Wednesday, February 27, 2008

More on Dental Implants in Malaysia

Dental implants have the best bite

THE ideal standard of care for replacing teeth is not a denture or even a bridge anymore, but dental implants.

Dental implants are now used to replace missing teeth, stabilise loose dentures, straighten teeth and rehabilitate patients who have lost parts of their jaw and face due to cancer or accidents.

We refer to the letter “Dental visits a pain in the pocket” (The Star, Feb 13) and wish to express our sadness over the misconceptions of a colleague whose profession we highly respect and admire.

Dentists or dental surgeons are part and parcel of the healthcare providing medical profession and work hand in hand for the betterment of our patients.

We do empathise with his concern for the older members of the population who due to inadequate dental care in the past now require dental implants.

However, the main cause of teeth loss in older people is not aging as stated by medical doctor, but gum disease.

This means that a healthy adult who takes proper care of their teeth and gums will enjoy a full set of teeth for life.

Hardly 10% of dentists practice implantology and also because implants are all imported and costly, the cost of providing the service is still relatively expensive.

Research and development of dental implantology took a lot of time, effort and expenditure on the part of university researchers and implant manufacturers.

The cost of training is still very high because it involves highly trained lecturers, logistics and material costs.

Implantology is not as simple as it looks.

Such treatment can range between simple to highly complex procedures that involve bone grafting, gum grafting, specialised imaging, detailed planning and a thorough understanding of occlusion which may take years of experience to understand and successfully manage.

Special dedicated tools, equipment and materials are needed in implantology.

Dental implantology usually does not incur any more trauma than an ordinary extraction of a tooth, and therefore does not require any extra safety measures that are not already in place in all dental clinics.

Dental implants have helped countless people around the world to enjoy their food again. They are the best replacement for lost teeth.

Though expensive currently, the price will keep coming down due to free market forces.

Like in all professions, some dentists charge more and some less. Find one you can afford.

After all, dentists here in Malaysia are highly trained and yet are still among the most affordable in the world.

The cost for dental implants in Malaysia is one of the lowest in Asean.

This has led many from overseas like Australia, Europe, America and Japan coming to Malaysia to enjoy the benefits of dental implantology at international standards and yet at half the price or less in their home countries.

Dental implantology has placed Malaysia on the map as a major destination for health tourism in this region.

DR FIRDAUS HANAPIAH & DR CHOW KAI FOO,

President and Honorary Secretary,

Malaysian Oral Implant Association (MOIA).

4 comments:

johnny yuma said...

Where can i find information regarding dentists in Malaysia who specialize in dental implants. i am particularly interested in immediate loading implants, "teeth in one day implants", & mini implants. i'd like to locate a dentist who has worked with such implants long term & on an every day basis. i live in east malaysia, but can travel to west malaysia if the dental work doesn't involve many visits.
also, where can we find info regarding costs??? i didn't see any such info in this article.

Dr. Chow Kai Foo said...

Dr Chow Kai Foo here. Thank you for posting our letter to the press. Contactable at +603 20728164 in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Unknown said...

Yes but how much for an implant? Paul Leppard

Naa said...

johnny and paul.. sorry for the long silence.. maybe u all can contact dr chow at the number given