The Department of Health announced today that the Primary Dental Co-care Pilot Scheme for Adolescents (PDCC) will be implemented on March 20, providing government subsidies with co-payment arrangements to incentivise adolescents to seek check-ups at private dental clinics.

The PDCC serves as an interface with the School Dental Care Service by providing partial subsidies for dental check-up services for adolescents to foster a long-term partnership with registered dentists in the private sector and to build a life-long habit of regular dental check-ups.

People aged between 13 and 17, holding a valid Hong Kong Identity Card and have enrolled in the eHealth system are eligible to join the scheme. They can receive subsidised services once a year.

While the Government will offer a $200 subsidy each time, participants have to pay a co-payment fee as determined by the dentists they select. The co-payment for the subsidised services each time recommended by the Government is $200.

​The subsidised services include a dental check-up, oral health risk assessment, dental scaling, personalised self-care advice on oral care, fluoride application as risk-based follow-up, and a check-up report.

Around 200 registered dentists have applied for enrolment in the PDCC to provide services in more than 220 healthcare service locations, where more than half of the co-payment was set at $200 or below. The department is vetting the applications.

Adolescents and their parents can refer to the approved registered dentists list that will be uploaded to the scheme webpage on March 6, and contact the relevant clinic to make an appointment for receiving the subsidised services on or after March 20.

Other than the co-payment fee, the dentists list will show the fees for X-ray examinations, tooth fillings and tooth extractions as charged by the dentists under the pilot scheme.