To reduce the nation's high level of dental disease, China needs at least 70,000 new dentists, said a Ministry of Health official Tuesday.

 

Statistics from the Chinese Stomatological Association show that around 97 percent of Chinese suffer dental problems such as decay or gum disorders.

 

According to Li Hongshan, director of the Health Ministry International Communication and Cooperation Center, the country has about 60,000 registered dentists now but at least 70,000 more were needed to guarantee one dentist for every 10,000 people.

 

He told the International Dental Federation 2006 annual meeting in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, that even with that number of dentists the ratio was still far below international standards.

 

Developed countries averaged one dentist for every 4,000 people and in Japan and the United States each dentist had approximately 1,000 patients, Li said.

 

Although China was increasing research funding for dental care, the nation still had a long way to go to improve dental health, pointed out Fan Mingwen, head of the Stomatology College of Wuhuan University. Fan said China needed to reinforce stomatology education by introducing international expertise.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2006)