To improve the efficiency of public access to emergency dental care, the Hong Kong Department of Health announced on Thursday that it has made four key improvements to its online dental appointment system. The optimization aims to enable citizens to complete the appointment process more quickly and conveniently when facing dental emergencies.
Earlier, the Online Dental Registration System for Dental Treatment for All (ORDGP) had increased its service quota by 30%. On this basis, this round of upgrades further enhances the system’s ease of operation and resource allocation capabilities.
Simplified registration process: Introducing “iAM Smart” and “eHealth” support
Residents can now register through the “iAM Smart” or “eHealth” application, and the system will automatically fill in their personal information, eliminating the tedious steps of manual input and significantly reducing the chance of data entry errors. The system also has real-time identity verification capabilities, which greatly improves the smoothness and security of registration.
New “Cancel Appointment” mechanism allows more efficient allocation of resources
The new “Cancel Appointment” function provides users with greater flexibility, allowing appointments to be released in time when their schedules change.
The cancelled time slots will be automatically opened to applicants on the waiting list, and the successful applicants will be notified by SMS before 9pm that night. The Department of Health specifically reminds the public to pay attention to official information marked by “#DH-DENT GP”.
Optimizing the result query process: Simplifying identity verification
Applicants can now view the appointment draw results by simply entering their Hong Kong identity card number and date of birth, without the need to provide the identity card issuance date.
If you log in through “iAM Smart” or “eHealth”, you can directly access the relevant records without having to re-enter the information.
Support family members to share appointment information
Applicants who have successfully made an appointment using “eHealth” can now share the appointment details with family members or caregivers associated with their account, making family management more convenient and transparent.
Since the launch of ORDGP in December 2024, long queues for dental services have been significantly reduced, and the current dental visit rate has reached 99%. Services cover emergency pain relief, tooth extraction and emergency oral care such as abscess treatment.
The Ministry of Health calls on citizens to cancel their appointments in a timely manner if they are unable to keep them, so as to free up resources to handle more urgent cases.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health stressed: “The system upgrade not only improves the efficiency of medical treatment, but also makes dental services more fair and accessible. We will continue to promote digital reforms to bring better public medical services to citizens.”