The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) has issued a statement referring to a series of articles published in an English daily entitled ‘The terrible ‘tooth’ of fake dentists’, ‘Fake dentists keep mouths zipped’, ‘Patients find dentists on social media – and live to regret it’, ‘How I became a ‘dentist’ in just five hours, beware the dubious dentists’, and ‘Hard to expose the ugly side of beauty industry
MOH stated that they are aware of the activities of these illegal practitioners, which also include those who provide training services to illegal dental practitioners, which can have various adverse effects and threaten the health of the community. Dealing with it is a shared responsibility in curbing this rampant illegal dental activity, which is both those who provide treatment and those who receive treatment, including those who provide unrecognised training services.
MOH also takes seriously every complaint received by the Dental Health Program, Ministry of Health. Complaints received will be investigated before enforcement action is taken (raids) through the allocation of powers under Section VI of the Dental Act 2018 [Act 804].
For enforcement actions, intelligence and investigations need to be carried out carefully to ensure that elements of guilt can be proven without being hasty.
