Online system replaces queuing to get free dental treatment

 

Photo from Department of Health

People needing free dental treatment will no longer need to line up personally at government dental clinics starting on Dec. 30, when a new online registration system starts operating, the Department of Health (DH) has announced.

They will only need to access the online registration system for dental general public session (ORDGP) to be included in the daily quota of people who will get treatment the next day.

The ORDGP can be accessed through the eHealth mobile application or the DH's Dental Public Session website (https://www.dentalgp.gov.hk/) to register, DH said..

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The registration period will be from 6:00am to 11:30am, from Sunday to Thursday. If the following day is a Saturday or a public holiday, ORDGP will not accept registrations.

DH said the system will conduct balloting immediately after the online registration is closed. People who are successfully allocated a quota will receive a confirmation notification via SMS with the ID "#DH-DENT GP". They can also log into the ORDGP to check the ballot result after 12.30pm on the same day, or call the hotline on 2892 2111 to check from 9am to 5pm during office hours.

“Each person can only register once per day,” DH said. “Quotas will be allocated by computer ballot.”

The DH has long been providing free emergency dental treatments to the public, through designated sessions in 11 government dental clinics to deal with prescriptions for pain relief, tooth extraction or other emergencies such as an oral abscess.

The list of such dental clinis can be found here: https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_dcgps.html

"To cater for the needs of the elderly, half of the quotas will be allocated on a priority basis to elderly people aged 65 or above. Elderly people, who are not allocated a priority quota in the first round, will join other registered persons for the allocation of the remaining quotas by ballot," the spokesman said.

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To allow members of the public to understand more about the online registration process, the DH has uploaded the relevant introduction and demonstration videos to the Dental Public Session website for public viewing (https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/main/main_ds/main_ds_public.html).

Anyone who needs assistance registering may visit any dental clinics with dental general public session between 8.30am and 11.30am to register with the assistance of on-site staff, without using their own personal mobile phone or computer.

Members of the public who are allocated a quota must bring the original copies of their identity documents used for registration to the designated dental clinics on the specified date and time to receive dental services. Citizens registered with eHealth and their family members/carers can also view their relevant attendance records on the eHealth app.

 If any quota remains unallocated after balloting, the ORDGP will provide the public with a list of relevant dental clinics. Members of the public can make appointments on a first-come, first-served basis by calling the remaining quota registration hotline (tel: 2892 2577) between 2pm and 5pm on the same day, or between 7.45am and 9.15am on the service day of the general public session for the remaining quotas (if available).

The DH has established an extensive district network to assist those in need, including District Health Centres, District Health Centre Expresses, Neighbourhood Elderly Centres and the District Elderly Community Centres under the Social Welfare Department, District Councillors' offices, Community Care Teams and dental clinics run by 15 social welfare institutions or non-governmental organizations. The DH has completed a number of online briefing sessions this month to introduce and demonstrate the relevant registration steps and process to the staff members of the above district networks.

During the initial period of commissioning the ORDGP, apart from operating an enquiry hotline (tel: 2892 2111) from 9am to 5pm on weekdays during office hours, the DH will also provide additional enquiry hotline service hours from 9am to 1pm on five public holidays (including January 1, 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2025) for answering enquiries from members of the public.

 The DH spokesman said public dental services are dedicated for those in need of emergency dental treatments only.

Separately, the service hours of general public session for Mona Fong Dental Clinic will be changed from Thursday afternoons to Thursday mornings with effect from January 2, 2025, which will be the same as the other 10 clinics with general public sessions. Please visit the website for addresses and service hours of the 11 dental clinics under the DH with general public sessions.

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