Statistics
2012 Health Manpower Survey on Dentists
Key Findings
1. The dentists covered in the 2012 HMS were those registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list* of registered dentists resident in Hong Kong as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2012.
2. The number of dentists covered was 2 053.
3. Of the 2 053 dentists covered, 1 264 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 61.6%. Of the 1 264 responding dentists, 1 227 (97.1%) were economically active†‡ (active) whereas 37 (2.9%) reported to be economically inactive†§ (inactive) in the local dental profession.
4. Of the 1 227 active dentists, 1 217 (99.2%) were practising in the local dental profession, seven (0.6%) were seeking jobs in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey and three (0.2%) were expecting to return to their original jobs or waiting to take up a new job in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey.
5. The survey findings presented below were based on the 1 217 responding dentists practising in the local dental profession as at 31.8.2012. As some questionnaire items had missing responses, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
(i) |
Nine registered dentists did not indicate sex. Of the remaining 1 208 active dentists enumerated, 843 (69.8%) were male and 365 (30.2%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio of 231 (males per 100 females). Seven registered dentists did not indicate age and the median age of the remaining 1 210 active dentists enumerated was 46.0 years. |
(ii) |
Distribution by sector of the main job║ showed that 887 (72.9%) active dentists enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by 221 (18.2%) in the Government, 51 (4.2%) in the academic sector¶ and 39 (3.2%) in subvented sector. |
(iii) |
82.3% dentists spent most of their working time on general dentistry, followed by 14.3% on specialist practice, 1.4% on administration / management and 1.4% on teaching / education. |
(iv) |
The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 217 active dentists enumerated was 44.0 hours. 72 (5.9%) dentists were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
6. Among the 37 inactive dentists.
(i) |
16 dentists reported practising overseas or in the Mainland. |
(ii) |
21 dentists reported not practising in the dental profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 14 (66.7%) were retired and four (19.0%) wanted to take rest / having no motive to work / having no financial need, etc. |
* As the 2012 Health Manpower Survey aimed at covering all dentists practising in Hong Kong, dentists on the list of registered dentists resident outside Hong Kong were excluded from the survey.
† 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.
‡ "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.
§ "Economically inactive" dentists comprised the responding 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".
║ Main job referred to the jobs in which the dentists had spent most of their working time.
¶ Includes universities and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital.
| Activity Status of Dentists Covered |
| Notes﹕ | * | 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 dental profession during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local 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; (b) had not been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) were expecting to return to their original jobs or waiting to take up a new job in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey. | |
| ‡ | Figure refers to the number of responding dentists who reported working in other professions or engaging in household duties. |