The recommendations of a working committee that were sent by the Singapore Dental Council (SDC) to all dentists last month will make access to the limited pool of dental specialists more difficult and charges definitely will go up.

From a patient's standpoint, I can understand that general dental work can sometimes extend into specialist work (Time to drill deeper into what's needed for training of dentists, June 13).

I trust my regular generalist dental surgeon who has decades of experience. I feel very safe under his care. I also believe that if I require specialist attention, he will make the necessary referral.

It was highlighted that there was an uptrend in complaints regarding generalist dental surgeons. Rather than being anecdotal, there should be specific examples of professional incompetence and how the particular practitioners are being disciplined.

Also, areas of weakness should be identified and addressed with further training, where applicable.

But surely, restricting practice to specialists cannot be the answer, except of course for major oral surgery.

Instead, proper training and accreditation, with certification of proficiency, should be the way to go.

Generalist dental surgeons, with many years of experience and procedures under their belt, should not be disallowed to perform these procedures with a stroke of the pen.

It is also probably legally untenable to apply a rule to existing generalist professionals who have been performing these treatments competently thus far, as this affects their livelihoods.

Singapore's standard of dental care is very high. We should not shoot ourselves in the foot by introducing unnecessary guidelines that give the impression that generalist dentists are inferior in any way.

Also, the moves will just drive patients like myself across the Causeway for dental care, hurting our economy.

Christina Ang Mui Yong