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6 May 2008 Lianhe Zaobao
The recent survey conducted by Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) and Singapore Dental Health Foundation showed that 64% of the employees surveyed did not go for dental check-ups regularly (at least twice a year) due to the following reasons:
However, among the lower-income workers interviewed, 68% stated that they would go for regular check-ups if their companies pay the dental fees for them. 81% of the respondents within this group stated that they would go for regular check-up even if they were not in pain. The above survey report was released at the Singapore HR Congress & Business-Connect Exposition 2008 yesterday. SHRI sent 1,500 questionaries to local companies, including 500 SMEs. In addition, they conducted face-to-face interviews with 200 SMEs. Only 337 organisations participated in the survey. 45% of the respondents were employees (88% of them were blue-collar workers), while the reminding 55% were HR managers. The aim of the survey was to understand the dental health awareness and demands among blue-collar workers. The survey also aimed to find out HR practitioners’ view on this issue and if they were willing to provide preventive healthcare plans. The parties concerned hoped to design effective and acceptable dental healthcare plans for lower-income workers after collating relevant data. The survey showed that although 92% of the respondents agreed that dental healthcare is very important to maintaining overall health, yet very few companies provide such benefits. The dental benefits provided by companies cover areas such as annual allowance (54%), subsidised visit to designated dental clinics (22%) and group insurance (10%). For those respondents whose companies provide annual allowance, 38% of them stated that their allowance was $100 or below, while 47% indicated that their allowance was between $101 and $500. Those employees who enjoyed dental benefits usually used the allowance for services such as extractions (48%), dental cleaning (48%), fillings (46%), root canal treatment (30%), dentures (19%) and straightening of crooked teeth (14%). For companies that did not provide dental benefits, 42% of the respondents indicated that they did not know the reason for not providing dental benefits, 19% of them indicated that such benefits were never considered and 15% of them stated there were no demands. Another 15% of the respondents felt that such benefits were not important and 9% of them stated that there was no budget for this. The survey also showed that 58% of the respondents were very clear that dental health is linked to diabetes and heart disease. Oral disease will weaken one’s immune system and is related to diabetes and heart disease. Poor oral health will affect one’s speech and ability to absorb nutrients. It will also affect one’s quality of life and social development. In the worst case scenario, it can lead to death. In ranking the importance of dental benefits, the HR practitioners surveyed ranked it at the 4th position, after training and development, annual leave and flexible work arrangement. However, the employees surveyed ranked dental benefits in the 5th position, after annual leave, flexible work arrangement, training and development and mobile phone allowance. The survey indicated that if companies were able to provide preventive dental care benefits, it would reduce employees’ overall medical fees, as well as gain their loyalty and increase their productivity. SHRI President Ho Geok Choo stated that preventive is better than cure. Maintaining good oral health minimises the need to pay for expensive tooth decay treatment. She hopes that employers and dental health insurers can work together to provide dental benefits for workers.
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