Goodbye Private Dental Clinic! Hello Government Dental Clinic, You Save Me 98% of Money On Dental Cost!

 

Recently I had toothache on my left side whenever I bit hard on some food.  I know it was time for me to visit a dentist!

My last visit to a dentist for my dental care was more than 4 years ago.

All these years while working in corporate world, I visited private dental clinics and claimed my dental fees under companies that I used to work for.  How to save money on dental care never really popped up in my mind because everything was claimable!

I believe to most of you readers out there who are working a full-time job in corporate world, you will never really think about money saving on dental care either. Usually you will go to private dental clinic to do your annual teeth check up, scaling, filling or whatever. Some people may even fully unitise the company benefits by buying toothpaste, tooth brush, etc from the dental clinic and claim to the capped limit under company.

But if you are a part-timer, or if you are in the gig economy side hustling a few odd jobs, or if you are a contract staff of a company, then you will not get to enjoy the dental care compensations and benefits provided by organisations.

And if you are retired or semi-retired or jobless, don't expect any private organisations or companies to come to your aid for your dental care. Nil! Nada!

Basically you are on your own!

Good luck to you trying to figure out how to save on your dental care cost!


This is exactly what I have been experiencing lately.

Now that I'm semi-retired with a part-time contractual consulting work, I have no company benefits for my dental care. I need to fork out my hard-earned money from my own pocket to pay for my dental care.

This makes me think harder about escalating dental costs!

My last dental experience at a private dental clinic! No more!

But for the sake of convenience, I decided to go get my toothache fixed at a private dental clinic near my home on 4 Oct 2019. I never really thought about the dental cost! In the back of my mind, I was putting in my own budget of RM150.

I was telling myself, "Okay lah! I will pay for the convenience and professional dental service of private dental clinic!"

But to my surprise, one led to another.

I ended up having to do fillings on 2 teeth.

The female dentist then mentioned that I have 3 more teeth on my right side that need fillings too. That was a major surprise to me! I never had any toothache for those teeth and oh my - another 3 more teeth to fill? I quickly said, "No! Maybe next time!"

But the female dentist was very good in "selling". Her next question was, "Your teeth are very dirty. Time to do scaling! Let me do scaling for you then!"

I wanted to say no but I know I really needed to do scaling as well. The last time I had my scaling down was 4 years ago. I thought since it was once in many years, I shouldn't be so calculative on the dental cost.

So, I sat helplessly under the mercy of the female dentist of this private dental clinic, nodded my head  and let her run the tool all over my teeth.

Guess how much I ended up paying?

RM350 for 2 fillings and complete too scaling! For each filling, it was RM100 per tooth. For the scaling, it was costing me RM150.

Oh my goodness! It's so exorbitantly expensive! It was way beyond my imagination and budget! I could have bought myself a pair of my favourite running shoes with RM350!!

I truly regretted for not asking the dental fee beforehand, and not encouraged enough to say no, trusting the dentist all the way.

Mistake at my end but a learned lesson to all: Next time please ask for any services to be rendered to you before you ask the person to proceed. Be it dentist, doctor, or hair stylist, etc. Don't "assume" like me!

After paying the RM350 reluctantly swiping my credit card, I was asked to make the next appointment for 3 more teeth for fillings!

No way I am going to give another RM300 to private dental clinic with my hard earned money!

Hello, government dental clinic,  you save me tons of money and I love your superb service!

Government hospitals, clinics and dental clinics are all notoriously known for long wait, large crowd, and poor service with young doctors and interns.

But they are famously known for very affordable medical and dental care! You pay only a fraction of what you will pay at private clinic, hospital or dental clinic.

As a person in my early 50s knowing I will no longer go back to a full-time corporate job,  I have to really think hard where I can save on my dental cost - for the rest of my life!

If I keep going to private dental clinic, it's going to put a dent on my retirement money!

After some googling and reading up some positive feedback at internet forum regarding government dental clinics, I decided to have my first ever dental experience at government dental clinic not far from my home today (12 Dec) for fillings of 3 more teeth as mentioned by the private dental clinic's dentist in Oct.

I am so excited to share with you my first dental experience as an adult at Government Dental Clinic (Perkhidmatan Perubatan Kesihatan Dan Pergigian) by Health Ministry Malaysia (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia). And you may judge by yourself at the end of my experience sharing!

• What

First dental visit as an adult at Kementerian Perkhidmatan Perubaan Kesihatan Dan Pergigian

• Date

18 December 2019

• 8.00 am  

I took a number (no. 3004) and gave myKad to one of the nurses for registration. I then waited to be called.

• 8.15 am 

I was called upon to pay RM1 for first-time registration.  (What! Only RM1???)

• 8.45 am

I was called upon to do blood pressure test. At this clinic, nurses do blood pressure tests for all dental patients to ensure any dental work is safe and not affected by high blood pressure if any.

• 9.00 am 

My number was called. I entered into what I would call a "dental operation theatre" with 4 dental chairs numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 in a big room. There were 1 main dentist and 2 assistants for each dental chair and hence dental patients on that chair. All the dentists and nurses were young, helpful and energetic! They played very catchy upbeat songs on the music player making me want to dance along.

• 9.15 am

It was my turn to be on dental chair #3, with a young, courteous dentist attending to me. He even joked with me saying I didn't look my age, making me feel like at cloud nice. He then checked on my 2 teeth which I recently had my fillings. I said I still feel some pain occasionally. After his thorough checking, he confirmed that the filling was done professionally. No touchups was required! The pain was caused by food getting stuck in between the teeth. He then gave me some professional advice on dental care - using dental floss to floss my teeth once daily, and more on affected area if necessary.

I then asked him to double check on the 3 teeth mentioned by the previous private dental clinic's dentist, to see if they require fillings too. After thorough checking, he confidently said to me, "All those teeth are fine. No need to do filling. You can come back every 6 months to do your dental check! But definitely no filling is required at this moment."

 (What? No need to do any filling? I would have had to pay RM300 unnecessarily to the private dental clinic if I didn't come over to government dental clinic for second opinion!)

I was so glad to hear his professional dental advice. He then asked if I wanted to do scaling as he saw some tough stains on my teeth.

Originally I wanted to do fillings but now since it was not required, I might as well take the opportunity to do scaling.

He did a very thorough job in scaling with his professional dental work.

I felt so much at peace in the hands of this particular dentist! He is so professional and service oriented! He is young but very experienced! I love it!

• 9.35 am

I was done with scaling and a thorough dental check up! So fast and efficient! 

I was then asked to make payment at the front counter by another young dentist. I think he is an intern. A nice young chap! He said, "Please pay RM2 at the front counter. Thank you!"

What? What? What? 

I thought I heard it wrongly! 

It's only RM2 for complete teeth scaling where I paid RM150 at a private dental clinic only couple months ago?

RM2 only!! It's so cheap! Cost of a pack of nasi lemak only!

Suddenly, my voice  choked! I was for a moment full of emotions. I was full of appreciation and gratefulness for what Malaysia' Health' Ministry has done for all the rakyat Malaysia!

• 9.40 am

I made my RM2 payment at the counter. No queue at all! 

I took another look at all the young dentists, the nurses and health workers at the government dental clinic. I felt so grateful for their efficient professional service. 

98% saving on your dental cost at government dental clinic

My initial impression of government dental clinic was totally wrong! 

As you can see from my dental experience, the service is fast and efficient! The dentists are professional with hands on experience!

And most importantly, you pay only 1.5% to 2% of what you would need to pay at a private dental clinic!!!

That's a saving of 98% for all your dental care costs!!

What I saved from this dental visit:

• RM148 savings (I paid only RM2 for the scaling which I would have to pay RM150 at a private dental clinic)
• RM300 savings (no need to do fillings for 3 other teeth) 

To pull a teeth at private dental clinic, it will cost at least RM150 per teeth. But at government dental clinic, the dental cost is only RM1. Yes! You hear it right! Only RM1!!

And to do any teeth filling, it will be only RM2 per teeth filling. If you go to a private dental clinic, it will cost you RM100 per teeth filling!!

How about false teeth? One false teeth costs only RM12. Additional false teeth will be RM2 extra per teeth.  To pull a teeth at a private dental clinic will cost you at least RM150 per teeth!!! So ridiculous! 

My 95 year-old dad recently had his lower false teeth done - the whole row of it - at private dental clinic. Guess how much I paid for it? RM1,200 ! I found out that I would need to pay only RM100 for the whole row of false teeth at government dental clinic!! You can save so so much money!!! 

Good bye private dental clinic! Hello, Perkhidmatan Perubatan Kesihatan Dan Pergigian! 

Yes, it's time for me to say goodbye to private dental clinic. 

I have paid my taxes all these years. 

I shall start enjoying the benefits as a Rakyat Malaysia. 

I will go to government dental clinic from now onwards. 

It saves me tons of money (98% - 99% of money). The service is good and fast too! 

If you are covered under company for your dental care, this might not be of interest to you. But should you one day need to pay for your own dental costs, or your loved ones or your elderly parents, please consider Perkhidmatan Perubatan Kesihatan Dan Pergigian.

Sometimes it's not the question of whether you can afford to pay the dental fees at private dental clinic or not, it's the matter of whether it's worth it!! It's not value for money! Then why should you?

To find out where the government dental clinic is located near your area, please visit Ministry of Health Malaysia's (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) portal by clicking here

Photo credit: Pexels