At least 70,000 more dentists are needed in China to reduce the nation's high dental disease ratio, said an official with the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. Statistics with the Chinese Stomatological Association show about 97.6 percent of Chinese suffer dental problems such as decay or periodontitis.
The country had about 60,000 registered dentists, but at least 70,000 were needed to guarantee one dentist for every 10,000 people, said Li Hongshan, director of Health Ministry International Communication and Cooperation Center.
He told the International Dental Federation 2006 annual meeting in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, that even with 70,000 more dentists, the ratio was still far below international standard.
Developed countries averaged one dentist for every 4,000 people and in Japan and the United States, each dentist served about 1,000 people, Li said.
Although China was increasing research funding for dental medicine, the nation had a long way to go to enhance dental health, said Fan Mingwen, head of the stomatology college of Wuhuan University.
Fan said China needed to reinforce stomatology education by introducing international expertise.
