Doing good and doing well

B9 DENTAL Centre may only be two years old, but its contributions to Singapore are already unmistakeable. By providing high-quality dental care at fair and transparent prices, the clinic has helped to lift overall dentistry standards - and has changed more than a few lives in the process. If that sounds like a sweeping statement, consider this: at B9, the elderly and those from low-income families get free treatment for basic services, such as cleanings and extractions.

Said B9 chief executive officer Raymond Lim: "Many of these patients can't afford dental treatment, and they have a lot of broken teeth. That's dangerous especially for the elderly, because broken teeth and gum disease can lead to heart problems. Here, we don't reject you just because you cannot pay."

While the government gives dental care subsidies to the elderly and those from low-income families, these subsidies are sometimes insufficient to cover a basic cleaning. "But we still treat these patients for free - they don't pay a single cent. And all the aunties and uncles are always so happy because they have never had the chance to get their dental problems fixed before," says Dr Lim.