I am sure you were fearful of dentists when you were a kid.

I would dread my dentist appointment.

I mean the moment you’re in the chair, you would feel trapped and then you notice all the weird contraptions at the side which would possibly enter your mouth.

We all can agree that a trip to the dentist is like walking into a haunted house.

This story that I came across might just add on to your abnormal fear of dentists.

According to The Straits Times, Mr Tim Leo brought his 13-year old son, Ethan to WH Dental Surgeons, located in Hougang, to get his crooked teeth fixed.

However, after a year or so, there were no visible changes to Ethan’s teeth despite having his teeth removed—eight to be exact—as it was “overcrowding” his mouth.

To make matters worse, Ethan would be offered lots of painkillers after every appointment as the braces would hurt and cause him ulcers, allegedly, of course.

He also claimed that the studs on the braces would fall out.

His mother was allegedly not allowed to be in the treatment room (why like that one?).

When she questioned Ethan about the treatment, he told her that the dentist (Dr Sng Wee Hock) would pop by to have a look while two young men will be doing the heavy lifting.

The straw that broke the camel’s back

His dad found the whole thing shady, and he questioned the clinic to which he was told that all treatments were done by Dr Sng and no one else.

He decided to get a second opinion from another dentist.

Guess what?

The orthodontist told him that there were no reasons to extract Ethan’s four wisdom teeth.

She also was appalled at the removal as most dentists will try to preserve teeth where possible.

The wiring for the braces was done wrongly which caused ulcers in Ethan’s mouth.

The cost of extracting out the wisdom teeth was $4,150 which was charged to Medisave and the extraction of four premolar teeth came to less than $400

I know that is a lot of money, but all I could think of is Ethan’s trauma. I am pretty sure he wouldn’t want to see another dentist in his lifetime.

Actions were taken

In Marc, Mr Leo filed an official complaint with the Singapore Dental Council against Dr Sng for possibly having untrained people perform the treatments and pulling out four wisdom teeth without a concrete reason.

To stir the pot even further, Dr Sng had 3 other encounters with the authorities since 2014.

Mr Leo also came across a report on Dr Sng—he was suspended by the Singapore Dental Council earlier this year for allowing unqualified clinic assistants perform orthodontic work.

Mr Leo mentioned that he was offered a financial settlement from a lawyer representing Dr Sng.

Mr Leo rejected the offer.

His reason for complaining is to ensure that no other children would go through what his son experienced.

To remove the wisdom tooth or not to remove the wisdom tooth

President of the Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Dr Seah Tian Ee, told The Sunday Times that wisdom teeth are still in an early developmental phase at 13-years old and the facial skeleton has not reached maturity.

He added, “It is not routine practice to remove wisdom teeth at 13 years old unless they are associated with pathology such as cysts or tumours.”

Senior orthodontist at the National Dental Centre, Singapore, Dr Ivan Lim mentioned that the wisdom teeth removal was not necessary for brace treatment but the removal of four premolars was justified.

If you’re having problems with your wisdom tooth, you can either remove it or make sure you practise proper oral hygiene.

Not all wisdom tooth is bad, only the ones that did not “erupt” properly. They end up creating pockets of spaces for bacteria to grow which would eventually lead to an infection.

Here, know more about wisdom teeth in this article.

Now, there is no news on what will happen to Dr Sng but I am pretty sure he is going to be in hot soup.

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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

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