Law allows dentists to carry out orthodontic treatment

PETALING JAYA: Any general dentist can carry out orthodontic treatment as it is allowed under the Dental Act, according to the Malaysian Orthodontic Practi­tio­ners’ Association.

“Orthodontic treatment is within the scope of practice of a general dental practitioner,” said its president Dr Kathiravan Purmal.

He said the role of the general dentist was to manage non-complicated orthodontic cases and refer the complicated ones to the orthodontist.

“If they choose to treat any orthodontic case themselves, they are expected to complete the case as well as any orthodontist,” he said.

Orthodontists have expressed concern that general dentists are not adequately trained to carry out orthodontic treatment, resulting in some complications.

Dr Kathiravan, who has postgraduate qualifications in orthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery, said the association conducts regular courses for dentists with special interest in orthodontics and do audits on cases to improve and provide the best treatment.

He said that of the 74 complaints handled by the Malaysian Dental Association in the past five years, only two were orthodontic cases and one of them involved an orthodontist, indicating even specialist dentists were not free of complaints.

He said there was also a shortage of orthodontists in Malaysia and places for full-time orthodontic programmes were limited as priority was given to those in the government service.

“Overseas programmes are equally tough to get in and it costs RM1mil to RM1.5mil, not including loss of income for three to four years,” he said.

While the Malaysian Ortho­dontists Association said orthodontics worldwide was recognised as a dental speciality requiring an additional three to four years of a structured, accredited course at a recognised university, Dr Khathiravan said general dentists in most countries were allowed to do all procedures, including orthodontics.

There were also no restriction to general dental practitioners from practising orthodontics in the United States and Britain where the ratio of orthodontist to population (United States 1:23,000, Britain 1:70,000) was far better than Malaysia’s (1:220,000), he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Dental Council president Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said orthodontics is a specialised branch of dentistry.

“While general dentists can treat simple cases of malocclusion, a specialist must treat severe or serious malocclusions,” said Dr Noor Hisham, who is also Health director-general.

He said the dental practitioner should know the limit of their ability and refer cases accordingly.