Singapore Woman Jailed for Unlicensed Home-Based Dental Work

Singapore: A woman has been sentenced to 40 days’ jail in lieu of a SGD$10,000 (USD$7.5k) fine after providing home-based dental services without a dentist’s registration or a practising certificate. Ubaidah Nuruljannah Abdullah, 35, had been operating out of her public flat, where she cleaned and maintained dental braces, as well as performing teeth whitening procedures.

To protect customers’ identities, both their names and the location of Ubaidah’s residence were removed from court documents by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

MOH Investigation

The Ministry of Health conducted an investigation after being informed of an Instagram account offering home-based dental services. Ubaidah posted before-and-after photographs of customers with braces, along with a price list for her services. She instructed potential customers to direct message her account to book appointments or inquire about services.

Over a ten-month period, Ubaidah provided cleaning and maintenance services to three customers, charging each SGD$150 (USD$110). She also performed a teeth whitening procedure on one of the customers for SGD$25 (USD$19).

In court, Ubaidah pleaded guilty to four counts of providing unlicensed dental services, with five additional charges taken into consideration for sentencing. 

Jail Term in Lieu of Fines

In delivering the sentence, District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong noted that Ubaidah was not able to pay her SGD$10,000 (USD$7.5k) fine and instead imposed a default jail term. For operating a home-based dentistry without any registration or licence, Ubaidah could have been fined up to SGD$25,000 (USD$18.7k).

In a plea for mitigation, Ubaidah asked for leniency, saying that she was unemployed and going through divorce proceedings. However, the prosecutor, Ms Zhou, stated that this was “not a good reason” to depart from what the sentence would otherwise have been.