Dentists lobby warns against dental quacks amid staffing shortages

The Kenya Dental Association (KDA) has raised concern over staffing shortages in dental clinics, centres and hospitals, warning that the gaps are exposing Kenyans to unqualified people masquerading as dentists.

The association said a number of public and private dental facilities do not have qualified dentists providing oral healthcare services, creating room for untrained practitioners to offer treatment to unsuspecting patients.

“It has come to our attention that a number of dental clinics, centres and hospitals, both public and private facilities, are short-staffed and do not have dentists providing oral healthcare services to Kenyans,” KDA said.

The association warned that the use of unqualified and untrained people to provide dental services could have serious consequences for patients, including unnecessary pain, additional treatment costs and loss of public confidence in healthcare services.