News

Public Consultation on the draft Dentists (Amendment) Bill 
Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 08:00 PM

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Dental Council is amending the Dentists Act (DA) 1999 to ensure that it is relevant to the current practice and new developments in the field of dentistry.

Key Amendments

The key amendments introduced include compulsory continuing professional education for dentists; the setting up of a Dental Specialists Register; and the registration and regulation of dental care professionals. Other amendments have also been made to allow the Dental Council to function more effectively as a regulatory body.

MOH would now like to seek the views and feedback of the public, the dental professionals and dental organisations on the draft Dentists (Amendment) Bill. Please provide your feedback in the area below. All feedback should reach the Ministry by 19 August 2006.

Benefits

These changes would ensure that Singaporeans continue to enjoy good quality dental care. Making continuing professional education compulsory for dentists will ensure that dentists keep up with the rapid changes in scientific knowledge, dental practice and development of new materials and technologies. This will enable them to better counsel and provide well-informed professional advice to patients.

In addition, the establishment of a Dental Specialists Register will allow for the growth and development of specialized dental practice and for better management of complex dental cases. The Register will list the names of dentists who have the necessary qualifications, competence and experience to practise as specialists, thus enabling patients to identify more easily dentists who have the specialised skills and expertise in specific areas of dentistry.

Related Public Consultations

Public consultation on making continuing professional education compulsory for dentists and the setting up of a Dental Specialists Register were carried out in April/May 2004. For compulsory continuing professional education for dentists, MOH received 66 responses from the public and dental professionals and for the Dental Specialists Register, 182 responses. For more details, refer to:

• Public Consultation on the Proposed Compulsory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme for Dentistry
• Public Consultation on the Proposed Establishment of a Dental Specialists Register

The Ministry is encouraged by the broad support for the implementation of compulsory continuing professional education for dentists and the setting up of a Dental Specialists Register. The feedback received was taken into consideration for the drafting of the Dentists (Amendment) Bill.