Department of Health - Health Manpower Survey

1.1 The dentists covered in the 2018 Health Manpower Survey on Dentists (HMS-DN) were dentists registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list¹ of registered dentists resident in Hong Kong under the Dentists Registration Ordinance (Chapter 156) as at the survey reference date of 31 August 2018, with exclusion of those subsequently found to have passed away on or before the survey reference date.

1.3 Of the 2 341 dentists covered, 1 344 responded to the HMS-DN, giving an overall response rate of 57.4%. Among the respondents, 1 301 (96.8%) were economically active ^2,3 (active) in the local dental profession as at 31 August 2018 and 43 (3.2%) were economically inactive^2,4 (inactive)(Chart A).

1.4 Of the 1 301 active dentists enumerated, 1 288 (99.0%) were practising in the local dental profession, 11 (0.8%) were seeking jobs and two (0.2%) were waiting to take up a new job in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 1 288 responding dentists who were practising in the local dental profession as at 31 August 2018. The percentages present below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.

1.5 Of the 43 inactive dentists, 17 (39.5%) reported practising overseas / in the Mainland and 26 (60.5%) reported not seeking jobs in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A). Among the 26 inactive dentists who reported not practising in Hong Kong and not seeking jobs, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 14 (53.8%) were retired, four (15.4%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, and two (7.7%) were engaged in household duties.

1.6 A total of nine dentists did not indicate their gender. Of the remaining 1 279 active dentists enumerated who were practising in the local dental profession, 830 (64.9%) were male and 449 (35.1%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 185. Apart from 12 dentists who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 1 276 active dentists enumerated was 50.0 years. The median age of the active female dentists enumerated was 41.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 53.0 years.

¹As the 2018 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering all dentists practising in Hong Kong, dentists on the list of registered dentists outside Hong Kong of the Dental Register were excluded from the survey.

² In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong.

³ "Economically active" dentists comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" dentists. "Employed" dentists referred to those dentists practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" dentists referred to those dentists who (a) were not practising in the local dental profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had sought work in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey.

⁴ "Economically inactive" dentists comprised the dentists who were not practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, but excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and those who were "economically active" but "unemployed".

1.7 The responding active dentists were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs⁵. Distribution by sector for the main job of those enumerated showed that 951 (73.8%) active dentists enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by 244 (18.9%) in the Government, 44 (3.4%) in the subvented sector, 34 (2.6%) in the academic sector⁶ and 12 (0.9%) in the Hospital Authority. Among the 951 active dentists enumerated who were working in the private sector, the largest proportion (56.7%) were working in solo practice, followed by those working in group practice (41.1%) and other private institutions (2.2%).

1.8 The median age of the active dentists enumerated was the highest for those working in the private sector (51.0 years), followed by 48.0 years for those working in the Government, 46.0 years for those working in the subvented sector, 45.0 years for those working in the academic sector and 34.5 years for those working in the Hospital Authority.

1.9 Of the 1 288 active dentists enumerated, 1 070 (83.1%) spent most of their working time on general dentistry, followed by 183 (14.2%) on specialist practice, 20 (1.6%) on administration / management and nine (0.7%) on teaching / education.

1.10 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 288 active dentists enumerated was 40.0 hours. Among them, 64 (5.0%) active dentists enumerated were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 6.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.11 Regarding the average number of consultations / patients encountered per working day, 695 (54.0%) of the active dentists enumerated reported to have a range of 11 to 20, 361 (28.0%) reported to have 10 or below and 209 (16.2%) reported to have more than 20.

1.12 In terms of the earliest basic qualification in the dental profession, of the 1 288 active dentists enumerated, 904 (70.2%) held Bachelor’s Degree issued by institutions in Hong Kong, 250 (19.4%) held Bachelor’s Degree issued by overseas institutions and 124 (9.6%) held Doctoral Degree issued by overseas institutions as their earliest basic qualification.

1.13 Of the 1 288 active dentists enumerated, 645 (50.1%) had obtained additional qualification(s) after obtaining their earliest basic qualification, with 319 (49.5%) having obtained one additional qualification. Among them, 127 (39.8%) had obtained Membership, 88 (27.6%) had obtained Master’s Degree, 47 (14.7%) had obtained Fellowship and 33 (10.3%) had obtained Post-graduate Diploma as their additional qualifications.

1.14 Of the 645 active dentists enumerated who had obtained additional qualification(s), 526 (81.6%) had obtained additional qualification in one field only. Among them, 232 (44.1%) had obtained additional qualification in general dentistry, 73 (13.9%) in prosthodontics, 44 (8.4%) in periodontology, 39 (7.4%) in oral and maxillofacial surgery, 36 (6.8%) in paediatric dentistry, 35 (6.7%) in orthodontics and 29 (5.5%) in dental public health.

1.15 For the active dentists enumerated who had indicated more than one field of additional qualification(s), the cumulative total number of active dentists enumerated by the field of additional qualification obtained was 782. Among these 782, 330 (42.2%) were in the field of general dentistry, 118 (15.1%) in prosthodontics, 64 (8.2%) in periodontology, 52 (6.6%) in dental public health, 51 (6.5%) in oral and maxillofacial surgery, 50 (6.4%) in orthodontics and 39 (5.0%) in paediatric dentistry.

⁵ Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the dentists had spent most of their working time.

1.16 Regarding Continuing Medical Education (CME) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training, 1 020 (79.2%) of the active dentists enumerated reported that they had participated in CME / CPD training in 2018, 253 (19.6%) reported no participation in any CME / CPD training and 15 (1.2%) did not report whether they had participated in CME / CPD training or not. Among the 1 020 active dentists enumerated who had participated in CME / CPD training, the distribution of CME / CPD points attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 5 points (17.8%), 6 to 10 points (13.4%), 11 to 15 points (14.8%), 16 to 20 points (17.1%) and more than 20 points (36.9%).

2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2018 HMS-DN with those surveys conducted before 2003 should be made with caution as the survey methods and reference date had been changed*.

2.2 Between 1982 and 2018, the number of dentists increased from 747 to 2 341 (Chart B)

2.3 A decreasing trend was observed in the proportion of male dentists, as indicated by a continuous decrease in the overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) from 679 in 1982 to 185 in 2018 (Table A).

2.4 The median age of the active dentists enumerated increased gradually from 38.0 years in 2000 to 50.0 years in 2018 (Table A).

Chart B : Number of Dentists Covered by Year (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018)

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Dentists Enumerated (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018)

Note:	*	Figures of 2000 and before refer to the number of dentists registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list of the registered dentists resident in Hong Kong as at the 1 July of the respective years, the figures of 2003 refer to that as at the 31 December 2003, whereas the figures of 2004 to 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018 refer to that as at the 31 August of the respective years. Figures of 2018 refers to the number of dentists registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list of the registered dentists resident in Hong Kong as at 31 August 2018 with exclusion of those who were subsequently found to have passed away on or before the survey reference date.
	†	In 2003 to 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018 HMS-DN, the sector refers to the sector of main job.
	‡	Figures include Hospital Authority, subvented sector, academic sector and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. There may be slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total due to rounding.
	N.A.	Not applicable
	‘-'	Not available

Note:	*	Figure refers to the number of dentist subsequently found to have passed away on or before 31 August 2018.
	†	Figure refers to the number of responding dentists who (a) were not practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work in the local profession during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had sought work in the dental profession during the 30 days before the survey.
	‡	Figure refers to the number of responding dentists who (a) were not practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong during the survey period AND (b) were waiting to take up a new job in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey. The responding dentists indicated that they were available for work in the local dental profession during the seven days before the survey.
	§	Figure refers to the number of responding dentists who reported emigrated, undertaking study, etc. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.