OK. I’m not actually talking about taking our shirts off. That picture is just meant to get your attention. I could have shown a woman, but the “rigorously righteous” folks monitoring my blog may get offended and start sending emails to stab me in the back. But as usual, the picture is relevant and I’ll come back to the shirt later.
Toothfully, I’m talking about things like projects and ideas not taking off. One of these interesting topics related to dentistry is the “dental spa”. I’m sure you’ve heard of the term. I’m sure you’re even heard of dental clinics in Singapore adding the word spa to their names, but has anyone ever visited a dental spa in Singapore that lives up to its name? Why not?
My answer may surprise you. Progressive as Singapore may appear, I don’t think our people are ready to accept this new age concept yet. If you were to set up a dental clinic that also offers facial or massage services, you’re not going to have much business on either side because people standing outside will be scratching their heads, wondering what they’re going to be in for.
However, I also believe that with the right kind of marketing, it will not take long before people start flocking to these hybrid clinics for combo procedures. A lot of fear or aversion to dental treatment actually stems from the lack of information. A lot of reluctance in spending money for regular dental treatment actually stems from the way people value and prioritise it. Rather than bringing out boring scientific studies to associate dental health with “higher priorities” like fertility, why not instead, place routine dental treatment on the same premises as routine skin and body care? Why not indeed? This time, the answer will not surprise you. We have our “rigorously righteous” rules and regulations.
Where controls are less stringent and where people are less likely to blame the authorities when things go wrong, the concept has been proven to be not just a fad. We need to harness that synergistic effect if we’re ever going to take toothache dentistry to a higher, more sophisticated level. In fact, such strategies are quickly taking root in many places as diverse as Bangkok and Hawaii. To me, it makes much more sense to link beautiful smiles to beautiful body/skin than to link it with some remotely related ailment – preferably fatal.
Let’s take a look at what’s happening further north. Thailand’s super-posh dental spas are doing Swedish oil massage while we here are still banning before and after pictures for our aesthetic cases. And our super-posh practices have gone bust.
Dental spas in the UK are even doing botox and facials! Of course, the additional non-dental services provided need not be invasive. In fact, they should be less invasive than most dental procedures. Only then can the public be educated to view dental treatment as something commonplace and routine. Dentistry is not just about toothaches and dreadful extractions.
Why can’t we take off (like a plane)? I’ve written something on that in an old blog entry about our dream to become Asia’s medical hub. Costs and regulations are the man factors weighing us down. And there’s this misguided belief that the tougher the regulations, the higher our standards will be. One supplier informed me that certain root canal medicaments are not available anymore as they are classified as “drugs” and registration fees cost S$10,000! Toothfully, I think we’ll only get our heads caught in our shirts like that gentleman in the picture above. I don’t think I’ll sit around and wait to see who is right.
