RP dentists work as dental hygienists in ME

Like doctors who have to work as nurses abroad, Filipino dentists are settling to work as dental hygienists across the Gulf countries. Dental professionals in the Middle East consider it as a form of discrimination against the dentists simply because they are from the Philippines, according to a report in online news ArabianBusiness.com. Because of the high demand for nurses in the United States and United Kingdom, thousands of Filipino doctors have enrolled in nursing courses so they can find jobs overseas. In the Middle East, the report said Filipino dentists accept the job as dental hygienists in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia because the pay is still higher than what they stand to earn if they practice their profession in the Philippines. Registered hygienists have questioned the qualification of the Filipino dentists. "Anybody can do a polish, scrape off tobacco stains and a bit of superficial calculus, but that's not what the issue is," the report quoted Louise Adam, a hygienist at Sigar Clinic in Saudi Arabia. "The issue is what's beneath the gum that you can't see. That's the difference between being an effective hygienist and just being a cleaning lady, and I don't think it matters what nationality you are." Adam argues that the schooling to qualify as a dentist does not address the same skills required to produce good quality hygienists. Dr Subu Thomas, consultant dentist at the Bab-Hani Dental Clinic in Kuwait, suggested that Filipino dentists be given a qualifying exam or a six-month course and be allowed to practice their profession in the Gulf region. “That's just discrimination, to not give someone who is a qualified dentist the chance to be a dentist, just because they are from the Philippines," Dr. Thomas said. - GMANews.TV