The following article first appeared in Chinese in the December 8, 2011 issue of the Lianhe Zaobao newspaper. For the benefit of those who missed the article, or who cannot access the publication in Chinese, we have summarized the content of the article below.
Every time a job candidate applies to joins the company, they are asked during the interview, “who is the boss?”
Specialist Dental Group Managing Director Dr Neo Tee Khin’s answer would be: “The patient, of course!”
The clinic’s perspective is that the patient should always be the focus – every patient has different needs and we need to personalize the treatments they need.
According to Dr Neo, “We need to improve the patient’s quality of life as a long-term goal, and we work together with the patient to achieve this goal.” Specialist Dental Group’s remarkable success is due to their sincerity to every patient.
Specialist Dental Group was founded in 1979 by Dr Henry Lee and it was a solo dental practice back then. Prosthodontists (teeth replacement) specialists Dr Ansgar Cheng and Dr Neo Tee Khin took over the running of the clinic in 2004. It was renamed Specialist Dental Group (SDG) in 2008 with the addition of more dentists to the team and to better reflect the breadth and depth of the services provided by the dental specialists.
In 2008, the Ministry of Health also established the Dental Specialist Register in Singapore and formally recognized the different specialty areas of dentistry.
One Dental Team, One Mind
Dr Neo and Dr Cheng grew the dental specialist team in a span of eight years, and at present, they have expanded to three clinics at the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre with a team of ten dental specialists. Specialist Dental Group is also Singapore’s Prestige Brand Award 2011 winner (Promising Brands) and is the recipient of many other professional awards.
When it comes to sharing about the challenges of entrepreneurship, the two dentists share the same sentiment, “Because specialized services is an extremely niche field, to employ suitable dental specialists and organize a dental team is a big challenge.”
The main factor behind SDG’s successful operations is because the dentists, nurses and other members of the dental team share the same goal in mind. This has contributed to SDG’s team spirit and under a harmonious environment, has allowed the dentists and the dental team to enhance their professional technical skills and improve their productivity and level of services.
In addition, the SDG team also gives their dental specialists plenty of opportunities to shine – among these are opportunities to give various dental talks and lectures.
The dental team implements an internal system of exchanging open communication, from top to bottom levels from time to time on a professional point of view, share knowledge, and this has allowed highly professional dentists to pass down their experiences.
Focus on Three Major Areas
Specialist Dental Group team does not only provide dental restoration services, the management also emphasizes on three major areas of services, that is the patients, training professional dentists and specialists and the public.
Aside from providing high-technology and high quality oral repair services, SDG also often provides a platform for exchanging and training local as well as overseas dental professionals and dentists, and always never forgetting to raise public’s knowledge when it comes to oral health.
SDG will be celebrating the clinic’s 32 years of establishment anniversary this month. Dr Neo says that other than proving the earnest towards dental restorative work, it is the enthusiasm towards work that guarantees the company’s reputation.
When asked about the company’s future vision, Dr Neo says, “Our plan for local market is to build an Oral Care Centre locally, with different levels of dental services nationwide, bringing together all the professional medical personnel.”
