The supply from over- seas.
The need for a new local source of supply.
position and from the fact that community consciousness of dental health is increasing, that steps should be taken to improve the supply of dentists, both to maintain the Government services and for private practice.
11.11 At the end of December 1973, the number of dentists registered with the Dental Council was 496. Excluding those known to have ceased to practise in Hong Kong for various reasons (death, retirement or resignation) the actual number of dentists practising is estimated to be, at most, 440 (a ratio of one dentist for every 9,000 population).
11.12 The World Health Organization and the International Dentists Federation have set no optimum ratio for the provision of dentists, taking the view that each country must determine its own targets in the light of its own social, economic and educa- tional characteristics. The MDAC noted the ratios applying in other countries (paragraph 93 of their Report), but hesitated to determine a particular ratio for Hong Kong. On the basis however of an arbitrary ratio of one dentist to 6,000 population for the private sector, of the likely requirement of 12 dentists for the School Dental Care Service, of three additional dentists per year for the Government Dental Service and of likely new registrations and of wastage, the MDAC calculated that, if nothing is done to produce more dentists, the needs and shortfalls would be---
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981
1982
Need
Shortfall
734 748 763 772 782 793 803 814 825
300 317 335 348 364 382 401 423 447
11.13 On average eight additional dentists qualified overseas are added to the register each year. This is clearly inadequate to meet Hong Kong's future needs.
11.14 The Committee concluded, and the Government agrees, that training for dentists be established in Hong Kong. To assist in determining the scale of the requirement, the Committee estimated the level of output necessary to achieve various ratios of dentists to population, and the dates by which they could be achieved. Their calculations are reproduced in this table-
28
Ratio
Annual
output (in 1980)
9 8 8 8 8 8
1:8,000
1:7,000 1:6,000 1:5,000 1:4,000
40
1991-92
50
1988-89
60
1986-87
70
1984
80
1983
90
1982
1991
1988-89 1990-91
1986-87 1988-89
1985
1987
1983-84
1986
1990
1988-89
1992
In the light of this assessment, MDAC recommended a dental school be established, starting with a pre-clinical annual intake of at least 40, increasing to an annual output of some 60 dentists after 1980. On this basis a ratio of 1:6,000 could be reached by about the beginning of the 1990's. In the absence of any clear guidance about the desirable or practicable ratio, the Government endorses these proposals. As dentists require university training, the UPGC has been consulted as to how the additional dentists can best be provided.
11.15 The UPGC advised that a dental school should be related to a medical school; in their pre-clinical year dental students study the same subjects as medical students and it is economical for them to be taught in the same departments. It would also be wasteful to conduct a dental school in isolation from the many common services which could be shared with a medical school.
11.16 The UPGC recommended that the proposed dental school be sited at the University of Hong Kong. They considered that the pre-clinical part of the dental school would involve a small and manageable addition to the existing pre-clinical undertaking of the University of Hong Kong and advised this would be much simpler than to seek to add this further addition to CUHK. The UPGC further advised that a dental teaching clinic (the equivalent of a teaching hospital for doctors) would be required.
29