• Knowledge Exchange
• Expressions Summer 2023

BDS Students Engaged with Community

Serving the Elderlies and Underprivileged in Tai O and Kwai Tsing District

Dr Phoebe Lam (Front row left) believes the outreach project enhances BDS students’ sense of social responsibility and commitment to serve the community.

The Faculty of Dentistry has been encouraging Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students to engage the community by providing dental outreach services and oral health talks to elderlies and the underprivileged in society.

Tai O Dental Outreach Service

Tai O is a remote village where over 30% of its population is elderly and over 40% of households live below the poverty line. Isolated location and poverty have created significant barriers for the elderly in Tai O to access dental care.

In view of this, a team of 12 BDS Year 4 students, led by Dr Phoebe Lam, Clinical Assistant Professor in Paediatric Dentistry, went the extra mile to this remote village. The dental team has obtained the Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Fund to serve the elderly with limited dental access there.

BDS students provide dental examinations and scaling to the Tai O elderlies.

“There is only one Jockey Club government dental clinic in our village, and the only treatment offered is extraction.” One elderly participant mentioned. “If we want other dental treatments, it will take a 45-minute bumpy bus journey to Tung Chung. It’s too much for the elderly and I don’t know how much it will cost me.”

As part of the project, BDS students stayed in Tai O for 2 days to provide dental examinations, dental scaling, preventive fluoride application, and simple restorative treatments to the participating elderly.

Another important aim was to promote oral health awareness in the Tai O community. In addition to organizing interactive oral health workshops for the elderly, the team also trained and empowered secondary and university students living in Tai O to lead in promoting self and community oral health.

As a BDS student, I am honoured to be able to utilise my skills and knowledge to serve the community, especially for those with lower income and usually could not afford dental visits.

The dental students also had the opportunity to interact with the local villagers, home-visiting their serving targets at their “shack houses”. The project has greatly increased their knowledge on how dental care can play a role in uplifting the lives of the underprivileged locally. The project also enhanced their sense of social responsibility and commitment to serve the community.

“I am very thankful for this precious opportunity for us to join the service. I enjoyed the service very much. I have been touched so much by the hospitality and generosity of the Tai O residents; it is a gem in HK that I have never found out. It was also a great chance to cooperate with my other classmates and get to know them more; it was a great time spent together. I wish these kinds of activities could be held more often in different years; I am sure students will enjoy the same as I did. It is a precious learning opportunity, fun, and meaningful service all in one,” reflected by one of the BDS participants.

BDS students deliver oral health education to the elderlies.

Kwai Tsing District Dental Outreach Service

Another dental outreach service was organised by the Faculty of Dentistry and the Society of Preventive Dentistry of Hong Kong on February 25, 2023. The team collaborated with Health in Action to serve the low-income families living in Kwai Tsing District. Over 70 participants joined the event to learn more about tooth decay, gum diseases and proper oral care through a talk, an exhibition and interactive group teaching. Simple dental examination was also provided by BDS students under the supervision of a volunteer teacher in Restorative Dental Sciences, Dr Edwin Lee.

One of the participating students, Ms Mak Yuen Ying, Year 5, treasured this opportunity, “As a BDS student, I am honoured to be able to utilise my skills and knowledge to serve the community, especially for those with lower income and usually could not afford dental visits. The oral health education in group seminar, demonstration and individual sessions also provided us with valuable chances to spread the importance of oral hygiene and prevention of various dental illness,” she said.

BDS students perform oral examination.

Additionally, dental outreach services allow students to engage themselves in the community which the learning is different from the clinical training at the Faculty. They can spend more time with each patient, perform dental screening for the participants and educate them on any oral health concerns. The direct and positive comments from the service clients are encouraging to the dentists-to-be.

“We were glad to hear lots of positive responses from participants who were eager to join our event again in the future to learn more about oral health,” said Professor CH Chu, Associate Dean (External Relations) cum Clinical Professor in Cariology. “The Faculty is committed to nurturing the next generations of oral health professions not just through theoretical learning and clinical training, but also via knowledge transfer and community engagement”, he elaborated.

BDS students are delighted to collaborate with Health in Action to serve the low-income families.