FRESH dental graduate Kong Sheng Earn will always remember the big smile on his patients' faces the first time they wear their dentures.
Before getting their new set of dentures made at a clinic set up by the Penang International Dental College (PIDC) in Butterworth, they could not speak or eat properly as old age and poor oral health had resulted in tooth loss.
"You can't help but share the patients' joy when you see how happy they are (with their new look)," says Kong, one of 17 Bachelor of Dental Surgery pioneering students who graduated from the private dental college recently.
Khong, like many aspiring dentists, admits that he was initially lured into Dentistry by the prospect of a career that pays good money.
Some also believe that the five-year freeze on medical courses beginning last month has turned the spotlight on dental courses and may attract more young people to consider the field.
The government recently imposed a five-year moratorium on medical courses to cut the glut of housemen in hospitals apart from weeding out low quality graduates and programmes.
Seasoned dentists are unsure whether or not dental programmes will get a boost from the move but new graduates view it positively (see accompanying report).
It appears that other young Malaysians also rely on Internet research and conversations with dentists to help them choose dental courses over other options such as Pharmacy, Medicine and Biomedicine.
Chong says: "I have always wanted to be in the healthcare line and help the community like those in Doctors without Borders. My family believes that Dentistry fits my personality and will work well with my plan to juggle my career and family (in the future)".
The "fixed working hours" and "by appointment only" schedule that the majority of dentists keep may have given some young people the idea that dentistry is suitable for women who want a career in healthcare minus the long hours.
"This may be true when you've set up your own private clinic. But all new dentists should expect to work long hours at the start of their careers," he says.
"This job is about serving people. If you are not willing to go the extra mile, then you are in the wrong field. You must have the passion to treat and cure or you won't go far," says the University of Malaya (UM)-trained dental surgeon.
That students need to put in the time and effort to pass the demanding dental course is a given, says Malaysian Dental Association president Datuk Dr How Kim Chuan.
"Apart from exams, dental students are also assessed on how well they communicate with patients and solve their problems," says Annabel Shanta, valedictorian of her graduating class at PIDC.
As a senior tutor at UM in the early 90s, Dr Grewal constantly reminded his students to treat their patients as a "whole person and not just an aching tooth".
"Make the effort to check beyond their complaint. Patients deserve to know what else (besides the current problem that they have) that needs attention. If nothing else is wrong with their teeth, compliment them on their good oral hygiene," he adds.
"Teach them how to prevent their tooth problem from recurring such as the correct way of brushing. Dentists must impart their knowledge to patients. If they don't, then they have failed," says Dr Grewal, who set up his own private clinic after his stint as a tutor.
"Dentists are regular people with various interests outside of their jobs; they sing, play music, dance and act. In short, the dental profession welcomes people of all talents," says Dr How, a National University of Singapore graduate.
Chong, Annabel and Khong are itching to start their compulsory government training which is designed to further hone their skills and enable them to apply their knowledge.
They have chosen hospitals near their hometowns Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negri Sembilan but know that where they end up is not for them to decide.
Dr Grewal remembers his compulsory training as a place where he learned the realities of the job and encourages new dentists to embrace the experience.
LOCAL dentists are in two minds about the impact the five-year freeze on medical courses will have on young Malaysians' interest in dental courses.
The government imposed a five-year freeze on new medical courses in Malaysia last month to reduce the glut of housemen in hospitals apart from weeding out low quality graduates and programmes.
Insiders suspect it will have little effect on student intake at the existing 11 dental faculties in Malaysia, which have traditionally signed up a limited number of students per year.
Ministry of Health's oral health division principal director Datuk Dr Norain Abu Talib says: "The number of students that public and private dental schools can accept is regulated by the Malaysian Dental Council. A new dental faculty in public universities starts with some 30 students, whereas a private one begins with 50.
"Dentistry is a field that is dependent on equipment so the intake is raised slowly over time in tandem with the number of dental chairs that the institutions can add."
Penang International Dental College chief executive officer Datuk Dr S Sharavanan says the college began in 2006 offering 50 places.
The number of places available may seem small but Dr Norain assures that dental graduates released annually are enough to meet the dentist- patient ratio of 1:4,000 by 2020.
"We need 8,700 dentists by then and we already have 3,810 registered dentists, the majority (2,055) of whom are in the public sector," she says.
It is estimated that Malaysia can produce fewer than 800 new dentists a year. In some years, such as 2010, only 321 Malaysian dental students - 92 of whom studied abroad.
"We are confident that the number of graduates will increase in years to come as some of the 11 dental schools were only established in 2008 and have yet to produce graduates," adds Dr Norain, who was trained at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
"The ratio of dentists to patients is good but the greatest concentration of dentists is in the cities, creating an imbalance," he says.
"There should be an effort to do a study on the concentration of dentists and encourage new ones to set up their private clinics in less saturated areas so that more Malaysians can have access to dental services."
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