New | Hong Kong dental experts call for action to improve city’s rotten teeth
HKU academics demand improvements to dental hygiene to mark World Oral Health Day
More than 90 per cent of five-year-olds in the city with cavities will not get treatment because of their parents' lack of awareness, experts say.
Ahead of World Oral Health Day today, the experts also said there were patients who had not seen a dentist until they were in their 50s or even older.
They cited low awareness of dental health and a lack of sufficient insurance schemes as significant factors in the poor state of Hongkongers' teeth.
In a government oral health survey in 2011, which the experts said provided the latest city-wide figures, 96 per cent of those in the 35-to-44 age group experienced cavities, while 99 per cent of those aged between 65 and 74 had the same problem. Almost 99 per cent of the 35-to-44 age group experienced gum bleeding while 97 per cent of the older group had the same problem.
Professor Jin Lijian, associate dean of the University of Hong Kong's faculty of dentistry, said dental health in the city had not improved since 2011.
He said gum disease could contribute to a number of illnesses including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.