A survey of Hong Kong dentists' attitudes towards advertising.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the attitudes of dental practitioners in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples' Republic of China towards advertising of dental services by members of the profession, a practice that is currently not permitted by legislation.


METHODS
Self-completion questionnaires were mailed to 400 members of the Hong Kong Dental Association. In addition to being presented with a number of closed questions, respondents were invited to expand on their answers in a more qualitative, open-ended manner.


RESULTS
271 replies were received, representing a response rate of 68%. Respondents were largely against a move towards any deregulation which would result in dentists being allowed to advertise their services in the SAR (57.9% against, 28.0% for), this despite a high proportion of respondents reporting that, in their opinion, the Hong Kong public do not know enough about the services provided by dentists in the SAR (69.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
Opinions amongst Hong Kong dentists are divided with a majority feeling that a move to allow advertising would not benefit either the public or the profession. There is, however, a significant proportion of dentists who feel that there is a need for such deregulation.
Newsome
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6/F Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong.
Sun
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Walters
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D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003752:Dental Health Services; D003815:Dentists; D004497:Education, Dental; D004990:Ethics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D011331:Private Practice; D011361:Professional Competence; D011641:Public Relations; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012575:Schools, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires