The Riddle of the Missing Tooth Faerie

The South African Dental Association (SADA) today warned that during the last number of years, once thriving dental practices have been going bankrupt while emigration continues to void the profession.

Maretha Smit, Chief Executive of SADA said in a statement that payouts to dentistry from medical aid schemes have been reduced from 8.4% in the late nineties to 2.2% last year. “It is time that members of Medical Schemes start asking serious questions and demand that benefits in this area of basic medical care are re-structured. If not, there will be very few dentists left in a country that can hardly afford the further loss of any of its medical services, let alone dentists.”

Maretha further pointed out that in the context of the current economy and the pressure brought about by medical schemes which are not providing adequate cover for essential dental procedures, the man in the street is placing dentistry low on the list of essential needs.

“Dentists in South Africa are by no means smiling. The high outlay for basic equipment, and the staggering costs of materials, most of which are imported from abroad, leaves very little room for a fair profit. And, very few patients understand that their Medical Aid Schemes are responsible for this failure for basic dentistry to be made accessible and that the scheme rates offered to dentists, in the majority of cases, fall way below the actual costs of good average treatment and service.”

Maretha Smit also expressed SADA’s dismay at the way in which reality television shows are distorting the perceptions that the public holds of dentists and dentistry and how, in a developing country such as South Africa, these shows are diverting the attention from the real need for good general dentistry and dental services to our communities.

“We are gravely concerned about media reports that South African dentists are smiling because of the profits they are making. These reports are distorted out of context and the impression is created that dental practices are making huge profits. This is simply not true of a profession which is known be struggling to keep its doors open to the public.

The reality of the matter is that true profits on cosmetic dentistry - the more profitable of the dental services – run between 10 – 20% only!”

Maretha continues: “Most serious businessmen will smirk at such low profit margins which, in themselves, again are much higher than the profit margins for most dental specializations in South Africa and, significantly higher than that for general dentistry! If the profit margins in elective dentistry is this minute then one can very well understand why so many dentists are leaving the country. Dentists must be allowed an opportunity at earning a decent professional income – very few people can be expected to be dedicated to a vocation without any reward whatsoever.”

It is time that the public is made aware that dentistry in South Africa is a profession under threat and that it is a threat that extends to every household and every family of this country. Unless, the crisis in dentistry in South Africa is addressed soon there will be no smiles from anyone around and the question will be as to whatever had happened to the tooth fairy.


Johannesburg, Friday 6th January 2012