Oct- Dec 2014

A p u b l i c a t i o n o f M a l a y s i a n D e n t a l A s s o c i a t i o n

MIDEC2014

24

New Delhi—The FDI Annual

World DentalCongress

2014

28

MouthCancer

AwarenessWeek2014

26New MDA Council

2014/2015

WELCOMENEW TEAM!

October-December 2014

EditorA/Prof Dr Haizal Mohd Hussaini

Advertising & Classifieds ChairpersonDr Eileen Koh Mei Yen

Contributing WritersProfessor Dr Rosnah Binti Mohd ZainDr. Chow Kai FooAssoc Prof Dr Haizal Mohd HussainiDr Leong Kei Joe

Ex-officioDr Neoh Gim BokDr Shalini Kanagasingam

TreasurerDr Darren Yap

Malaysian Dental Association54-2, 2nd Floor, Medan Setia 2,Plaza Damansara, Bukit Damansara,50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 603-2095 15322095 1495

Fax: 603-2094 4670E-mail: mdaassoca@mda.org.my

mdentalassoc@gmail.comWebsite: www.mda.org.my

Conceptualised & Produced byPaul & Marigold (DeCalais Sdn Bhd)

G-1-1 Plaza Damas,60, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1,Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603-6206 3497Fax: 603-6201 0756Email: arvind@paulandmarigold.comWebsite: www.paulandmarigold.com

Note:Views expressed are not necessarily thoseof The Malaysian Dental Association. TheMalaysian Dental Association takes noresponsibility for the consequences of anyaction taken based on any informationpublished in MDA News and neither shall itbe held liable for any product or serviceadvertised in the same. No part of thispublication may be reproduced without thepermission of the publisher.

After a short hiatus, we are proud to bring you the secondedition of the Malaysian Dental Association newsletter. Asmany of you may know by know, the association wasrocked by a little scandal earlier this year but god willing,

everything has been solved and as the dust settles, it is equallyimportant for us to look back on this trying episode to ensure it doesnot repeat itself.

In this issue, we bring you the low down on what the president andthe committee members had to endure to get our association backon track.

This tribute feature written by Dr. Chow Kai Foo, Honorary GeneralSecretary, is also a homage to the many generous members withinthis association that rose to the occasion and helped tirelessly.

Our President, Dr. Teh Tat Beng, also shares with us the countlessinitiatives and contributions of the association throughout the year. Itis our hope that we continue to pick up speed and move on to biggerand better things.

I hope you all continue to support the Malaysian Dental Associationthrough this newsletter and I welcome any article contributions thatany of you may have.

Have a wonderful year end and happy new year to all!

Messagefrom the EditorDr Haizal Mohd Hussaini

Inside

Features

Activities

24 MIDEC 2014 Held In KualaLumpur Malaysia

26Mouth Cancer AwarenessWeek 2014

28Report On The FDI AnnualWorld Dental Congress 2014In New Delhi

23 Review Articles

06 The Saga of The MDADeregistration

12 Cracking the Codewith Forensic Science

17 Updates from thePresident

6

MDA News

Dr. Chow Kai FooHonorary General SecretaryMalaysian Dental Association

From ToothlessTo A Full Set OfTeeth AgainThe Saga ofThe MDADeregistration &Reinstatement

It was dated 6th of June. We were already deregisteredfor 6 days! The following is a general chronologicalaccount of our period of deregistration andreinstatement. Thankfully on the 3rd of July, we were duly

reinstated by an act of the Minister of Home Affairs whoapproved our appeal. The following chronological account isrecorded for our history and also so that hopefully we willlearn not to repeat it….. people who do not learn from historyare bound to repeat it.

RENDERED TOOTHLESS1. Thursday 12th of June was a very long day. The moment

we received the notice of deregistration, we had toscramble to address all the impending issues. TheEOGM scheduled on the coming Sunday had to becancelled immediately and all central and zone activitieshad to be suspended. As the enormity of thederegistration settled in, we realised that we could noteven pay our staff. We had to suspend all activities thatwe used to take for granted in the name of MDA. It waslike a death sentence.

RENDERING TREATMENT2. The President and I decided to meet the Wilayah ROS at

8am the next morning Friday 13th June 2014, and invitedanyone who could make it to come. The next morningwe met Enche Azizul about 8.30am. He was sympatheticand duly informed us that we can continue with our

The new MDA Council wasformally installed at a Gala Dinnerin KLCC on a Saturday 31st ofMay 2014. Already dark cloudswere forming due to theimpending feared deregistrationof the MDA. We were still hopefulthat our appeal had beensuccessful when the red letter ofderegistration of the MDA arrivedat our doorstep on the 12th ofJune 2014.

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October-December 2014

office work but cannot do anything official inMDA’s name. The President and the HonoraryGeneral Secretary then realised that they had togo into emergency mode to address thederegistration of the MDA. That was preciselywhat they did for the next week or so. The redletter came at “just the right time” in that theywere scheduled to be out of their clinics for thenext week in order to attend the APDC in Dubai.The President then firmly decided to cancel theDubai trip in order to see MDA through the crisis.So instead of full time representing the MDA inDubai, they were full time scrambling andworking flat out to save the MDA at home inMalaysia. Members of the profession wereadvised that they could go to the APDC in theirown capacity, but couldn’t officially represent theMDA.

A glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon when theHealth Minister indicated his willingness to meet usthrough the kind auspices of our Principal DirectorDr. Khairiyah and Datin Ziela. We met the HealthMinister at about 5pm in the late afternoon, Fridaythe 13th July. The President, Hon. Gen Sec, Dato’Ratnanesan, Datin Ziela, Dr. Paul Lee, Dr. Haja, Dr.Haizal, Dr. Shalini were present. Dato’ SeriSubramaniam was very supportive and sympatheticand assured us that he will personally speak to theHome Minister about our predicament. A letter ofinformation and appeal for help was also passed toDatin Ziela to hand deliver to the Prime Minister sincehis name was highlighted in Malaysiakini that he isthe patron of the MDA. It was titled,”Dentists LeftToothless by Deregistration of MDA”.

3. The weekend was spent frantically drafting andredrafting a suitable appeal letters to the HomeMinister to reinstate the MDA. Early on Mondaymorning the 16th of June 2014, the Presidentand Dr. Ng Woan Tyng together with the HonGen Sec and the staff of the secretariat labouredthe whole morning and part of the afternoonpreparing the appeal letters with supportingdocuments and copies to cc to the HealthMinister, Principle Director of the Oral HealthDivision and the Prime Minister. We managed todeliver the appeal to the ROS at about 4pmtogether with RM50 out of the President’spocket, just before their closing time. A letter tothe ROS outlining a list of our basic maintenanceoperations was also handed over to the ROS atthe same time.

4. About this time, Prof. Dato’ Hashim Yaacobinformed Dr. Teh that he had called the HomeMinister regarding the matter. Dr. Teh later metDato’ Hashim in Ipoh together with Dr. Neoh andDr. Lim where he assured them that the HomeMinister had agreed to reinstate the MDA.

A glimmer of hopeappeared on the horizon

when the HealthMinister indicated his

willingness to meet usthrough the kind

auspices of our PrincipalDirector Dr. Khairiyah

and Datin Ziela.

8

MDA News

HANDLING COMPLICATIONS5. Things began to hit home harder as the zones

realized that even CPD events had to be omitted inthe name of MDA and that they had to basically acton their own together with the dental suppliers. Eventhe upcoming MHTC event in the Prince Hotel on22nd of June had to be run entirely under theauspices of the MHTC. The morning event withDentsply had to be held as under the UKM as theCPD provider. We have to thank Dato’ Dr. Ghazali,the Dean of the UKM dental school for his promptagreement and support on this. This was so thatattendees could get their CPD points. Even the MDAFwas suggested as a possible sponsor.

6. Meanwhile, a constant stream of appeals from the“MDA representatives”, Dato’ Ratna, Dr. Haja et al,were coming from Dubai. We had to inform them thatMDA representatives had to stand down. The Indiandelegation actually from the beginning declared thatsince the MDA had been deregistered, they had nolocus standi in the APDC except as respectedobservers. As a result, none of the Malaysians couldstand for elections. Particularly galling was ourmilitary representative Dato’ Dr. Ilham having to standdown after doing an outstanding job the previousyears and was expected to be a shoo-in for the post.We lost a lot of international standing during thisperiod as even the FDI President Dr. T. C. Wong whowas present at some meetings became aware of ittogether very likely with rumours of financialimpropriety.

7. As issues with the DPL began to show its face, weplanned for a meeting of all interested members ofthe profession at the Prince Hotel on the 22nd ofJune at 10am.

8. On the 18th of June, word came from Dato’Subramaniam that we should meet the KetuaPengarah of the ROS in Putrajaya immediately.Haizal helped to set up the meeting with the ROS onthe 19th of June at 10am on a Thursday, exactly aweek from the receipt of the red letter. Members ofthe “council” were invited to be present.

9. On the 19th of June 10.30am, Dr. Teh, Dr. Chow, Dr.Haizal and Dr. Shalini met with Mr. Razin, the ROS KPand Mr. Nureffendy, the ROS Selangor Pengarah attheir office in Putrajaya. It was a cordial meetingwhere we were admonished for not acting promptlyby calling an EGM the moment we received theyellow letter. This was so that when we appealed inwriting to the yellow letter, we would have alreadyresolved the grounds for deregistration. The KP alsotold us that he summoned us based on a call fromthe Home Minister to reinstate us. His final words tous were that we should follow the constitutionclosely. He also intimated that the lifting of thederegistration will be within two weeks for dueprocess had to be followed.

Epilogue

On the first of August 2014, about 4 weeks after thelifting by the ROS of the MDA registration based onthe hand-carried letter on the 3rd of July 2014, weduly received the official acknowledgement letterfrom the ROS stating clearly that we can continue allthe activities of the MDA without stating anyconditions, meaning that we have been reinstatedunconditionally. We have a full set of teeth again. It isreproduced below for posterity as a historical record.We give heartfelt thanks to the many who have goneout their way to assist our reinstatement. A majorlesson that we can and should internalize is thatmembers should be mature and upfront enough tomake their views known and report to the ROS onlyas a last resort and definitely not anonymously. Weshould not be afraid of dissent or disagreement butlook at them positively. Every issue should beaddressed in a mature, open manner and should beseen as an opportunity to grow and should not beused otherwise. That is how the MDA will grow into amature, strong, resilient and forward lookingorganization that will be a model to others.

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October-December 2014

10. The 22nd of June arrived and the meeting with allinterested parties started promptly. Dr. Teh gave abrief rundown of the events that led to thederegistration and the actions taken since then.There were lots of advice as to what should havebeen done and what else should be done, especiallyto try to meet the Home Minister. A practicaloutcome of the meeting were the generouscontributions from senior members to give interestfree loans so that the MDA staff could continue to bepaid their salaries. Our evergreen tennis playingveteran Dr. Pathmanathan generously set the ballrolling with the first contribution.

11. By the 25th of June, nerves were fraying as to howlong the ROS would take to reinstate us. Haizal theninformed us via his contact that the ROS had alreadysent the necessary documents to the Home Ministryto be vetted and signed by the Home Minister for thereinstatement of the MDA. The call then was how toget it signed and verified as soon as possible. Aperiod of nail biting and nocturnal bruxism followed.

12. Fatefully on Friday 27th of June in the evening, afterdoing endo on a problematic upper molar of DatukIkmal MP Tanah Merah Kelantan, I shared with Datukabout the toothache that the MDA was sufferingfrom. To my shock he immediately called theconfidential secretary of the Home Minister andasked for his assistance. He then asked for a copy ofthe MDA appeal to the Home Minister and assuredme that he would personally take it to the office ofthe Home Minister and expedite it. And that wasexactly what he did on Monday 30th of June. It wasabsolutely amazing seeing how busy he was.

GETTING BACK A FULL SET OF TEETH13. On the first of July 2014, a Tuesday, Encik Nur

Azman, Setiausaha Sulit of the Home Minister calledme and asked for another copy of the MDA appealwhich I duly emailed and faxed to him. Then on the2nd July the stars aligned, God smiled, and the sunshone bright even at 6.25pm because Datukmessaged me to say that the signed letter for thereinstatement of the MDA was ready for collection atthe KDN. He would personally come to the KDN andhelp me collect it at 2pm the next day, 3rd July. Soon the 3rd of July 2014 at 2.30pm, I was dulyescorted through all the security right to the level 12of the KDN where I received the letter of approval forthe reinstatement of the MDA from Mr. Nur Azman’soffice. The MDA and the profession were toothlessno more! On the way out, I bumped into the HealthMinister who told me that he had just spoken to theHome Minister on our behalf and that the HomeMinister had assured him that he had already signedthe papers for the reinstatement of the MDA. I mustsay so many individuals had been extremely kind tous and we should be greatly grateful and thankful! Isuppose that if we waited for a few more nail biting

Then on the 2nd July thestars aligned, God smiled,

and the sun shone brighteven at 6.25pm because

Datuk messaged me tosay that the signed letter

for the reinstatement ofthe MDA was ready forcollection at the KDN.

10

MDA News

weeks, the letter would duly be sent to us but throughthe kindness of Datuk Ikmal and Mr. Nur Azman, wehad been saved a few tension filled weeks of waitingon tenterhooks. Mr. Nur Azman had personally tracedthe MDA documents among many others andprepared the documents for signing by the HomeMinister.

POST TREATMENT EVALUATIONThe deregistration of the MDA has cost us all a lot of grief,frustration and losses. Suspension of all our activities, badpublicity, loss of income from CPD programmes, loss ofprestige and influential posts at the APDC andinternationally, lots of blood, sweat and tears of the POBsin striving to get the MDA back on its feet. I cannot recallhow many times Dr. Teh and his wife drove between KLand Ipoh over a period of one week. We are deeply gratefulto everyone who has contributed to this wonderfulresolution of the MDA crisis, both named and unnamed,yes the MDA is deeply grateful to you all.

The perpetrator should be roundly sanctioned andwhoever it is ought to be ashamed and publicly apologisefor putting the MDA in mortal danger when it could easilyhave been resolved within the avenues of the MDA familyin a mature and friendly atmosphere. It is well to rememberobjectives 2, 3 and 6 of the constitution of the MDA:

2. To maintain the honour and interests of the DentalProfession.

3. To foster and preserve unity, aim and purpose of thedental profession as a whole.

4. To support and promote a high standard of ethics andprofessional conduct.

However, like all unhappy episodes, there is a silver liningon the storm clouds. They include discovering how muchgoodwill we have among many people who go out of theirway to help us. There are many lessons to be learntespecially in conducting our financial transactionstransparently and wisely according to the constitution.Happy side effects were how many past leaders especiallypast MDA presidents willingly banded together to offerwhatever counsel and encouragement they could. We alsoappreciated the value and good services of the MDA muchmore especially when we were deprived of themtemporarily. Sometimes we do not appreciate an assetuntil we lose them. With all these, I am confident to reportthat the MDA has and will come through this hurricanestronger and wiser.

However, likeall unhappy

episodes, thereis a silver lining

on the stormclouds. They

includediscovering

how muchgoodwill wehave among

many peoplewho go out of

their way tohelp us.

12

MDA News

Cracking theCode withForensic ScienceDr NorhayatiJaafar

Successful dental practitioner andforensic expert Dr Norhayatishows no signs of slowing down.Her varied interests have justshifted her direction as shecontinues to reach for the stars.Kashini Krishnamurthy sits downand discovers the source of herenergy and determination.

Interviewee:Dr NorhayatiForensics DepartmentsHospital Kuala Lumpur

Interviewed by:Kashini KrishnamurthyPaul & Marigold

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October-December 2014

What compelled you to choosedentistry in the beginning?I always had this ambition of becoming a doctor whenI was still in primary school. Later in life, after Icompleted my Asasi Sains in University of Malaya, allof us had to put a list of bachelor degrees accordingto our priority of what we wanted to pursue as ourundergraduate study. At that moment, I was dividedbetween medicine and dentistry as these two lineswould earn me the ‘Doctor” title. I remember reflectingon so many aspects, including working as a medicaldoctor that would put me on a on-call list, meaningless time for the family etc; without knowing thatdentistry also had its fair share of on-callresponsibility!! So that’s how dentistry became mychoice in the beginning.

How did your career in dentistrytake off?I started my professional life as a government dentalofficer in Johor Bahru in 1998 where I went throughseveral clinical attachments with various primary andspecialists’ dental clinics. These attachments werevery important in preparing me for the workingenvironment. On the first day of the new millennium, Iwas posted to Klinik Pergigian Benut, Pontian, Johor,where I became “Pegawai Pergigian Yang Menjaga”,meaning that I was in charge of everything related tothe government dental service in the community.

I worked here for about 4 years and then moved toKlinik Pergigian Pontian for another year when Istarted to feel burnt out. I had no more passion for mywork and felt demotivated in doing the same thing dayin and day out. I started thinking of pursuing mystudies but I did not want to do any of the specialtiesthat were already established in dentistry. One day, Iheard that MOH was offering a scholarship in ForensicOdontology and I jumped at the opportunity. As I wasthe only one applying for the scholarship,automatically I got it and went to further my studies fortwo years in University of Melbourne, Australia in2007.

In 2009, I came back and immediately was posted toHospital Kuala Lumpur where I worked alongside theForensic service in the hospital. As I am the onlyforensic odontologist in MOH, I received referrals fromall over the country, not only from the dental andforensic departments but also from variousgovernment agencies, including the police, maritime,prison and also the courts. On top of that, I am theteam leader for the MOH’s forensic odontology teamwhenever disasters strike, like the Ops Daulat inSabah and also the recent MH17 tragedy, both inUkraine and Holland.

As I am the onlyforensic odontologist

in MOH, I receivedreferrals from all overthe country, not onlyfrom the dental and

forensic departmentsbut also from various

government agencies,including the police,maritime, prison and

also the courts.

DentalSurgeonWantedEstablished and busyclinic in KotaDamansara looking forfull time/part timeDental Surgeon.

With valid APC. English and Chinesespeaking is preferred. Opportunity forself development and partnershipbesides good remuneration. Kindlysend resume totkdentalclinic@yahoo.com or call 03-61485208 for an interview.

DoctorretiringfrompracticeClinic at SS 2 PJ fortakeover.

Contact Dr Lee 012-607 0037, 03-78775577

CLASSIFIEDS

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MDA News

What were your hopes anddreams for the future when youfirst finished your dentistrydegree?At that moment, being as young and naïve as Iwas at the tender age of 25 years old, honestly Idid not have big hopes or dreams for my futureat all. All I wanted at that time was a career thatcould secure me financially and to work for thegovernment till the day I retire. It was only when Iexperienced burning out did I do some seriousthinking about my future in dentistry.

What are some of the keyhighlights of your career havingserved in the government?Being a pioneer in forensic odontology in MOHtook me places and pushed me to the best of myability. But people only started to notice me andthis field during the Sosilawati case where I hadto examine the dental evidence. Anothersentimental achievement for me was a childabuse case in which we found a human bitemarkon the body. Together with Prof PhrabhakaranNambiar, who is a fellow forensic odontologist atUniversity Malaya, we concluded that thebitemark was inflicted by the suspect of thecase, which was the boyfriend of the toddler’smother. That case is a landmark of theadmissibility of bitemark evidence in theMalaysian courts.

In 2013, I was asked to go to Tawau and LahadDatu to examine unknown bodies that diedduring the armed conflict for the identificationpurposes. The process of examining multiplebodies in a disaster is called DVI or DisasterVictim Identification, and identification throughdental records is one of the three primarymethods of identifying an unknown body.

I was also involved in the recent MH17 tragedywhere I spent 5 days in Ukraine, attendingseveral meetings with the Ukranian governmentand also international counterparts that wereaffected by the tragedy. Later, we flew off toHolland for the post mortem dental examinationof the remains which was done in the HilversumMedical Army Camp.

October-December 2014

15

What are some of the keyprinciples you have upheldthroughout your career?For me, integrity and honesty are two mostimportant elements that I have to have, bothin life and also in my professional work.People around you can always sense andsee how you carry yourself. These twoprincipals will bring you further and higheralong the way. Moreover, you are not onlyanswerable to your fellow humans, but mostimportant is that you are answerable for allthe things you do to God. Another importantelement is to be humble of yourachievements as you can’t achieve anythingif not for the people around you.

How does your familycontribute towards yoursuccess?I am blessed with marrying a veryunderstanding husband. He was the onewho encouraged me to take up the field andassured me that he will take care of the kidswhenever necessary. As my professionalcareer took off, I spent more and more of mytime outstation, and less time with them.Once, I told my three kids that I had to workfar away from home and my youngestdaughter aged 5 years old cleverly answeredme: ‘I know, Mama, sometimes you workclose, and sometimes you work far.” Torepay their understanding towards my careerdevelopment, I pampered them to hotelvacations during most school holidays, asmy kids love to go to hotels!

The recent MH17 tragedy took me awayfrom my family during the Hari Rayaholidays, which was the first for themwithout their mommy. Every day, my familywill contact me without fail and ask the samequestion every day of the date that I’mcoming home, which I didn’t know at thattime. But the pain of separation makes theheart grow fonder, and our family hasbecome closer than ever before. All thesemake my heart a bit lighter in pursuing myambition and dream for the country, and Ihope that my family is proud of me.

For me, integrity and honesty are twomost important elements that I have

to have, both in life and also in myprofessional work.

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MDA News

If there was one thing you could have donedifferently, what would it have been?If it’s possible to do things differently, the one thing that I would like tochange is to start my career in forensic odontology much earlier than howit actually happened. This field really satisfies me professionally in everysense: the challenge, the diverseness, the spontaneity, the teamwork andalso the cooperation between multiple agencies. I regret that I took 8years to finally come to my senses and follow my dream.

Have there been any significant events in yourcareer that have made you alter its naturalcourse?None as far as I remember as I always know what I want in my life and Ibelieve any stumbles that you face along the way would only make youstronger than ever.

What can the industry hope to see from you inthe future? Any big plans?I plan to develop a very good dental database for all Malaysians, whichwe lack right now. Most of the time, the dental records that most clinicshave are just the written records with charting. Radiograph is only orderedwhen necessary. To positively identify a person after death via the teeth,one should have an ante morterm (before death) radiograph to becompared to the post mortem (after death) radiograph. A good dentaldatabase should have both written records with charting and a minimumof two bitewing radiographs. When this happens, identification throughthe teeth after the death would then be THE identification method for ourcitizens.

I also want Malaysia to have a national body for estimating the age ofpeople in custody which comprises of the three key specialties: forensicmedicine, forensic odontology and radiology. This body would beresponsible for examining the detainees and then coming out with acombined report, which is a more holistic approach for the detainee. Thesystem that we have now is just sending the detainee to either one of thespecialties mentioned above. Sometimes, this would lead to false-positiveresults which is not fair to the detainee.

Do you have any advice for dentists who arewishing to bridge the gap into highermanagement?My advice for them is to follow your heart and passion, and also to dreambig. Never underestimate your ability to achieve something, regardless ofhow difficult they are. I never knew that I was capable of coming out withso many proposals and ideas that I have now, and would never believethat if I was told so 8 years ago. But, here I am and still going strong. WithGod’s blessing, I will continue to achieve my dreams till the day I retire.

Forensic dentistry is the application of dentalknowledge to those criminal and civil laws thatare enforced by police agencies in a criminaljustice system. Forensic dentists are involved inassisting investigative agencies to identifyrecovered human remains in addition to theidentification of whole or fragmented bodies;forensic dentists may also be asked to assist indetermining age, race, occupation, previousdental history and socioeconomic status ofunidentified human beings. Identification is doneby the comparison of ante mortem and postmortem dental records and using the uniquefeatures visible on dental radiographs[1]

Forensic dentistry or forensic odontology is theproper handling, examination and evaluation ofdental evidence, which will be then presented inthe interest of justice. The evidence that may bederived from teeth, is the age (in children) andidentification of the person to whom the teethbelong. This is done using dental recordsincluding radiographs, ante-mortem (prior todeath) and post-mortem photographs and DNA.Forensic odontology is derived from Latin,meaning forum or where legal matters arediscussed.

The other type of evidence is that of bite marks,left on either the victim (by the attacker), theperpetrator (from the victim of an attack), or onan object found at the crime scene. Bite marksare often found on children who are abused.

Forensic dentists are responsible for six mainareas of practice:

§ Identification of found human remains§ Identification in mass fatalities§ Assessment of bite mark injuries§ Assessment of cases of abuse (child,

spousal, elder)§ Civil cases involving malpractice§ Age estimation

Forensic Odontology

October-December 2014

17The deregistration notice from theRegistry of Society, received on 12thJune 2014 @3pm12TH June 2014 was the saddest day in the history of MDA, just 12days after my installation as the president of MDA, we received thederegistration notice ,dated 6th June 2014 from the Registrar ofSociety (WP), stating that all activities in relation to the MDA had to besuspended with immediate effect. The Hon Gen Sec and I soon madean appointment with ROS to clarify matters related to the notice. Asmall group of delegation from MDA managed to meet up with theHonorable Health Minister on the same evening to brief him of theunprecedented crisis and seek YB’s kind assistance in solving theissue. An appeal letter to the Minister of Home Affair was delivered viaROS office on the 16th June 2014.

From the moment we received the deregistration notice from theRegistrar of Society, the MDA Council and all the stakeholders havebeen working very hard against the clock to get MDA reinstated.Finally, on June 3rd 2014, MDA’s status was reinstated. As promisedto the DG of ROS, we will tighten up our financial policy and make surethat the same error does not repeat itself. As DG of ROS and thedirector of Selangor ROS Director stressed that ROS only acts uponreceiving complaints from members, I truly regret the matter whichshould have been resolved internally was brought to the ROS, nomatter how innocent the intention was.

I wish to thank all the stakeholders and individuals who had beenlobbying for the lifting of the deregistration, especially PM HealthMinister Principle Director of OHD, MOH Dr Khairiyah, Datin Dr NooralZeila, Prof Dato Dr Hashim, En Saravanan Principle Private Secretaryto YBKM, En Azman, Setiausaha Sulit MOHA, Dato Shahlan, PoliticalSecretary to PM and those who worked behind the scene. On behalf ofthe Council, I would like to thank our members for their understandingand support during this difficult time.

Updates fromthe President

It gives me great pleasure topen my inaugural message toupdate members on thedevelopments of MDA. It has been a busy few monthsfor me as the President, withso many important issues todeal with and as always, solittle time! Several importantthings have occurred recentlythat we should be aware of.

18

MDA News

The Tragedy of MH17 Crashand dental recordsON behalf of the MDA, I would like to offer ourdeepest condolences to the families and friends ofthe victims of the Malaysian Airlines MH-17 crash.

The process of identifying victims of majordisasters such as terrorist attacks or earthquakesis quite difficult by visual recognition. Comparisonof fingerprints, dental records or DNA samples withones stored in databases or taken from victims'personal effects are often required to obtain aconclusive identification.

Member countries who lost citizens in the MH 17crash will also be requested to gather and sendante-mortem data in order for the victims to beidentified as quickly as possible in order for themto be returned to their families.

On the request from the Forensic Odontology AMdivision, We assisted in sending a confidentialemail blast to our members, requesting them toprovide the dental record of victims of MH17 asante-mortem data to assist in the identification ofthe victimss bodies.

We cannot stress enough on the importance ofmaintaining complete and accurate patientrecords. This is a sign of quality care and anintegral part of our duty to care for the patients.

IMU Oral Health Awareness WeekMY first official duty was to deliver the VIP Speech at theIMU Oral Health Awareness Week launch on June 5th,2014. I am happy that IMU dental students are trained notonly to provide quality dental care to the patients but alsoto promote good oral general health to the public. Theirstrong commitment to serve and give back to the societyis a good example of “Corporate Social Responsibility”

MDA-GSK “Your Mouth DeservesSpecialized Care’ campaign” MALAYSIAN Dental Association (MDA) in collaborationwith GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Sdn Bhdlaunched the “Your Mouth Deserves Specialized Care”Campaign on the 11th of June 2014. The event wasgraced by Dr Khairiyah Abdul Muttalib, Principle Directorof Oral Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia. The MobileDental Clinic will be running 20 sessions in key locationsaround the country to provide dental screening to morethan 5,000 Malaysians. It aims to help detect conditionssuch as gum disease & caries. Concurrently, there will bea digital engagement campaign reaching out to 200,000Malaysians for oral health awareness.

The MDA GSK CSR Campaign was scheduled to run for 2months, unfortunately the MDA deregistration hadaffected the running of the program. GSK had temporarilystopped the campaign on the 22nd June 2014 on theadvice of their legal advisor. The campaign will resumeonce MDA deregistration by ROS is lifted.

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October-December 2014

Mouth Cancer Awareness Walk2014MDA is pleased to be part of the organizing team ofthe Mouth Cancer Awareness Campaign 2014, whichwill be held at Waterfront, Kuching on the 11th ofAugust 2014 from 3pm to 6.30pm. An estimated 500-1000 participants are expected to be attending.TheVVIP for MCAW is the Honourable Health Minister ofMalaysia, Dato Seri Dr Subramaniam. MDA hasalways been supportive of the Mouth CancerAwareness Campaign; in fact we had successfullyorganized the Oral Cancer early detection workshopat the just concluded MIDEC 2014 in June.

Dental Bill 2014IN 2014, the former Dental Amendment Bill wasrenamed Dental Bill 2014. There are somecomponents in the new Dental Bill 2014 that willaffect all of us in our daily practice. Thesecomponents are namely the mandatory ContinuingProfessional Development (CPD), the registration andregulation of dental therapists, and the provisions forthe registration of dental specialist under a separatespecialist division.

Collecting CPD points annually is very important tous, as healthcare providers, but it is also a verychallenging task to achieve. I understand that it maybe difficult for some of our members serving in ruralareas to attend CPD talks or Dental Conferences,because they are held in the city. Today, most of ushave the convenience of sitting in our office or hometo search for information through the internet, wealso can obtain new knowledge by attending studygroups. Online CPD programs is one way for us toget the important points and keep up-to-date at thesame time. The Homepage Committee is workingtowards this direction to provide online CPDprograms to the members.

MDA Promoting the Art andScience of DentistryMDA has hosted and organized many international dentalconventions annually and continues to do so, drawingmany renowned speakers in their respective fields toshare their knowledge with our dentists from the AsiaPacific region.

MDA and the three regional zones, namely the Northern,Southern and Eastern Zone have also been activelyorganizing Continuing Dental Education programs andworkshops to help our dentists keep up to date withadvances in Dentistry. This has allowed our patients tobenefit from a higher quality of care.

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MDA News

Dental Indemnity InsuranceOUR records show that a high percentage of GeneralDental Practitioners are not insured with theprofessional indemnity, and I would like to stronglyadvise members to get insured as soon as possible.With the increasing number of complaints by themembers of the public against dental practitioners, Icannot stress more on the importance of coveringourselves with the professional indemnity. This iscrucial as dental indemnity insurance protects bothdoctors and patients in the case of an adverse eventarising from dental care. The MDA has secured specialrates with the Dental Protection Limited of UK. Pleasecall the MDA Headquarters for further information.

Most of the complaints received have arisen becauseof a breakdown of communication between the dentistand the patient. Make sure that you always inform yourpatient the nature of treatment you propose to do andthe cost of such treatment and ensure that you deliverthis treatment in a skillful and professional way.

DPL Announcement to MDA/DPLmember on the renewal of DPLSubscriptionWE would like to inform MDA/DPL members that, theMDA cannot administer DPL transactions since July1st 2014, as the result of MDA’s deregistration. We arereturning all payments to the DPL by MDA memberswho can choose either to pay direct to the DPL in UKor hold on until the MDA is empowered by DPL UK toadminister DPL transactions again. As MDA hadalready been reinstated on the 3rd July 2014, weexpect to receive the go ahead again shortly. Weapologise for this temporary disruption andinconvenience to all our esteemed MDA/DPLmembers.

The mushrooming of dentalcolleges IF the government fails to take immediate steps to curbthe mushrooming of the dental colleges in the country,the profession of dentistry will be in a pathetic state.MDA had sent an memorandum to the government 2years ago that an unplanned rapid rise in the number ofdental colleges in the country may create problems fornew passing-out youngsters to find proper professionalplacements in future. Currently there are 15 dentalcolleges in the country with another 2 dental collegeson the approval list, making 17 the total number ofdental colleges in Malaysia. Out of which 11 areprivately owned (AMIST, PIDC, MAHSA, IMU, MMMC,SEGi, Lincoln, VMIUC, AUCMS, QUEST) and 6 run bythe government (UM,UKM,USM,UiTM, IIUM, USIM)

Total number of yearly intake forlocal dental undergraduatestudentsTHE Malaysian Dental Council ( MDC ) has agreed toincrease the total number of yearly intake for localdental undergraduate students from 800 to 900. Thecouncil of Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) will writeto the Malaysian Dental Council (MDC) to raise ourconcern of the continuing increase of dentalundergraduates and dentists. The council feels thatthere should be a National Board Exam to evaluate theirqualification, and we would be preparing the (data)statistics for submission to the MDC.

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October-December 2014

Accessible and Affordable DentalTreatment for MalaysianORAL Health is an integral part of general health thataffects our overall well-being and quality of life. The MDA,as the representative body of the dental profession, hasplayed a key role in supporting the delivery of oralhealthcare services in Malaysia, working with the DentalDivision, Ministry of Health as well as International HealthAgencies such as the World Health Organisation and theFederation Dentaire International in formulating oral healthpolicies and initiating and supporting nationwideinitiatives.

MDA will continue to work with Ministry of Health toensure that dental healthcare remains affordable andaccessible to all Malaysians. Our members at privatesector provide good tertiary dental procedures, such ascrowns, dentures and root canal treatment at reasonablefees to the general public. This could help reduce waitingtimes at public hospitals and polyclinics.

I have also commenced zone visits to disseminateinformation on current dental issues and obtain feedback.It would be gratifying to hear a better idea of your needsand work towards fulfilling those that we are able to.

MHTC ½ day talk on DentalTourism the 22nd June 2014.MALAYSIA Healthcare Travel Council, MHTC is aninitiative under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Itsultimate purpose is to promote and position Malaysia as aunique destination for world-class healthcare services.MHTC was established under the Ministry of HealthMalaysia, bringing together the nation's dual heritage ofhospitality and medical innovation, highlighting Malaysiaas the preferred healthcare travel destination in the Asianregion. The purpose of MHTC is to streamline healthcaretravel service providers and industry players in bothprivate and government sectors so as to drive theindustry to greater heights. Malaysia is gaining popularityas a destination for many in pursuit for quality and fastmedical care at competitive prices. Malaysia MedicalTourism has been booming in the past few years, withPenang capturing more than 50% of the market. It istimely that Malaysia jumps onto the dental tourismbandwagon and accelerate gains from this niche industry.

Participating Dental ProvidersMHTC Participating Dental Providers are Hospitals andambulatory care dental centres. We hope that evendental clinics that are well-equipped and catered toreceive and handle dental tourists are approved andregistered to be a participating dental tourism provider inMalaysia. A selection committee consisting ofrepresentatives from both the private and governmentsector will evaluate and select these dental providers toensure that the standard of service and quality dentalcare provided within the industry is continuously upheld.There is tremendous potential for dental tourism inMalaysia, but currently there are only 4 dental clinicsregistered under MHTC, and we would like to encourageour members in the private sector to benefit from theMHTC initiatives and programs.

Incentives for MHTC MembersTHERE are many benefits for being a member of MHTC.Besides the exposure and benefits gained from theinternational marketing programmes organized by MHTC,its members will also enjoy special incentives accordedby the Malaysian Government for their efforts inpromoting medical and dental tourism. One example isthe Investment Tax Allowance (ITA). Our neighbouringcountries, Thailand and Singapore have already captureda huge percentage of dental tourism market in this regionof the world.

I believe with proper planning and promotion throughMHTC we can be a leader in dental tourism in this regionof the world too. We have many well equipped dentalsurgeries and dental centres providing quality andaffordable dental care. English is the second language inMalaysia and is well spoken in the country. Malaysianmulticultural society and the beautiful scenery are alsoselling points for Dental Tourism.

22

MDA News

MDA Student MentorshipProgramWE will be starting a MDA Student Mentorship Programto train up future MDA leaders. Under the program, dentalstudent will pay a minimum fee to attend conferencesorganized by MDA, and at the same time have a hand-onexperience to learn event organizing skills. At the end ofthe event, we will hold a reflective session to find out howmuch they have benefited from the program.

The 36th APDC DubaiTHE Hon Gen Sec Dr Chow Kai Foo and myself cancelledour trip to Dubai to address the MDA deregistration issue.As the result of deregistration, MDA candidates, Dr HajaBadrudeen, Brig Gen Dato Dr Ilham and Dr ThomasAraham lost their eligibility to stand for election in the36th APDC.

The 2014 FDI AWDC – New DelhiTHE registration fees is USD 500 ++, I will attend the FDIAWDC in New Delhi together with the President Elect, DrJohn Ting and the FDI Liaison Officer Dr Chow Kai Foo,FDI past president Dato Dr Ratnanesan and FDI councilorDato Dr How Kim Chuan .The subsidy for the generalmembership is RM1000/- per member, maximum 10members. The news had been published on the MDAwebsite since March 2014.

MOU between MDA and MDSATHE MOU between MDA and MDSA was signed at theMDA Gala Night on the 31st of May 2014. MDSA wasrepresented by their President Md Hafizul Taufiq Zulkeple;and MDA was represented by yours truly.

GSTMDA had registered for GST because our turn over ismore than RM500K. GST will be imposed on the annualsubscription, event registration fee, trade booths,property rental, and other services such as mailingservice, selling of mailing labels. GST will not be imposedon DPL subscription and sponsorship.

Dentists do not need to pay GST, but Dental Suppliershave to pay GST. MDA had submitted a list of dentalequipment and material to be exempted from GST, andthe Ministry of Finance (MOF) is seriously considering ofwaiving GST for that.

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24

MDA News

MIDEC 2014Held In Kuala LumpurMalaysia

The inaugural MIDEC organized by theMalaysian Dental Association was a hugesuccess. The event was held in the worldclass Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

(KLCC) from 29th May to 1st June 2014.

MDA has decided to go international

The former Minister of Health Dato’ Sri Liow TiongLai in June 2009 posed a challenge to the MDA toelevate this national conference to an internationallevel. The Council responded to this challenge andhas duly upgraded our event to be held on a globalstage.

After the outstanding successes of nationalconferences, MDA has rebranded its midyear eventto a not to be missed International DentalExhibition and Conference – MIDEC. This is timelyas the Malaysian Dental Association has justcelebrated its Diamond Jubilee in the year 2013.

MDA aims are to make MIDEC……..A must-come international scientific conferenceand trade exhibition showcasing cutting-edgedentistry so as to continually educate and developdental professionals from all corners of the globethrough the provision of world-class presentersand exhibitors.

In the world of dentistry, change is inevitable. Newmaterials being invented, new techniques andprocedures are developed every day. AttendingContinuing Profession DevelopmentProgrammes(CPDs) like MIDEC is one suchpowerful way to keep up with the advancements indentistry and to provide increasingly better care forour patients.

October-December 2014

25

With the earnest promotional efforts by theorganizing committee, MIDEC has managed toattract over 3000 delegates and many morevisitors over the 3 day’s event. This includes over350 international delegates from Australia, Brazil,Brunei, China, Cambodia, France, Hong Kong,India, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, Iraq, Korea,Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, UABand Vietnam. International traders came in fullforce to market their latest products and services.The MDA has received overwhelming positivefeedback from the exhibitors, majority of whomhave committed to participating in future MDAconventions.

The Scientific programme was indeed a greatsuccess, with over 30 internationally renownedspeakers and local speakers, who shared theirexpertise at the event.

In line with the MDA’s tradition of promotingprofessional excellence and fellowship amongstdentists, dental auxiliaries and dental students,there were numerous other programmes organizedconcurrently: The Dental Allied Health Program,the Dental Student Congress and the Oral andPoster Competition.

Social Events like the MDA Gala Night and theInformal Night/ Welcome Reception after theOpening Ceremony was well attended. All ourinvited guests enjoyed the performances by theFamous artist Donna Daniel during the MDA GalaNight; it was one of the best Gala Nights organizedby MDA. The Grand Opening Ceremony programincluded the Modern LED Drums Performance andTraditional Cultural Dances.

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MDA News

Report written by:Dr. Nurshaline Pauline Hj KipliSecretary, Local Organizing Committee

Mouth Cancer Awareness Week (MCAW)has been an annual event since 2006.Initially it was organized by the OralCancer Research & Coordinating

Centre, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya incollaboration with Oral Health Division, Ministry ofHealth and Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation(CARIF). Since then, the number of collaboratingpartners have increased to include Oral HealthDivision, Ministry of Defence, various dentalassociations including MDA and other academicinstitutions. The main aim of MCAW is to raisepublic awareness of mouth cancer. Besides this,MCAW also aims to highlight other issues such asrisk habits, presence of early or precursor lesionsand systematic examination of the mouth.

During the week, various activities such as posterexhibitions, free mouth screening and counseling,health education and promotion will be carried outby the various collaborating partners. For severalyears, the MCAW has been launched with aWalkathon. For the first time, Waterfront Kuchingwas selected to be the venue for the Walkathon.The theme for this year's event is “Sometimes a BigMouth is a Good Thing”. Poster exhibitions, videoscreening of self-mouth examination, mouth cancerscreening, patient support group meeting and awalkathon are the activities planned for this year.Two competitions, colouring and video-clipcompetitions were also organized in conjunctionwith the event for primary school and universitystudents respectively.

It was truly a memorable day for MCAW 2014 asthe event was officially launched by YB Datuk SeriDr. S. Subramaniam, Minister of Health Malaysia.The event was also graced by other dignitariesincluding YBrs. Dr. Chen Chaw Min, Deputy Under-

Mouth CancerAwarenessWeek 2014Venue: Waterfront, KuchingDate: 11 Aug 2014

MCAW Exhibition AreaMouth Cancer Screening

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October-December 2014

Secretary, Ministry of Finance, YB Datuk Dr.Jerip Susil, Assistant Minister of Public HealthSarawak and Ybhg. Datuk Haji Abang AbdulWahap B Abang Julai, Mayor of Kuching CityHall North. Also in attendance were variousdepartmental heads from not only the healthdepartment but also other state departments.Mouth cancer survivors and family membersfrom Kuching and outside of Sarawak werespecially invited to join the event. A mouthcancer survivor, En. Mos B Utai who wasaccompanied by 4 other survivors went up onstage to give a very touching testimony of hisexperience with the disease.

The Walkathon was well-received with over 600people participating in the walk making it one ofthe biggest MCAW walk to date. The 1.4kmwalk started at the Square Fort, continuedalong the scenic Waterfront promenade andended at the elevated walkway.Commendation to the organizing committee,collaborating partners and participants formaking MCAW a huge success.

(L to R): YB Datuk Dr. Jerip Susil, Assistant Minister of Public Health Sarawak, YB DatukSeri Dr. S. Subramaniam, Minister of Health Malaysia, YBrs. Dr. Chen Chaw Min, Deputy

Under-Secretary, Ministry of Finance

Front row (L to R): Professor Dr. Rosnah Zain, Co-organizing Chairman, Dr.Khairiyah Abd Muttalib, Co-organizing Chairman, YB Datuk Seri Dr. S.

Subramanian, Minister of Health Malaysia.

MCAW 2014Walkathon Flag Off,Kuching Waterfront

YB Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam(center) flanked by mouth cancersurvivor, En. Mos B Utai (center right),YB Datuk Dr. Jerip Susil (back row farright) and participants for the walk.

28

MDA News

Report On TheFDI AnnualWorld DentalCongress 2014In New Delhi

8th September Monday

After registering myself early in the morning as oneof the first delegates, I went to the meetings. Themorning was taken up by the FDI official councilmeeting. I managed to meet and say hello to the

FDI President and some of the councilors attending themeeting. As the FDI NLO(National Liaison Officer), I am notallowed to attend the meeting and met them only during thecoffee break.

The afternoon was the first open forum meeting of the FDIwhere there were important discussions and debate onseveral policy statements of the FDI that were put forwardby the various FDI committees for adoption and publishingby the FDI. These policy statements are important becauseit will reflect the consensus conclusions of the internationaldental profession on various issues that impact oral healthand by extension general health.

This delegate proceeded to launch into the debate onECC(Early Childhood Caries). Every time a delegate wantsto speak, they have to announce their names and thecountry that they represent. In this way, “Malaysia” wascalled out several times. Malaysia expressed astonishmentthat the control of sugar intake was totally ignored in thestatement of how ECC can be tackled effectively. As aresult, the addition by Malaysia was adopted with thesupport of many other countries. The Malaysian statementadopted is as follows:- “There should be a concertedintegrated effort of parents, schools, health ministries andother stakeholders to decrease the intake of sugar in all itsforms.”

This delegate also debated on the FDI policy statement ondental implants. His determined attempt to rename dentalimplants as oro-dental implants due to the fact that dentalimplants not only used to hold teeth but also oralprostheses that include both teeth and bone and gumstructures in cases of post-oral cancer rehabilitation wassadly rejected. However, Malaysia managed to omitunfounded prejudicial statements on reduced diameterimplants. Strong arguments were preferred and the term“dental implants with alternative dimensions” was finallyadopted. All these shows that though Malaysia is small, wecan still make a positive impact provided we are willing tomake ourselves heard and be prepared to defend ourstatements with valid information and clearly statedrationale. It is imperative for Malaysians to master Englishso that their voice will be heard and taken seriously ininternational forums.

Report written by:Dr. Chow Kai Foo BDS; FDSRCS; AM(Mal)FDI National Liaison Officer Honorary General SecretaryMalaysian Dental Association

Dr Abdul RashidHassan from EZ wasconferred the AhliDarjah Kinabalu fromthe TYT on hisexcellency's birthday on4th Oct 2014. Thisaward does not carrythe Datoship.

Dato Dr How KimChuan was elected asFDI Councillor forsecond term.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The late Tan Sri Cheah

Cheng Kooi passedaway on 6th September2014.

CONDOLENCES

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October-December 2014

9th September TuesdayThe whole day was taken up by the World Dental Parliamentwhere representatives from all over the world up to 200nations are seated to debate and vote on various issues. Likein most organizations, introductions are followed by thevarious reports from the President on wards. Topics debatedand voted on include the following:-

• FDI strategic review and action plan

• Report on achieving the fdi’s charitable projects

• Relations

• Membership

• Financial matters

• Nominations

• Any other business

The whole meeting was run like a parliamentary democracywith an elected speaker who controls the debates and guidesthe meeting so that the agenda is covered appropriately.

10th September WednesdayThe APRO(Asia Pacific Regional Organization) had meetingsin the morning and afternoon. Malaysia had no representationdue to the unfortunate deregistration of the MDA whichcovered the period where new office bearers were elected inthe APDC in Dubai.

The National Liaison Officers Forum was held in theafternoon. It was held in a format that allowed mainly the FDIofficers to talk and hardly if any opportunity at all to hear fromthe various NLOs of all the countries assembled. Reallyboring with little meaningful interaction and exchange ofideas. Could certainly be done better.

12th September FridayFriday was important because we were scheduled to meetthe DPL(Dental Protection Limited which is under the MedicalProtection Society based in London) at the Kempinski Hotelwhere they were staying. The meeting with the DPL wentsmoothly:-

We described at length the sequence of events that broughtabout the MDA deregistration.

30

MDA News

The main concern of the DPL is that none oftheir money transited through the MDA wasin any way used for unscrupulous purposesespecially corruption and bribery. This is dueto the UK Anti-Bribery Law. They pointed outthat the DPL and its’ officers will beaccountable if found to have contravenedthis law.

We informed them that the DPL account wasa separate account under the MDA. Allmoney received from DPL members werebanked into this account and all moneyreceived forwarded completely to the DPL.As such none of the money received wereused in any way in the transaction of the saidproperty, against which the ROS(Registrar ofSocieties) received a complaint resulting inthe deregistration of the MDA.

We also informed them that the ROSreinstated the MDA in less than a month afteran appeal with all the necessary documentswere sent to the Minister of Home Affairscopied to the ROS, the Minister of Health andthe Prime Minister. The speed wasunprecedented and is an indication that theMDA has been above board accept for thetechnical reason of unwisely releasing themoney to the developer in a way that did notprevent the developer from banking it inprematurely thus precipitating the complaint.

Based on this explanation, the DPL officiallyrepresented by Dr. Stephen Henderson andDr. Jane Merivale assured us that they wereconvinced that we have not contravened anyUK law and they will duly convey theirconvictions to the DPL management who ifsatisfied will reinstate the MDA managementof the DPL services back to normal. Weurged the DPL to do so as soon as possiblefor the sake of the wellbeing and indemnitycoverage of the MDA DPL members.

The MDA was represented by the PresidentDr. Teh Tat Beng, the President-Elect Dr.John Ting Sii Ong and the Honorary GeneralSecretary Dr. Chow Kai Foo. Dr. Ng WoanTyng, a veteran treasurer of the MDA formany terms was present as an observer.

It was a thorough and exhaustive meeting,especially having to conduct it after astressful journey through the congestedstreets of New Delhi.

13th September SaturdayThe morning was taken up by the World OralHealth Forum where members debated overthe matter of the increasingly aging populationof the world and how the oral healthprofession is preparing to handle the issuesinvolved. The world is expected to have 2billion elderly aged 60+ by 2040. This delegateurged the assembly to target treatment of theexpected 600 million edentulous by then whowill benefit tremendously if they can have theirloose lower full dentures stabilized with dentalimplants. It would help greatly if every dentalschool can be convinced to make it mandatoryfor every new graduate to have stabilized oneloose lower denture with implants before theygraduate. The committee in charge howeverchose to look mainly at the overall picturewithout delving into the specifics. Thisdelegate felt that looking at the overall pictureis important, but equally important is that weshould also target an area where we canactually make a clear, practical and welcomedifference to the individual.

The afternoon was the final assembly of theFDI where all the vacancies were up forelection. We proudly announce that Malaysiawas elected to one of the 5 vacancies for FDICouncillor. Considering that there are only 13FDI Councillors apart from the President,President-Elect and Treasurer, it is a greathonour and achievement for Malaysia to beelected into the top representative body fordentists throughout the world. Congratulationsto Dato’ Dr. How Kim Chuan and Malaysia.