Page 17 - MOH Supply and Needs-Based Requirement Hyperlink 02032021

9 EXTENDED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.2.2 Dentist

With the introduction of compulsory service in June 2001, there was an upward trend
of dental practitioners in the public sector from 2008 until 2017. In 2015, it was noted
that there were more dentist in the public sector (66.5%) compared to the private
sector (33.5%) and more female dentists (65%) than male dentists (35%). Overall, in
2015, there were 6,384 practising dentists in the country serving in both the public
and the private sector. Generally, dentists are involved in the provision of oral health
care services; however, a smaller proportion engaged in administrative, academic,
research and regulatory task. In 2015, there were 13 dental degree programmes in the
country, six (6) public dental school and seven (7) private dental school respectively.

This study focuses on the projection of dentists aimed to ensure that the number of dentists
corresponds to the change in the population’s oral health needs in the years to come. This
study investigates the nature of oral health care services and factors influencing the supply
and requirement of dentists. The results on projections of supply and requirement for
dentists were based on initial data of the dentist population as of 2015 summarized in Table 4.

Table 4: Key Facts on Dentists in Malaysia, 2015

Total number of dentists in Malaysia 6,384
• Total number of dentists in MOH 3,488

• Total number of doctors in other govern-ment agency 533
• Total number of dentists in private sector 2,363
Dentist to population ratio 1: 4,775
Source: Health Facts, MOH 2016
Dentist received full registration 980
Dentist received Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) 6,384
• The proportion of public and private practice based on 62.7% public,
APC issued 37.3% private
• Male to female ratio 35% male,
65% female
• Median age 39.5 years
Total number of local undergraduate dental schools 17
• The proportion of public and private dental schools 46% public,
54% private
Source: MDC Annual Report 2016

SUPPLY AND NEEDS-BASED REQUIREMENT PROJECTIONS OF MALAYSIAN HUMAN
RESOURCES FOR HEALTH USING SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH 2016 - 2030