We refer to the article “One in two Singapore kids has rotten teeth: Report” (Straits Times, May 15).
More than half and more children with rotten teeth?
It states that “More than half of all children in Singapore have one or more rotten teeth by the time they start primary school.
A report on the oral health of schoolchildren found that the proportion of children with dental caries at the age of seven had gone up from 47.6 per cent in 2003, to 50.6 per cent last year.”
Public fees much higher than private clinics?
According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) web site’s Average Fee for Dental Procedures – 7 out of the 8 dental procedures listed show that the fees at public institutions are substantially higher than private dental clinics.
For example, for Crowns (capping) – single unit
– Public Institutions $605 – $765
Private Dental Clinics $400 – $1,605
For Full Dentures – Per Arch
– Public Institutions $521 – $732
Private Dental Clinics $250 – $1,500
How is it possible that the cost of dental treatment at a public dental institution is more than 50% of that charged by private dental clinics?
Are there any countries that have this strange phenomena?
Public subsidised dental services is a joke in Singapore?
Ask any dental professional in Singapore, and you may discover that public “subsidised” dental treatment is a “challenge” for the lower-income, because the public dental polyclinics generally do not accept walk-ins, except in “emergency” cases.
Appointments for “subsidised” dental treatment can be months if not years.
Walk-ins to the National Dental Centre are as I was told – charged non-subsidised rates.
Let the numbers do the talking?
With only 944,000 Attendances at Public Sector Dental Clinics in 2013 – against a population of about 5.4 million – you may get some indication of how “unaffordable” dental treatment is, particularly for the lower-income.
SY Lee and Leong Sze Hian
