Crooked business: Indonesia's amateur dentists ply dubious trade
Putri Wulandari will never forget stepping into a roadside shophouse in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta to get braces for her teeth.
Wulandari does not know if the equipment he used was sterilised, but he did not wear a surgical mask or latex gloves.
“It was very fast. He only asked me to choose what colours I wanted and then immediately went for my teeth,” Wulandari, 22, told Al Jazeera.
For Wulandari, who had wanted braces since high school, a qualified dentist was out of the question.
“If I went to a dentist or a clinic, the cost would have been somewhere around five million rupiahs ($348),” she said. “The dental worker charged me only 200,000 rupiahs ($14).”
“Dental workers”, known as “tukang gigi”, are commonly found tucked away in alleys and sidestreets in Indonesia’s cities, often advertising their services with lurid signs featuring pearly whites and blood-red gums.
They offer dental work at rock bottom prices, targeting people with lower incomes. Most practitioners are believed to be self-taught and lack any formal qualification, although some claim to have received non-medical training from dental worker unions.
Their trade is legal in Indonesia, albeit subject to certain regulations. According to Ministry of Health regulations, practitioners must register their practice and obtain a “dental worker permit” from the local health authority. They are also only legally allowed to make or fit dentures and are strictly prohibited from performing other dental procedures. Read More...
