Professor Leo Stassen:

The other problem with dentistry is that it is not like medicine. An examination of a child takes a relatively long time. For the dentist, it is not just a matter of the examination because many of the children require treatment. That general dental practitioner is seriously restricted in the provision of that treatment under the current system. If the children require preventive treatment, tooth brushing and such measures can take a lot of time. Fissure sealings and fillings take a lot of time. Even if an extraction by a general dental practitioner is, unfortunately, required, it takes a lot of time. The examination is free, but the rest is not really. Is that not fair to say? Most of what we do in dentistry is preventive, with as little treatment as possible. We are slightly different from doctors who examine the patient to make sure there is nothing serious, as is right, and then manage to treat them. The doctor might see the patient again in a week to check that he or she is okay. In dentistry, it can be at least six weeks to two months before proper treatment is undertaken. Unlike doctors, everybody is afraid of the dentist. Therefore, it takes a lot of time for us to handle children.