Dental patients do have choices

19 Jul 2006, Today

Question

Name of the Person: Goh Kian Huat

Dental patients do have choices

Much has been said about the overcrowding and long queues at polyclinics. The situation at Government dental clinics is no different. I visit the dental clinic at Jurong Polyclinics regularly for my dental check-up, polishing, scaling and other basic treatment. The clinic, with two or three dental surgeons on duty, accords priority to patients who have set an appointment. Patients who book an appointment are usually given a date at least three months away, regardless of their dental condition. If, for some reason, a patient needs to change the appointment date, the next appointment could be six months away. Walk-in patients are advised of a long waiting time and that they will be served if there are time slots available. Those who are unlikely to be served before lunch time for the morning session, or before closing time for the afternoon session, are turned away. Walk-in patients for dental check-ups will not be entertained even if they are prepared to wait. This is not consistent with the Health Promotion Board's advice to go for a regular dental check-up. Because of long queues, dental surgeons can only spend a few minutes of their time on each patient. For example, they would do a simple scaling and polishing. If minor follow-up action is required (such as fillings), they will require patients to make another trip even though the job will take only about five minutes. Patients who need further treatment are not allowed to book an appointment. Instead, they are advised to call the clinic at 8am daily to check if they can be given a slot. The unsatisfactory situation is the result of dental clinics struggling to cope with great demand in the face of limited human resources. While the Ministry of Health is taking action to improve the quality of service in polyclinics, the capacity of dental clinics should also be improved through the recruitment of more dental surgeons and assistants. Notwithstanding the subsidy given to patients, public services should meet acceptable standards.

Reply

Reply from MOH 

In "The dentist is swamped" (TDY, 19 Jul), Mr Goh Kian Huat commented on the long wait for dental appointment at polyclinics and asked if overworked dentists compromise quality of care. 

Our dental services at polyclinics are heavily subsidised as a safety net to ensure that our dental services remain accessible and affordable to the needy. The subsidies mean that there are inevitably a large number of patients wanting to use our services. Nevertheless, dental care will not be compromised. Patients who need urgent or emergency treatment are attended to as soon as possible. The others are placed on a first-come first-served waiting list. Basic dental treatment, routine check-ups, scaling, and polishing are non-urgent cases. Although appointments may be in 3 to 6 months' time, the waiting time is still well within acceptable standards of dental care. 

Unlike private dental clinics, the public sector is not able to provide on-demand service. Overall, however, there is no shortage of dentists in Singapore. Our dentist-population ratio of 1: 2500 is comparable or better than some of the developed countries like Australia, NZ and the UK. The bulk of these are in the private sector as the heavily subsidised public clinics are intended to focus on those who have financial difficulty. For people who desire faster service for basic treatment and routine scaling and polishing, they have the choice of seeing a private dentist. 

MOH will continue to promote greater transparency for common dental procedures so that patients are more informed about the choices they have on where they can get dental treatment.