Not sure if it is too late to reply to this but yeah. Hope this is useful. Just my opinion and I myself is a Dental Graduate in 2016 now working in private sector.

1. No doubt the amount of Dentist is rising in recent years, problem from having private institutes churning out dentists uncontrollably. It is more of an issue of not having enough resources or place for us to practice. The facilities are not increasing as the numbers of worker are increasing. Dentist need chair and space for their work but our government isnt supplying enough therefore graduates have to wait for their posting. But now the system has change whereby it will be under contract basis so not all dentist will get a permanent post in the gov sector. So most of them probably have to come out to the private sector eventually.

Adding on the private sector scene, due to increasing number of dentist, there has been a lot opening of new dental clinics especially franchising clinics etc. They get to hire dentist to work for them and dentist will either get a fixed pay or commission based on whichever higher.

Its hard to say what can happen in the next 5 years, dental is a professional service. There will always be a demand for it and as long as you're doing good work, people know and eventually will come to you.

2. Some dental groups do offer a small scholarship to those who want to pursue dentistry, of course you will end up getting bonded. PTPTN is also a good alternative to start with.

3. Looks like you're limited to dental schools in Klang Valley? PIDC, AIMST, Melaka Manipal, Lincoln also offer dentistry course as well.

Studying full time in India is cheaper for sure. Some people actually did their full 5 years in India and they survived, it takes some time to get use to and just gotta be careful when you plan to go out at night and never go alone.

4. Basically a Dental Degree will prepare you on the clinical diagnosis, treatment planning for different dental problems. Plus the compulsory service with Gov where you practically do cases everyday will further improve your skills. Specialization will be focusing more on the subject that you're taking and eventually grant you the title of Specialist. And one does not specialize straight after their degree, usually a specialization course will require a minimum few years of working experience before you can enroll into the specialist course.

5. If her interest is in dentistry, go for it! She can request to observe in a dental clinic how a dentist work and get a feeling of it and see if she likes it or not first.

Hope this helps. Cheers!