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Worldental Daily Advanced issue

Advance Issue Opinion 2 012 is not the first time that an FDI congress is taking place in Hong Kong. Two years before the city’s handover from Great Britain to China, dentists from all over the world gathered here for the 1995AnnualWorldDentalCongress. Worldental Daily had the opportu- nity to speak with the Dean of the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Dentistry, Prof. Lakshman Samara- nayake, about the current state of dental health care in Hong Kong and what this year’s congress might mean for HK dentistry. I Worldental Daily: The last FDI con- gress in Hong Kong took place in 1995.Whatsignificantchangeshave taken place in HK dentistry over the last 17 years? Prof. Lakshman Samaranayake: There have been incipient but de- cisive changes in Hong Kong den- tistry. Particularly after 1997, when the territory was handed over to China, changes in the HK dental eco- system could be seen both in the general provision of dental health care to the population, as well as in the education and training opportu- nities for dentists in Hong Kong. As for the dental ecosystem in general, since the handover to China the executive-led HK government has paid little heed to dental health care for underserved populations and continued in the British style of administration, where an elite civil service was able to receive virtually free dental care, while the rest were exposed to the quirks of a private practice system, which the majority could not afford. Recently, the government intro- duced a subsidised dental scheme, for the elderly in particular. However, the vestiges of colonial times re- main, and free dentistry is still only available to civil servants. Being an exception, schoolchildren have ben- efited under both governments. The School Dental Service is generally well funded and regarded as a good service provider. I Apart from the younger population, where do Hong Kongers rank in the field of oral health? Asmentioned,thevastmajorityof thepopulationisstillinneedofdental service, yet the demand is poor as in mostAsiancountries.Thereasonsfor this may be the financial constraints of expensive dental care or general ignorance regarding the importance ofdentalhealth.AlthoughHongKong does not have highly neglected oral care, compared with developed na- tionsthedentisttopopulationratioof approximately1to4,000isratherlow for the territory, which has long been considered a developed country. One has to say that awareness of thebenefitsofgoodoralhealthisgen- erally improving especially among the educated groups. The dentists in the territory, who deliver the major share of dental services, however, need to convey the message to the public that oral health is intimately relatedtosystemichealthandquality of life. I What can a major dental congress like FDI Hong Kong 2012 add to the improvement of dentistry in Hong Kong? The focus and priority of the HK government has been on the general health rather than dental health of the populace. Fortunately, the new Chief Executive and President of the Exe- cutive Council of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, is a friend and an ardent enthusiastofthedentalprofession,and wetrustthatunderhisleadershipden- tal services will improve vastly and be giventherecognitionneeded.TheFDI’s AnnualWorldDentalCongresswillhelp to refocus the attention of both the governmentandthepublicontherele- vanceandimportanceofdentalhealth. I Thank you very much for this in- terview. IProf.LakshmanSamaranayake SIMPLY BETTER STRAUMANN® SLActive The next generation in surface technology designed to deliver: Higher security and faster osseointegration for every indication1,2 Reduced healing times from 6–8 weeks down to 3–4 weeks3 Increased treatment predictability in critical protocols1 More information on www.straumann.com 1 Ganeles et al. Clin. Oral Impl. Res. 2008;19:1119-1128 2 Bornstein et al. J Periodontol. 2010 Jun;81(6):809-819 3 Oates et al. The International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants. 2007;22(5):755-760 For more details see summary SLActive® Scientific Studies. FDI AWDC 2 0 1 2 VISIT US AT BOOTH # M02/N05 AD 05www.fdiworldental.org Refocusontherelevanceandimportanceofdentalhealth AshortinterviewwithProf.LakshmanSamaranayake,DeanoftheFacultyofDentistry,UniversityofHongKong