The Department of Health today (21st) launched the “Youth Dental Care Co-governance Pilot Scheme”, which encourages young people aged 13 to 17 to go to private medical clinics for dental examinations, including teeth cleaning, fluoride treatment, etc. through a government co-payment model. Dentists who charge a co-payment of $60 admit that it will “lose money”, but hope to raise awareness of oral health among young people.
The Department said that as of Wednesday, a total of 270 registered dentists had their applications accepted, with a total of more than 370 service points, of which more than 67% charged a co-payment of $200 or less, with the lowest being $50. Compared with the announcement at the beginning of the month, 114 dentists have been accepted and provide services at 151 locations across Hong Kong, an increase of more than 150 dentists.
The department said today that eligible teenagers or their parents contact the relevant clinics to make appointments after selecting dentists, so there is no relevant appointment number. Dentist Wong Ling-man, whose clinic is located in Kwun Tong, charges a co-payment of $60, which is close to the lowest fee among doctors. Together with the $200 subsidy provided by the government, the total income is $260.
Wong Ling-man told this newspaper that a teenager will make an appointment for consultation tomorrow (22nd). Since the government has not promoted it much, he believes that not many people will come to the clinic in the early stage of the program. He pointed out that participating in the government program requires time, cost and administrative expenses, and charging a co-payment of $60 “will definitely be a loss”, and he hopes to treat it as charity and support for the government program.
Huang Lingmin also mentioned that the clinic already has a certain number of adolescent patients. He said that most of the dental problems of adolescents are tooth decay. Some people may not have the habit of regular check-ups. In addition, there are patients who need braces and miss the golden time for treatment. He hopes to raise patients’ awareness of medical treatment and explain their dental conditions during the medical treatment process.
When asked about the co-payment of the plan, Huang Lingmin frankly admitted that collecting this co-payment will inevitably lose money, but he hopes to use it for charity and respect the personal choice of colleagues to set co-payments. When asked how to make the plan sustainable, he said that there are not many ways to promote the plan this time, and it is expected that not many patients will participate in the initial stage. He hopes that the government will strengthen publicity and education.
Former president of the Dental Association, Mr. Wong Chi-wai, said that the association has been striving to implement the plan for many years and was pleased with the official launch yesterday. He pointed out that currently, primary schools and kindergartens have the Department of Health’s student dental care and the Hong Kong University’s “Jockey Club Young Children’s Healthy Teeth Program” respectively. With the latest “Secondary School Co-governance Program”, after years of striving, it is finally possible to provide a one-stop service.
Mr. Wong Chi-wai said that he hopes to reduce the number of tooth decay in school children, which will reduce the number of missing teeth in the elderly. As for the fees, he said that it is difficult to rely entirely on the government plan to maintain a livelihood, and dentists can only provide services “part-time”, but he believes that the industry is willing to help maintain the oral health of the public.
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