	15,000	319
Endodontic/ Root Canal Tx
anterior teeth	tooth	5,000	107
premolar teeth	tooth	8,500	180
molar teeth	tooth	12,000	255
metal/resin pin	each	3,000	64
core build-up	tooth	1,000	22
Oral Surgery
tooth extraction	tooth	500-1000	11-22
Surgical removal of impacted (simple) tooth		4500/6000	96 -128
Surgical removal of impacted (complicated) tooth		5000/9000	107- 192
Prosthodontics/ Removable Partial Denture
resin pontics (ant & post)
RPD claspless (naturatone)	plate	3,500	75
RPD claspless (ivoclar) resin	plate	8,000	170

RPD wire clasp (naturatone)	plate	4,500	96
RPD wire clasp (ivoclar)	plate	9,000	192
RPD casted clasp (naturatone)	plate	5,250	112
RPD casted clasp (ivoclar)	plate	9,250	197
porcelain pontics (ant & post)
RPD casted clasp (naturadent)	plate	6,500	138
RPD casted clasp (bioform)	plate	13,000	277
One Piece Resin Pontics	plate
naturatone pontics		16500	351
ivoclar pontics		18,500	394
One Piece Porcelain Pontics	plate
naturadent pontics		21,000	447
biofrom pontics		25,000	532
(new) biofunctional prosthetic system BPS
VALPLAST
unilateral	plate	16000	340
bilateral	plate	18000	383
combination w/ metal frame	plate	21500	458
Prosthodontics/ Complete Denture
Ivocap w/ ivoclar pontics
partial	U or L	15000	320
complete	U or L	21000	447
with BPS	U or L	25200	536
acrylic resin Full denture U/L	U/L	24000	510
Orthodontics
fix metal braces	case	55000-70000	1170-1490
ceramic or tooth colored braces	case	75000-85000	1596-1808
Invisalign	case	225000	4787
Implantology
ITI Straumann implant w/ crown	implant	95000	2022