Dozens of new dental hospitals planned for Thailand

Dozens of new dental hospitals planned to remedy Thai shortfall

The Thai government wants to increase the capacity of state-run dental services in order to provide each resident with two annual dental appointments. (Image: Loveischiangrai/Shutterstock)

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 10. October 2023

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BANGKOK, Thailand: The Thai government has committed to the ambitious target of opening one new dental hospital in each of the kingdom’s 77 provinces by the end of 2024 in order to address a drastic lack of capacity for dental services. Currently, public dental services in Thailand are only equipped to cater for around 7% of the country’s oral healthcare needs, resulting in inequitable access and long waiting times.

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, announced the plan to fix oral care in the country and pointed to the woeful inadequacy of state-run dental services. “At present, the dental services can cater for only ten million visits a year, about 7.1% of the 140 million visits needed to provide proper dental coverage,” Dr Karnkawinpong told English-language daily the Bangkok Post.

Thailand has 70 million inhabitants, and the government aims to increase the capacity of state-run dental services in order to provide each resident with two annual dental appointments.

“The ministry commits to taking care of people’s health in all dimensions—including their oral health. We need to increase the number of dentists and add more dental facilities so people have better access to treatment,” Dr Karnkawinpong said.

The newspaper reported that the government aims to upgrade dental offices in state-owned hospitals around the country so that they can be classed as dental hospitals. It plans to convert 39 hospital dental departments in 2023.

“Only around one-quarter of the 800 annual dental graduates work in the public sector.”

One of the problems that the government will need to address is a shortage of public-sector dentists. There are currently around 6,000 dentists employed at state-run hospitals in Thailand; however, only around one-quarter of the 800 annual dental graduates work in the public sector. It is planned that the new dental hospitals will offer career growth opportunities to dentists working in the public sector.

English-language media outlet the Thaiger reported in August that a lack of dental health services in the country meant that some patients had to wait two years for a follow-up appointment in Chachoengsao province.

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