Career Options and Prospects for Trained Singapore Oral Health Therapists

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1856 
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 21 APRIL 2023

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong
MP for Hougang

Question No. 2897

To ask the Minister for Health (a) what are the career options and prospects for trained Singaporean oral health therapists who have diplomas or degrees in oral health therapy; and (b) whether the Government will consider creating different career pathways for such graduates like their counterparts in other countries such as Australia.

Answer

Oral health therapists (OHTs) have a wide range of career options. As their training incorporates the skills of dental hygienists and dental therapists, they are qualified to work in any dental clinic in the private or public sectors. They may choose to practise in general settings such as school dental services and polyclinics, or in specialist settings such as national specialty centres. OHTs may also choose to take up non-clinical roles such as in education and administration.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working to broaden the clinical scope of practice of OHTs to meet the demands of an ageing population. A training roadmap on new expanded clinical roles for OHTs will be introduced later this year to ensure that OHTs are competently trained and upskilled to provide oral health services across all ages and in a variety of care settings, including in community and residential settings. MOH also plans to explore the expansion of OHT career pathways to include other formal career tracks, such as in research and administration.

There may be some OHTs who wish to go on to dentistry. To that end, the Nanyang Polytechnic’s Diploma in Oral Health Therapy has been accredited for entry into the Faculty of Dentistry at the National University of Singapore since 2022, where eligible graduates from the diploma course may apply for further degree studies to become a dentist.