Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ14: Dental services
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Heung-man and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 3):
Question:
Some patients with periodontal disease have complained to me that Government
dental clinics have refused to provide treatment for such dental disease as it
is outside the scope of their services. Regarding services provided under the
public medical system, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the existing criteria for determining whether medical services for
certain diseases are to be provided in the public medical system;
(b) whether it has regularly reviewed the above criteria; if it has, of the
outcome of the review; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) where medical services are not provided for certain diseases under the
public medical system, whether the authorities will, through subsidy or other
means, help the patients seek treatment from the private medical system; if they
will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Generally speaking, with the exception of dental diseases, public hospitals
and clinics will provide medical services to patients with diseases requiring
clinical treatments.
With regard to dental services, the Government's policy aims to improve the oral
health and prevent dental diseases of the public through promotion and
education, thereby raising their awareness in oral health, and facilitating the
development of proper oral health habits and the proper use of oral care
services. As far as dental treatment is concerned, the Government provides
limited dental services to people in need of emergency treatment and people with
special oral healthcare needs. Currently, there are 11 designated dental clinics
under the Department of Health (DH) providing free-of-charge emergency dental
treatment to the public for management of cases like dental pain and injury. DH
has also set up dental units in 7 public hospitals for providing dental services
to in-patients and people with special oral healthcare needs, e.g. patients who
are medically compromised, physically or mentally handicapped or those with
facial deformity. The above services do not include treatment of periodontal
disease, which indeed is preventable through good oral hygiene practises.
(b) The Government conducts a territory-wide oral health survey at a 10-year
interval to ascertain and monitor the oral health status and related oral health
behaviour of the population. The last survey was carried out in 2001, and the
findings revealed that the oral health status of the population had been
improving steadily and was found to be comparable to that of many developed
countries. The result shows that the Government's publicity and education
programmes have been effective in improving the oral health of the population.
(c) While the existing policy of the Government on dental services mainly
focuses on the prevention side, general dental services to the public are
provided by the private sector. The Government also gives advice and guidance to
patients where necessary for them to obtain appropriate services in the private
sector. For those with financial difficulties, dental grants are made available
to the elderly (aged 60 or above), the disabled or ill-health to cover the cost
of dental treatment (dentures, crowns, bridges, scaling, restorations and root
canal treatment) through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme.
Ends/Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:27
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