Registration of Dentists
Registration Requirements
Special Registration (Part 5 of the General Register)
According to section 9K of the Dentists Registration Ordinance, the following persons may apply for special registration –
- the applicant has been selected for full-time employment as a person with special registration in a Schedule 5 institution;
- the applicant has obtained a recognized non-Hong Kong qualification;
- either—
- the applicant has been awarded a Fellowship of the Academy of Medicine in the specialty of dental surgery; or
- the Academy of Medicine has certified that the applicant has attained a professional standard equivalent to that recognized by the Academy for the award of a Fellowship of the Academy in the specialty of dental surgery;
- the applicant has had adequate and relevant full-time post-qualification clinical experience;
- unless the applicant is a person with limited registration or a person with special registration when the application is made, or was such a person at any time before the application is made—the applicant is registered as a dentist under the law of a place outside Hong Kong;
- the applicant has not been refused, under section 7A(3) of the Ordinance, to take the Licensing Examination; and
- the applicant is of good character.
Note 1: | Schedule 5 Institutions include Department of Health, Hospital Authority, The University of Hong Kong and The Prince Philip Dental Hospital. |
Note 2: | Pursuant to section 29C(3) of the Dentists Registration Ordinance (“the Ordinance”) (Cap. 156), the Secretary for Health has made the Dentists Registration Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 4 and 5) Notice 2025 which was published in the Gazette on 21 February 2025 to add 35 organisations (comprising 34 non-governmental organisations participating in designated publicly-funded dental programmes and 1 training institution for dental care professionals) to Schedules 4 and 5 to the Ordinance. |
In approving an application, the Dental Council—
- must specify a period not exceeding 3 years during which the registration is to be in force; and
- may impose any condition that the Dental Council considers appropriate.
Workflow on Submission and Processing Applications for Limited and Special Registration