Do you know how often I get the question of how to floss and how few people actually know?, Says dentist Farbod Sharifi (31) while looking straight into the camera. In the meantime, he takes a piece of floss, skillfully wrapping it several times around his middle fingers, and with the help of his index fingers and thumbs he makes it smooth between his teeth. “So.”
The video is on Tiktok, where ‘Dentistfarbod’ has more than 92,000 followers. Sharifi studied dentistry in Riga and in 2021 opened his dental practice in a chic outbuilding in the garden of his parents in Amsterdam. Shortly thereafter he started his Tiktok account, where he is one of the few Dutch dentists active. In the past four years he placed more than six hundred videos, which earned him 3.2 million likes and some gathered millions of views.
I want to show: don’t keep walking around with complaints, we can also solve a lot
His mission: everyone via Tiktok provides knowledge about mouth and teeth. “When I started my practice, I found out that people really have no idea what is happening in their mouths.” In the chair, patients were found to be poorly brushing and (not) flossing. They did not know words such as caries, gingivitis or periodontitis. They also often had no knowledge about the difference between a crown and a facing, or between an inlay, onlay and overlay. “I thought, it should be different.”
More and more care providers, such as dermatologists, general practitioners and specialists, share information via social media. That’s not surprising: out Research from Statistics Netherlands From 2023 it appears that almost three -quarters of Dutch people aged twelve and older online are looking for information about health, lifestyle or diseases. Social media are often the first place where young people look. There they regularly encounter disinformation, think of the claim that sunscreen would conceive cancer or that the pill leads to infertility. Also about Oral Care is disinformation, Hans de Vries, chairman of Dental Association KNMT, fluoride, would be dangerous and rinsing for a long time with coconut oil would give whiter teeth. “There are even influencers who present themselves as a dentist, while they are not, and selling products whose operation has not been proven.”
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Dull
That is why it is important to increase the knowledge of people, says Sharifi. “Anyone who understands how the teeth work will take better care of it. Seek help faster if something is wrong. And not kicking nonsense.”
He also sees misleading messages on Tiktok. Such as over remedies to whiter teeth. Here, he shows a video of a boy brushing his teeth with a white, burning powder. “That is a kind of abrasive. You remove it with it, but also part of your glaze. So don’t do it.”
A subject that Sharifi often warns of is the phenomenon ‘Turkey Teeth’. Years ago the first influencers flew to Turkish clinics to grind their teeth into small stumps, after which pure white crowns were placed over it. The result: a straight teeth, in a few hours and for a few hundred euros.
Before you know it you have an inflammation, bone breakdown or unbearable pain. And yes, you will also smell terribly from Turkey Teeth
According to him, many people wrongly think that those ‘fake teeth’ are facings. “A facing is a thin shield over your tooth, you only have to sharpen a little bit. In Turkey they place crowns, often made factory -made in one size fits all. Sometimes even in blocks of multiple teeth. They fit poorly, do not close well, break down and there remains dirt between the gums and the crowns. Before you know it you have an inflammation, bone breakdown or unbearable pain. And yes, you will also stink enormously from your mouth. Really very bad. ”
Sharifi sighs. Your teeth are ruined and do you know how many messages I get from people who have this misery? A lot of. And it is not always possible to renovate. Moreover, restoring is pricey. ” So: have knowledge of your teeth, says Sharifi.
Cave
Every day ‘Dentistfarbod’ gets new followers. And every day Sharifi’s Inbox is full of new questions. People want to know: why is my tooth sensitive after a filling? You can inflamed gums get through facings? How does gray gums arise? How did cave dwellers actually deal with wisdom teeth?
Recently someone wanted to know whether withdrawn gums can still be repaired. Sharifi picks up his phone again and shows a close-up of a tooth with a clearly visible tooth neck. In the corresponding video he explains: “We can fill the lost gums with gums from your palate.” He points in his mouth. “We remove a strip, we stick it over it and attach it to us. Within a week it will be one whole again.” Sharifi: “I want to show: don’t keep walking around with complaints, we can also solve a lot.”
Sharifi also places videos on topics that he finds important. Like an apparently small hole, which appears to be deeper and more serious than expected during drilling. “So now you know: even with a small hole, you immediately go to the dentist.”
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Dentist association KNMT is happy with dentists such as Sharifi who provide information via social media. “We ourselves give the correct information based on scientific research, via allesoverhetgebit.nl,” says chairman De Vries. “But on a site you only end up when you are actively looking for an explanation. The advantage of social media can be that dental tips and explanation spontaneously appear in someone’s timeline. This is how you reach a wider audience. That’s why we want to expand on social media.”
Does Sharifi earn the content on Tiktok? “Indirectly, because of course it attracts customers, they now come to my practice from all parts of the country.”