KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU Faculty of Dentistry provides dental service to non-ethnic Chinese

"Gateway to Dental Health" was launched by the HKU Faculty of Dentistry in 2017 and has been working hand in hand with NGOs to provide free dental outreach service to Non-Ethnic Chinese (NEC). The Project was initiated by Dr Prasanna Neelakantan, Clinical Assistant Professor in Endodontics of the Faculty, with the objective to improve oral health condition of local NEC. The project team engages the NEC community by providing dental services and oral health education and in 2018 and 2019, seven dental health fairs were organised. This year, despite the postponement of our outreach dental services due to the pandemic, the project team will continue to provide oral care support to the NEC community. Together with the India Association Hong Kong, Pakistan Association of Hong Kong and Health in Action, a webinar will be held to share oral health tips, information on dental services and to respond to self-care questions.

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2019

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2019 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU professionals produce an information booklet to explain the facts and fallacies of radiation risk in dentistry

A team of HKU Faculty of Dentistry led by Professor Michael Bornstein and international collaborators have prepared an information booklet for the public to foster a better understanding of radiation risk in dental radiology. The booklet explains the basic knowledge and tackles the common myths in lay terminology with illustrations. It is available in three versions: English, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese. Not only dental patients, but also members of the public are often unsure if the X-ray tests they take during regular dental check-ups are harmful to health or not, and if there are any suitable measures to reduce risks of radiation. The booklet serves as a timely reference for the public and elaborates on this topic of broad interest in the format of popular science. Answers to frequently asked questions such as how children, pregnant women, and the elderly are considered differently in terms of radiation dose protection, or why the patient stays alone in the room when taking X-rays, can be found in the publication.

HKU Dental Professor calls for regular dental checkup for people over 45 to detect and prevent mouth cancer

A research team of HKU Faculty of Dentistry led by Professor Peter Thomson has been working to improve understanding of the cause and development of mouth cancer, to identify the population in Hong Kong most at risk, and to apply effective primary, secondary and tertiary preventive strategies to target disease at the earliest possible stage, and to facilitate minimal interventional treatment. Professor Thomson said many mouth cancer patients are diagnosed only when the disease is advanced and incurable. However, early suspicious signs of cancer or pre-cancer change, including non-healing mouth ulcers, red and white mucosal patches and unexplained swellings within the mouth or in the neck, could easily be detected by a dental professional during standard oral examination. According to the government’s statistics, less than half of HongKongers had regular dental check-ups and fewer than 37% of those in the high risk group aged 45 or above visit their dentists regularly. The strategies that prevention really is better than cure when it comes to halting the progress of this life-threatening oral disorder are confirmed in Professor Thomson’s new book “Oral Cancer – From Prevention to Intervention “.

HKU dental professionals invent “super” toothbrush to clean all dental surfaces

HKU Faculty of Dentistry Honorary Associate Professor and local dentist Dr TC Ng, together with HKU Faculty of Dentistry Professor Jin Lijian, have designed an “NJ Toothbrush” which is the only toothbrush in the world targeting all dental surfaces including those niches often unreachable. The team said in a short two minutes’ brushing using the NJ Toothbrush, users would be able to approach major anatomical features and niches. It can therefore maximise the control of plaque biofilms and resultant oral/periodontal inflammation along with regular professional oral healthcare. A PCT patent application has been filed for the innovation. HKU expects the NJ Toothbrush to be available on the market in two years’ time, and the price would be about the same as electronic toothbrush.

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2018

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2018 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

Dentistry’s Knowledge Exchange Dialogue 2018

The Faculty of Dentistry has recently published Knowledge Exchange Dialogue 2018, which features 14 KE projects conducted by faculty members and students in 2016-17. The stories were written by a group of students from the School of Communication of Hong Kong Baptist University as part of their practicum project.