Yours Toothfully by Dr Chan Joon Yee

Singapore’s most trusted professions

1. Firefighter

2. Doctor

3. Judge

4. Teacher

5. Surgeon

6. Pilot

7. Paramedic

8. Nurse

9. Pharmacist

10. Dentist

yao mo gao chor ah? Dentist is No. 10? People trust firefighters more than doctors and surgeons? Interesting findings there. I certainly hope none of my patients were in that survey, but I can’t help but wonder. To me, firefighters are a rather obscure breed of individuals. I probably know more secret agents than firefighters. But seriously, I’m no snob. I have real friends who are taxi drivers and hawkers. I trust that Alfred and Eddy would take me to my destination via the shortest route. I trust that James won’t try to mask the smell of stale seafood with spices when I visit his stall for supper. Firefighter? Sorry, I can’t recall.

How many firefighters do these folks really know and how did they get to know them? Unless these folks store petrol in their homes, they probably see a doctor more often than they see a firefighter. Could doctors have given them such a bad impression that they would rather have their prescriptions written by a firefighter? Interesting.

Don’t get me wrong. I do trust that if my home is on fire, the guys in the red helmets would be rushing down and risking their lives to save me. Without them I would be literally toast. But frankly, if a doctor, dentist, teacher, pilot, nurse, pharmacist friend (I actually have friends in those professions, even a former judge) and a firefighter whom I hardly know want to borrow money from me, I would give my money to the doctor dentist, teacher, pilot, nurse, pharmacist any day.

So what is it that makes people trust firefighters so much? Do firefighters hold concerts and get the girls screaming when they tear their shirts apart? Do firefighters hang out a lot in public, do a lot of community work, kiss babies, shake hands with hawkers … oops … wrong profession. Is it the civil defence exercises and demonstrations that always have a very big wow factor? Is it Gurmit Singh and Michelle Chia that appeared so cool in the local drama series Lifeline?

I’m sure Gurmit and Michelle have their fans and there are people who rave over Lifeline. But apart from yours truly who never followed the series (I had to do a Google search to recall its name), there are other people who don’t think that much of the fiery series either:

http://faithtoh.blogspot.com/2005/11/lifeline-kills-me.html

So for some strange reason, there are (hopefully intelligent) people who still trust firefighters more than the other listed professions. Do I think it’s a problem? What can I do to improve patient confidence if dentists rank so low in the trusted list? Maybe I should employ an ex-firefighter to collect money from my patients. Or perhaps I should wear a firefighter’s helmet when I work. That should make my patients feel more secure.

In his will, Ho Chi Minh stated quite clearly that he wished to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in the hills of north, central, and southern Vietnam. It’s interesting to note that in spite of the deep respect that the powers that be seem to have for President Ho, they went against the hero’s wishes and built a mausoluem to house his preserved body.

The main structure, sitting on a parade square, is 21.6 metres high and 41.2 metres wide. Flanking the mausoleum are two platforms with seven steps for parade viewing. The plaza in front of the mausoleum is divided into 240 green squares separated by pathways. The gardens surrounding the mausoleum have nearly 250 different species of plants and flowers, all from different regions of Vietnam.

From a distance, the parade square looks interesting enough, but don’t ever try to get in from the numerous pathways. They are all guarded by whistle-blowing policemen. There are many ways by which you may leave the compound, but there is only one way to get in. No, it’s totally free and they are not afraid of visitors entering without paying. The most fundamental ruling here, is that you must pay your respect to Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body before you can explore the other parts of the mausoleum.

Hence, even though there are numerous pathways leading to the mausoleum and no fences or signs saying that you can’t get in that way, you can be sure a whistle will be blown at you if you try to get in without first clearing security.

1. No bags allowed.
2. No cameras
3. No shorts or short skirts
4. No smoking
5. No hats

At the only dedicated entrance, you must join a long queue of Vietnamese and curious and probably unsuspecting foreigners. After going through airport-like security screening, you surrender you camera and bag. These will be treated as checked in luggage. Once you begin your “journey” into the mausoleum, two by two like school children, the checked in cameras and bags will be transported to the exit where you’ll collect them. Everybody was understandably uneasy about it. Would they lose their bags or cameras?

Depending on the crowd, you may have to stand for hours on the “parade square” before entering the air-con mausoleum. As you approach the red vinyl “carpet”, further regulations come into force.

1. No talking.
2. No hands in the pockets.

Every few metres, there would be a soldier in white to make sure that you obey those regulations. Ho Chi Minh’s body is housed in a glass coffin in a darkened room. His body is illuminated by a couple of spotlights. Visitors walk anti-clockwise around the body and then exit the mausoleum proper. The surrendered cameras are waiting at the exit. They are transported there from the entrance with perfect timing. If only Vietnamese airports could be so efficient.

Once out of the mausoleum, you are free to take pictures - that is provided you don’t get too close to the folks who are just about to enter the mausoleum. Try taking their picture and some grouchy policeman will shout at you. I’m sure we all respect and admire Ho Chi Minh. Do the keepers of the mausoleum need to go to such lengths to impose and ensure that respect? But then again, such practices are not unique to Vietnam and nobody needs to be surprised.

It was a misty, chilly morning, 14deg C with a light breeze that made it seem colder. As I left the mausoleum with a lot more freedom to choose my path of exit than my path of entry, I couldn’t help noticing the glare of the huge communist slogans hanging on either side of the mausoleum. Equally glaring were the red flags with yellow sickles flapping in the wind. Looking through the mist, I caught a glimpse of what is really enshrined here.

Thankfully, the majority of modern, thinking Vietnamese only pay lip service to ideologies which liberated them from French rule. On the streets, the cars and motorbikes choose their own paths of entry and exit.

“What? $5 for the soup? Steamboat is supposed to come with soup. How can you charge me for it? It’s not that I can’t afford to pay for the soup. It’s just that this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.”

This was the argument I overheard at the next table. It was between an angry woman in her late 50s and the poor waiter trying hard to explain company policy. You might think that she was shocked by the bill when the waiter showed it to her. But no. She had not even started yet. The waiter was just informing her upfront that they would be charging $5 for the soup.

I was having steamboat dinner with my friend Tsun Han at Fat Fish Restaurant at the Admiral Country Club on a Saturday night. They serve steamboat which included a generous spread of seafood and sliced meat buffet style. Like one reviewer said, “the prawns were so fresh that they squirm”. The staff was also friendly and attentive. The ambience was pretty good without being packed with noisy crowds. Well, at least it wasn’t noisy until Madam Soupless turned up and complained about the $5 soup even before she started.

Let’s see. The restaurant charges $22.80++ per person which was cheap. Adding $5 to the total bill would mean an additional charge of only a little more than a $1 for 4 people. So would Madam Soupless be happier if she were charged $25 (2 people at her table) with no mention of soup cost?

The restaurant’s policy is just an example of itemised charges promoting “transparency”. If charging Madam Soupless $5 was enough to freak her out, I wonder what would happen if the restaurant gave her a bill which looks like this:

Food $18
Soup $5
Utensils $1
Gas $1

$100 + $7 GST is ridiculous? $107 no GST is good? Look who is being not just ridiculous but also stupid.

The internet allows people we have never met to become our patients. It often starts off with an enquiry. This is followed by a consultation, a discussion, treatment planning and finally the actual treatment is done. This source of patients is not to be under-estimated. It’s how we managed to build up a cosmetic dental practice. That was 6 years ago.

In recent months, however, we received a lot of enquiries from people who seemed like potential patients. This may sound like good news, but it isn’t. In the past when trust was easier to come by, a high percentage of people who contacted us via the internet did show up for consultation and treatment. Nowadays, enquiries are much harder to handle. Folks who seem interested try to settle the treatment plan, exact costs, guarantees and number of visits over a few emails. They don’t seem to realise that dentistry cannot be practised online. A lot of details of exact costs, procedures etc cannot be determined without an examination. Even with that, unforseen circumstances may result in a change of treatment plan. Insisting on precise figures is difficult at best and unreasonable at worst.

An example. How much does it cost to do a filling. $80. patient turns up with deep caries involving the pulp. This would require root canal treatment and it’s going to cost much more than $80.

“Can you guarantee that it’s only going to cost $80? No hidden costs.” comes the question by email.

Of course not! How can the dentist tell how bad your condition is and whether a filling is all you need? Don’t these folks realise that as far as I’m concerned, it’s their tooth that is hidden from me and not my costs which are hidden from them.

“I just want to do a filling. If you can’t guarantee that it’s not going to cost more than $80, then I won’t come.”

????????!!!!!!!!

So what if we quote reasonable charges. Some folks may be suspicious why Dentist A charges less than Dentist B. So these folks ask even more questions in an attempt to determine how reliable a dentist is without even turning up for consultation. Some of these questions are irrelevant and some can be downright weird. The more they ask, the more uncertain they become. Someone ought to tell them that the real answers to their doubts don’t show up very well on email. So usually, it back to cost factors. Cheapest practice wins. Not to say that the cheap practices are no good, but what about this thing called trust?

C, a colleague of mine has just been diagnosed with diabetes. His doctor? None other than our schoolmate in JC. The doctor is not an endocrinologist. He is just a GP, but C and his family has been seeing him since he started his own practice more than a decade ago. C’s entire family has not been seeing any other doctor ever since. No matter where they go or how much they charge or what additional tests, medications and procedures they indicate, their pool of loyal patients who see them several times a year follow them. It’s all about trust.

If there’s such a thing as doctor-for-life, is there such a thing as dentist-for-life? I’m sure there is. Quite a few have followed me all the way from Hougang. How do you choose a dentist-for-life then? Simple. Try out a few dentists for simple, non-invasive treatment like scaling. Pick one you like, show up regularly for scaling and develop a close patient-dentist relationship with him/her. He knows you. He recognises the importance of the relationship and is far less likely to do anything “funny” than someone who is seeing you for the first time. So what if there’s no Medisave in his/her clinic? So what if the clinic would only allow a 70% claim of surgical fees? Do you have to look for a clinic that allows a 100% claim (like mine) and shoot 100 questions at me because you don’t trust me? Please go back to the dentist you trust. Entertaining all these doubts, mistrust and reluctance to pay consultation fees is a waste of time for me.