Public dental clinics in Singapore charge for missed appointments

SINGAPORE: As the first health-care institution in Singapore, the National Healthcare Group (NHG) is charging a deposit fee to patients who do not attend their appointments at the group’s five dental clinics. According to reports in the newspaper Strait Times, the fee of S$8 (US$6) will be waived for regular patients and those on public assistance or Medifund schemes. It will not be forfeited if the appointment is cancelled or rescheduled within at least three working days.

Jan 19, 2010 | ASIA PACIFIC

South Korea drives medical tourism with global conference

HONG KONG/LEIPZIG, Germany: In an effort to promote medical and dental tourism in Asia, the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) has announced its first Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism Conference, which will be held in Seoul in South Korea. The event, which has support of the government, is expected to draw over 1,000 experts from 25 countries to the capital of South Korea, including healthcare and insurance providers, travel agents and referring physicians.

Dec 11, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

First vaccine for treating gum disease

HONG KONG/LEIPZIG, Germany: Scientists from the University of Melbourne, Australia, have announced to have partnered with CSl Limited and Sanofi Pasteur, the countries largest biopharmaceutical companies, to further develop and commercialise a vaccine for the treatment of gum disease. The programme which took 10 years in development, involves bacterial peptides and proteins that trigger the immune response to periodontal inflammation. The vaccine is currently trialled in mouse models and expected to progress to clinical trials soon, the researchers said.

Nov 19, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

Interview: 'Patients’ satisfaction towards functional reconstruction is very high'

With increasing public awareness of the benefits of dental implants, an increasing number of patients are considering this treatment option. While current studies often focus only on clinical aspects such as osseo-integration, patient responses to psychological and psychosocial changes are only infrequently addressed. Dental Tribune International Group Editor Daniel Zimmermann spoke with Dr Bo Chen from the Department of Oral Implantology (Beijing University School of Stomatology in China) about her latest study on patients’ attitudes following implant placement and subsequent restoration.

Oct 12, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

Bollywood teams up with dentistry

HONG KONG/LEIPZIG, Germany: Bollywood’s biggest Gen-next star Deepika Padukone has joined up with the Indian Dental Association (IDA) and Wrighley India during a oral care marathon at the World Dental Show 2009 in Mumbai. The former model who had her break-trough as an actress in the 2007 feature Om Shanti Om became ambassador for Orbit Sugar-Free Chewing Gum in early 2009 and is representing the brand on public events since then. She is also the first actor in India to have partnered with a manufacturer to promote oral health benefits of chewing cum.

Sep 10, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

Dental Tribune Asia Pacific does well in readers' poll

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG/LEIPZIG, Germany: Dentists in Asia find Dental Tribune Asia Pacific to be up-to-date and applicable to their practice, a readers’ poll conducted at the FDI World Dental Congress in Singapore has revealed. More than 85 per cent of those interviewed said that they would recommend the newspaper to a colleague. Topics readers were most interested in were science & research (24 per cent), followed by world news (21 per cent) and news from Asia (20 per cent).

Sep 9, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

Interview: 'Turning salivary diagnostics into clinical reality'

In the past six years, saliva has risen to center stage for disease detection, monitoring and even health surveillance. A number of foundational research tools are now in place to fully explore the clinical utilities and potentials of saliva including oral cancer screening and detection. DTI in cooperation with FDI Worldental Daily spoke with Dr David Wong, USA, at this year's World Dental Congress in Singapore about the value of salivary biomarkers for identifying systemic diseases.

Sep 7, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

FDI closes Annual World Dental Congress in Singapore

SINGAPORE/LEIPZIG, Germany: Singapore has a long and successful relationship with the dental profession. Not only does the city state host the oldest running dental school in Asia; first implants were placed here by Dr Henry Lee almost 20 years ago. Nowadays, the island boosts a workforce of over 1000 dentists that are both educated internationally and make use of the latest state-of-the-art equipment.

Sep 3, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

FDI launches new dental sourcebook

SINGAPORE: The FDI’s new “Oral Health Atlas” was released yesterday by the FDI World Dental Federation in commemoration of the upcoming annual World Oral Health Day on 12 September, 2009. World Oral Health Day provides an opportunity for all sectors of the population to reflect upon each of their own situations when it comes to managing oral health.

Sep 3, 2009 | ASIA PACIFIC

Singapore is showing colour at FDI Welcome Ceremony

SINGAPORE: One of the highlights of every FDI Annual Dental World Congress is the Welcome Ceremony, traditionally held on the night of the first day of the congress. Officials from the FDI and the Singapore Dental Association welcomed the audience, which included the Singapore Minister of Health Khaw Boon Wan.

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