Statistics
2012 Health Manpower Survey
Summary of the Characteristics of Dentists Enumerated
I. Dentists Covered
1.1 The dentists covered in the 2012 HMS were dentists registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list* of registered dentists resident in Hong Kong under the Dentists Registration Ordinance (Chapter 156) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2012.
1.2 The number of dentists covered was 2 053.
1.3 Of the 2 053 dentists covered, 1 264 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 61.6%. Among the respondents, 1 227 (97.1%) were economically active†‡(active) in the local dental profession as at 31.8.2012 and 37 (2.9%) reported that they were economically inactive†§ (inactive) (Chart A).
1.4 Of the 1 227 active dentists, 1 217 were practising in the local dental profession, seven were seeking jobs and three 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. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 1 217 responding dentists who were 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%.
1.5 Of the 37 inactive dentists, 16 reported practising overseas / in the Mainland and 21 reported not seeking jobs in the local dental profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A). Among the 21 inactive dentists who reported not seeking jobs, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 14 (66.7%) were retired and four (19.0%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, etc.
1.6 A total of nine dentists did not indicate sex. Of the remaining 1 208 active dentists enumerated who were practising in the local dental profession, 843 (69.8%) were male and 365 (30.2%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 231. Apart from seven dentists who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 1 210 active dentists enumerated was 46.0 years. The median age of the active female dentists enumerated was 39.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 48.0 years.
* As the 2012 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.
† 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 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".
Chart A : 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 profession or engaging in household duties. |
1.7 The responding active dentists were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by sector for the main job showed that the largest proportion (72.9%) of the active dentists enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by those working in the Government (18.2%), the academic† sector (4.2%) and the subvented sector (3.2%). Among the 887 active dentists enumerated who were working in the private sector, the largest proportion (62.7%) were working in solo practice, followed by those working in group practice (36.1%) and other private institutions (1.2%).
1.8 The median age of the active dentists enumerated was 48.0 years for those working in the private sector or the Hospital Authority, followed by 45.0 years for those working in the Government, 36.0 years for those working in the academic sector and 35.0 years for those working in the subvented sector.
1.9 Of the 1 217 active dentists enumerated, 82.3% spent most of their working time on general dentistry, followed by 14.3% on specialist practice, 1.4% on administration / management or teaching / education.
1.10 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 217 active dentists enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 72 (5.9%) active dentists were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.
1.11 Regarding the average number of consultations / patients encountered per working day, 49.5% of the active dentists enumerated reported a range of 11 to 20, 32.6% reported they have 10 consultations / patients or below, and 15.5% reported more than 20 consultations / patients per working day.
1.12 Of the 1 217 active dentists enumerated, 65.7% held Bachelor’s Degree obtained in Hong Kong, 22.4% held Bachelor’s Degree issued by overseas institutions and 10.9% held Doctoral Degree issued by overseas institutions as their basic qualifications.
1.13 Of the 1 217 active dentists enumerated, 544 (44.7%) obtained additional qualification(s). Of the 544 dentists with additional qualification(s), 276 (50.7%) obtained one additional qualification. Among them, 88 (31.9%) obtained Master’s Degree, 74 (26.8%) were awarded Fellowship, 47 (17.0%) obtained Post-graduate Diploma and 47 (17.0%) were awarded Membership as their additional qualifications.
1.14 Of the 544 active dentists who obtained additional qualification(s), 450 (82.7%) obtained additional qualification in one field. Among them, 33.6% in general dentistry, 14.0% in prosthodontics, 11.1% in oral and maxillofacial surgery, 9.6% in orthodontics, 8.2% in paediatric dentistry, 7.3% in dental public health and 6.4% in periodontology.
1.15 Among those active dentists who obtained additional qualification(s), 88 selected more than one field of additional qualification. The total number of count of active dentists who obtained additional qualification was 649, in which 34.2% obtained additional qualification in general dentistry, 15.6% in prosthodontics, 9.2% in oral and maxillofacial surgery, 7.9% in orthodontics, 7.2% in both dental public health and periodontology and 6.6% in paediatric dentistry.
| * | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the dentists had spent most of their working time. |
| † | Includes universities and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. |
1.16 Regarding Continuing Medical Education (CME) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training, 1 054 (86.6%) of the active dentists enumerated revealed that they had participated in CME / CPD training in 2012, 153 (12.6%) did not participate in any CME / CPD training and 10 (0.8%) did not reveal whether they had participated in CME / CPD training or not. Among the 1 054 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 (13.2%), 6 to 10 points (14.5%), 11 to 15 points (14.9%), 16 to 20 points (15.7%) and more than 20 points (41.7%).
II. Trend Analysis
2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2012 HMS with those surveys before 2003 should be made with caution as the survey methodology and reference date had been changed (Chart B).
2.2 Between 1982 and 2012, the number of dentists increased from 747 to 2 053.
2.3 A decreasing trend was observed in the proportion of male dentists, as indicated by a decrease in the overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) from 679 in 1982 to 231 in 2012 (Table A).
Chart B : Number of Dentists Covered by Year (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012)
| Note : | Figures of the year 2000 and before refer to the number of dentists registered with the Dental Council of Hong Kong on the list of registered dentists resident in Hong Kong as at 1st July of the respective years, the figure of 2003 refers to that as at 31st December 2003 and the figures of 2004 to 2007, 2009 and 2012 refer to that as at 31st August of the respective years |
Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Dentists Enumerated (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012)
| Notes﹕ | * | 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 1st July of the respective years, the figures of 2003 refer to that as at 31st December 2003, whereas the figures of 2004 to 2007, 2009 and 2012 refer to that as at 31st August of the respective years. |
| † | In 2003 to 2007, 2009 and 2012, 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 |