Doktor gigi melihat plak gigi.

In Malay, many job titles and noun phrases are built from two nouns together.

• doktor = doctor
• gigi = tooth / teeth

So doktor gigi literally means tooth doctor, which is the normal way to say dentist.

This is very common in Malay. The first noun is the main thing, and the second noun explains what kind of thing it is.

For example:

• rumah sakit in Indonesian used to mean hospital, though Malay usually uses hospital
• kereta api = train, literally fire vehicle

So doktor gigi is not strange or overly literal; it is the standard expression.

Because the two instances of gigi belong to different noun phrases:

• doktor gigi = dentist
• plak gigi = dental plaque / tooth plaque

So the sentence is made up like this:

• Doktor gigi = subject
• melihat = verb
• plak gigi = object

Even though gigi appears twice, it is serving two separate roles:

• first: describes the kind of doctor
• second: describes the kind of plaque

This repetition is completely natural in Malay.

This sentence follows the most basic Malay word order:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Doktor gigi = the dentist
• melihat = sees / saw / is seeing
• plak gigi = dental plaque

That is the same basic order as English: The dentist sees plaque.

Malay often uses straightforward word order in simple statements, which makes basic sentence structure relatively easy for English speakers.

Malay usually does not use articles like English a, an, and the.

So:

• doktor gigi can mean a dentist or the dentist
• plak gigi can mean dental plaque, a dental plaque, or the plaque, depending on context

Malay relies heavily on context to show whether something is definite or indefinite.

If needed, speakers can add other words to make the meaning clearer, but in many ordinary sentences they simply leave articles out.

That means a sentence like Doktor gigi melihat plak gigi could be understood in English in different ways depending on context:

• The dentist sees dental plaque
• A dentist saw the plaque
• The dentist is looking at plaque on the teeth

English forces you to choose more explicitly; Malay often does not.

By itself, melihat does not mark tense the way English verbs do.

So melihat can mean:

• see
• sees
• saw
• is seeing
• was seeing

The exact tense usually comes from context or from time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow

For example:

• Doktor gigi melihat plak gigi semalam = The dentist saw dental plaque yesterday.
• Doktor gigi sedang melihat plak gigi = The dentist is looking at dental plaque.

So in the original sentence, melihat is neutral with respect to tense.

The verb melihat comes from the root lihat, which relates to seeing or looking.

The prefix here is part of the meN- verb-forming system, which often creates an active verb. In this case:

• root: lihat
• derived verb: melihat = to see / to look at

For a beginner, the most useful thing to remember is:

• lihat = the base idea
• melihat = the normal active verb used in sentences like this

You do not need to analyze the prefix every time, but it helps to know that many Malay verbs are formed this way.

Because melihat already works as a transitive verb, meaning it can take a direct object.

So you say:

• melihat plak gigi = see dental plaque / look at dental plaque

In English, we often distinguish between:

• see something
• look at something

Malay melihat can cover that space more simply in many contexts. So no extra word like at is needed here.

Yes, plak gigi is a normal and understandable Malay phrase, especially in health or dental contexts.

It is built in the same noun + noun pattern:

• plak = plaque
• gigi = tooth / teeth

So plak gigi means tooth plaque or dental plaque.

Malay often forms technical or descriptive expressions this way, especially for medical or scientific ideas.

Gigi can refer to tooth or teeth, depending on context.

Malay nouns generally do not change form for singular vs. plural the way English nouns do.

So:

• gigi may mean tooth
• gigi may mean teeth

In phrases like:

• doktor gigi = dentist
• plak gigi = dental plaque

it is best to think of gigi more generally as tooth/teeth-related.

The sentence is grammatically fine as it is, but in real conversation or writing, Malay often adds context words if needed.

For example:

• Doktor gigi itu melihat plak gigi. = That/The dentist sees the dental plaque.
• Doktor gigi sedang melihat plak gigi. = The dentist is looking at the dental plaque.
• Seorang doktor gigi melihat plak gigi. = A dentist sees dental plaque.

So the original sentence is a good simple model sentence, but native speakers may naturally add words like:

• itu = that / the
• seorang = a / one person who is...
• sedang = in the process of

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

dok-tor gi-gi me-li-hat plak gi-gi

A few helpful notes:

• g in gigi is always a hard g, like in go
• h in melihat is pronounced
• Malay spelling is generally quite phonetic compared with English

Very roughly for an English speaker:

• doktor ≈ dock-tor
• gigi ≈ gee-gee
• melihat ≈ muh-lee-haht
• plak ≈ plahk

The exact vowels may vary by accent, but Malay pronunciation is usually fairly regular once you learn the sound system.