Increase in Dental Treatment Charges in Last 10 Years and Efforts to Stem Rising Costs

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health how much have dental treatment charges risen in the last 10 years and what the Ministry is doing to stem the rising costs.

To keep basic dental treatment costs affordable for Singaporeans, subsidised dental care services are available at 10 polyclinics and about 700 dental clinics on the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS). Polyclinic patients, as well as CHAS Blue and Orange, Pioneer Generation, and soon Merdeka Generation cardholders, may also be referred for subsidised dental treatments at the National Dental Centre Singapore and National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore. Patients can also tap on their MediSave savings for more complex dental procedures such as dental implants and wisdom tooth surgeries.

Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) compiled by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS), the inflation rate for dental services, after Government subsidies, was 2.1% per annum between 2009 and 2018. The average bill size for polyclinics and average charges for CHAS dental clinics for subsidised dental treatments grew by about 1% per annum from 2012 to 2018.