SHAH ALAM, MAY 1: The existence of fake dentists and illegal dental services that are spreading in this country are worrying and more aggravating is when people are unaware of it.
Director General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, the government viewed these problems seriously when recently the Health Ministry regularly receives complaints from patients that suffer serious complications after receiving treatments from the illegal services.
Among the illegal treatment services is pulling teeth, make dentures, orthodontics, dental scaling and teeth polishing (cleaning of teeth) and whitening strips.
“The Health Ministry was upset because peoples are lack of awareness, didn’t know that the person who provides the dental services are not recognised.
“The patients can experience pain and infections such as mouth ulcers, loose or damaged teeth, gums swelling and abscess, in addition to risk of contracting AIDS and hepatitis, if the equipment used is not sterilized properly,” he reported in Sin Chew Daily.
Hisham said 46 complaints of illegal dental treatment received by the Ministry of Health involving 10 cases in 2015, 28 cases in 2016 and eight cases so far in March.
Dr Hisham said, as many as 18 cases brought to court since 2015 until now, with the latest case occurred on 30 March, involving a women from Indonesia that are unqualified been fined RM300,000 by the court for illegal dental clinic opened in Johor.
He advised the public to visit http://dpims.moh.gov.my website to determine the dentist qualification before getting dental treatment.
This is because, he said, only a dentist that is accredited and registered with the Malaysian Dental Council can give treatment to the public under the Dental Act 1971.
Do not be fooled by fake dentists
