15 January 2020, Hong Kong  – Great Eagle Group is pleased to be the sponsor of “Oral Health Services for Preschool Children” organized by the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. The programme aims to provide comprehensive dental care services for underprivileged young children, especially the pre-primary students who are not covered by the current School Dental Care Service administered by the Department of Health.

Sponsored by Great Eagle Group, “Oral Health Services for Preschool Children” will provide dental care services for 500 preschool children in Hong Kong this year. The services cover a wide range of areas, including oral health education, oral examination, dental scaling, preventive dental treatment (e.g. topical fluoride applications, pit, fissure sealants, etc.), dental fillings, simple dental extractions, also timely referral of complicated cases to specialist care.

Early childhood is a critical period of development. However, the School Dental Care Service currently provided by the Department of Health does not cover children from this age group. Kindergarten students with dental problems have to visit private dental clinic or wait until they become eligible for the public service. Therefore, children from underprivileged families could not receive timely dental treatment, causing delayed treatment and worsening of dental problems.

Dental Surgeon Dr. Nguyen Loana said, “Many parents think that children’s deciduous teeth will be replaced by permanent teeth so they ignore the cleanliness and hygiene of deciduous teeth. This easily leads to severe tooth decay among preschool children. Dental caries is among the top 10 prevalent diseases worldwide. The prevalence of dental caries is so high among preschool children in Hong Kong that half of them are found to suffer from the disease, and the situation is more serious than in other places in developing Asian countries. Furthermore, over 90% of the cases of serious dental caries have resulted from untreated decaying teeth. Poorly developed milk teeth can adversely impact the health of one’s adult teeth. Having regular dental check-ups for young children would be of vital importance in ensuring their dental health.”

Mr. Terence Cheng, Senior Manager – Corporate Social Responsibility of Great Eagle Group, said, “Early childhood is an important period during which socioeconomic conditions become biologically embedded. Bridging the health disparity during early childhood can promote a better child development and school readiness, which could provide substantial improvement during later life. Compared with the public School Dental Care Service which focuses on primary school students, “Oral Health Services for Preschool Children” can meet the needs of underprivileged children, also forging the pathway to a more effective public oral health care system. By supporting the program, Great Eagle Group aims to promote young children’s dental health, also to prompt the Department of Health to support oral health services for young children by extending the public service to all kindergartens in the city.”