DH to implement Primary Dental Co-care Pilot Scheme for Adolescents on March 20
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The Chief Executive announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the PDCC would be implemented in 2025 to encourage the prevention of dental diseases among adolescents. The Government released the final report of the Working Group on Oral Health and Dental Care in December last year which recommended development strategies including adoption of the approach to promote prevention-oriented primary oral healthcare among citizens across all age groups. The PDCC is one of the strategies that serves as an interface with the School Dental Care Service by providing partial subsidies for dental check-up services for adolescents to foster their long-term partnership with registered dentists in the private sector and enable them to build a life-long habit of regular dental check-ups.
Adolescents from age 13 to 17 (or will reach the age of 13 in the calendar year when applying to join the PDCC) holding a valid Hong Kong Identity Card and have enrolled in the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHealth) are eligible to join the PDCC. Eligible adolescents can receive subsidised services once every calendar year. While the Government will provide a subsidy of $200 each time, participants have to pay a co-payment fee as determined by the dentists they selected. The co-payment for the subsidised services each time recommended by the Government is $200.
The scope of subsidised services include:
- Dental check-up;
- Oral health risk assessment;
- Dental scaling;
- Personalised self-care advice on oral care;
- Fluoride application as risk-based follow-up; and
- Check-up report.
The DH held its first online briefing session for registered dentists on February 4 to introduce the background, contents and registration procedures of the PDCC. More briefings will be held to encourage more dentists to join the PDCC. The DH has been actively processing and vetting applications with complete sets of supporting documents submitted. An approved registered dentists list will be uploaded to the PDCC webpage (www.communitydental.gov.hk/en/pdcc/dentist_search.html) on March 6. In order to promote the transparency of related dental service charges under the PDCC, other than the co-payment fee, the dentists list on the PDCC webpage will also show the fees for X-ray examinations, tooth fillings and tooth extractions as charged by the dentists under the PDCC, for the general public's reference and choice.
Adolescents and their parents who are interested in joining the PDCC can refer to the dentists list on the PDCC webpage starting from March 6. They can contact the relevant clinic and make an appointment after finding a dentist of their choice and receive the subsidised services on or after March 20.
Ends/Thursday, February 20, 2025
Issued at HKT 16:05
Issued at HKT 16:05
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