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SCMP Reporter

TWO million Hongkong people suffer from orthodontic problems due to congenital deformities, but most never receive treatment because of an acute shortage of specialists, according to a dental expert.

  Hongkong University associate dean of dentistry Dr Joseph Chan Cho-yee said one-third of the population suffered from some form of orthodontic problem.

  The Prince Philip Dental Hospital - the Hongkong University teaching hospital for dentistry - was so overwhelmed with patients that it now refused to put people on to its orthodontic waiting list, he said.

  Previously this had been three years long.

  ''There are less than 20 practising orthodontic dentists in Hongkong [outside the Prince Philip] and there are so many problems,'' he said.

  Dr Chan said most orthodontic problems involved a disproportionate jaw - with one being bigger than the other - or a mouth overcrowded with teeth.

  Problems ranged from mild overbite to severe facial malformations needing major surgery.

  Most of the patients turned away by the Prince Philip never received treatment for their problem because they could not afford private dentists, he said.

  Dr Chan said the Government was to blame for the situation: ''For decades the Government did nothing to promote dentistry in Hongkong.''   While some improvements had been made in recent years, such as the opening of the hospital in 1981 and introducing fluoride into the water, there was still an acute shortage of dental specialists, he said.

  Lack of resources meant Prince Philip specialists had to undertake routine clinical treatment of patients rather than concentrate on teaching and research.

  ''Our teachers are doing two jobs. They are treating people and providing a service and they are teaching,'' he said.

  Hospital comptroller Eric Peake said the Prince Philip had been pressing the Government for more resources for years, without success.

  He said the Prince Philip needed more money to employ dentists - particularly senior clinicians - to carry out pure clinical work so that the hospital's specialists could concentrate on training the next generation of dentists.

  ''The hospital should be a specialist referral unit for very difficult cases,'' he said.

  The Prince Philip, which is considered one of the most advanced dental schools in the world, sees about 70 new patients a day.



Dental unit overwhelmed by patients