Dentists show their teeth on radiology, oversupply woes
Professional body gets members out of their chairs, advocating for change, writes Anchalee Kongrut
Known as being bound to their chairs, dentists have been perceived as quiet and rarely engaged in social issues until recently.
But, since 2016, dentists — led by the Dental Council of Thailand — have come out to protest against the recent Radiation and Nuclear Regulation Act drafted by the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), an authority under the science ministry responsible for industrial use of radioactive material.
Dentists across the country have been up in arms after the new law requires every dental clinic to hire a special radiology expert to control dental X-ray machines, with penalties of up to 500,000 baht and a five-year jail term.
Dentists and the council have pressured the government to revise the law and grant an exemption to dental X-ray machines. The authority conceded.
This year, the council, the professional body that oversees accredited dentists across the country, has helped police investigate bogus dental braces after reports emerged that a student had died from infections caused by wearing fake braces.
“Both issues related to the standard of dentists and have effects to consumers directly. So the council needed to take a stance,” said Dr Paisan Kangvonkit, president of the Dental Council of Thailand (DCT).
“For the nuclear law, we feel consumers and dentists must be affected because OAP uses the same law with industrial factories. That is unrealistic,” Dr Paisan said.
Dr Paisan is known as a reformer at the DCT. Since becoming president in 2016, he has introduced several campaigns to upgrade the dental profession.
For instance, the council had revised the regulations surrounding dental professional licences. Usually, the council gave lifetime professional licences to dentists accredited by the DCT.
Under the new regulation, dentists who graduate and received licences since November 2016 need to renew their licence every five years. Previous lifetime dental licencees will keep their lifetime permits, yet these dentists need to meet the council requirement to take part in education.
Dentists need to prove they spent 100 units, equivalent to 100 hours within a fiveyear term, in pursuing dental education.
“At first, many dentists were upset because they feared they would have to travel to Bangkok to take a class. But we try to make life easier for them,” he said.
The council solved the problem by using an online application platform to help dentists read and comment on academic papers for claiming credit.
The council also provided more academic courses at local hospitals to ensure dentists working in rural areas get access to continual education.
Dr Paisan just received the “2018 Executive of Year” from the For Thai Social Foundation.
“Being a dentist is a popular profession but we worry about oversupply. Also, there’s a surplus of dentists in Bangkok and nearby areas while the number of dentists per capita in rural areas is very low,” he said.
The number of registered dentists is
There’s a surplus of dentists in Bangkok and nearby areas while the number of dentists per capita in rural areas is very low. PRESIDENT OF THE DENTAL COUNCIL OF THAILAND
11,191 as of this year — a huge amount compared to 1,500 dentists available across the country three decades ago.
Meanwhile, the number of dental schools have increased from four to 13. “The oversupply and concentration of dentists in Bangkok and big cities affect the national budget,” Dr Paisan said.
“The country must pay almost 500,000 baht per year to subsidise the education of a dentist. A lot of money will be wasted if the dentists do not get jobs or just serve clients in cities.”
The ratio of dentists per patients in Bangkok is 1:1,000. But there is only one dentist per 10,000 patients in northeastern provincial areas.
To decentralise the dentist workforce to serve rural people, the council is proposing special quotas for provincial students to study near their hometowns and work in their communities.
To solve the problem of oversupply, the council is proposing a main university to be involved to reduce the admission number at graduate level and focus on providing post-graduate courses instead.
He said the best strategy for improving dental services is to have local dentists teach villagers how to take care of oral hygiene and have more post-graduate specialists to help improve standards and knowledge in the profession.
“I believe oral hygiene is a good index to tell the social well being of that country. Looking at Scandinavian countries, dental schools are growing fewer and fewer...some have even closed shop, because people take good care of their teeth,” said Dr Paisan.
DR PAISAN KANGVONKIT