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Health Minister urges potential dental assistants to 'specialise'
By Azaraimy HH

The most required specialisation in the nation's current dental services are in the fields of Dental Imaging and Radiography, Infection Control and several other clinical specialisations.

This was highlighted by the Minister of Health, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Suyoi bin Hj Osman, when he urged the Department of Dental Services to identify potential dental assistants for further specialised studies.

The minister was speaking at the second convocation for the two-year course for dental surgery assistant, session 2006-2008 and the launching of the first National Dental Assistant Symposium at Rizqun International Hotel last night.

In his speech, Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi pointed out that there are currently 39-trained dental surgery

assistants, out of whom nine had been trained overseas and the rest at local institutions.

Dental assistants are an important group in dictating the success, effectiveness and accuracy of dental service to the public, he said, adding, "This is because dental assistants perform as intermediates to dentists and on a first communication basis with patients and families".

"Good reception and hospitality will mirror a good image to the public service provision. Dental assistant must impress upon each patient a comfortable experience by planting a feeling of positiveness that will build public confidence to the dental services," the minister said.

Over the past few years, the role and duties of dental assistants has experienced many changes in tandem with the development in dentistry since formal recognition of dental assistants as a professional career.

"Besides the need for them to keep updated with the latest clinical studies and methods, dental assistants must also possess a caring personal trait to enable them to conjure an atmosphere of reducing anxiety during surgery."

They must also have high propensity to show sympathy and be able to understand a patient's feeling; these are among the required attitudes for dental assistants, he added.

The minister further hoped that with this training and certification would become springboards to facilitate dental staffs to proceed to even higher courses. "The (health) ministry will always provide the support, facility and assistance to anyone who is interested and is able to further their studies towards specialisation," he remarked.

He voiced his confidence for locals to venture successfully into specialisation by looking at the example that has been achieved whereby a local dental assistant had successfully graduated from Australia.

The dental surgery assistant course is aimed at encouraging continuous professional development, by offering theoretical and practical training, providing trained dental surgery assistants with the needs and aspirations of the country's dental services and ensuring that dental surgery assistants can perform their tasks more effectively, efficiently as well as being more knowledgeable in their careers.

This is the second group to complete the course, in which 12 graduated. The department will begin the third enrollment in March this year. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin