Forum: Review how dental subsidies are applied
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I refer to Dr Eugene Tang’s letter “ Oral health is a cornerstone of healthy ageing
My 83-year-old mother is a Pioneer Generation and CHAS Blue card-holder. She has osteoporosis and is on Prolia injections, a treatment that led to the gradual loss of her teeth.
When she was left with her last two loose teeth, CHAS-approved neighbourhood dental clinics were reluctant to extract them due to concerns over potential complications.
Eventually, her attending endocrinologist referred her to the National Dental Centre’s satellite clinic at Changi General Hospital, where the extractions were done smoothly.
What was surprising was that no Pioneer Generation or CHAS subsidies applied, as my mother was classified as a “private” patient. Yet patients who seek care at neighbourhood dental clinics are also, in effect, private patients. In cases like my mother’s, turning to hospital-based dental care was not a matter of choice, but medical necessity.
If oral health is indeed fundamental to healthy ageing, as Dr Tang points out, perhaps the Ministry of Health could review how dental subsidies are applied in such situations, so that elderly patients are not financially disadvantaged simply because their dental care must be provided in a hospital setting.
Stephen Tan
