Recently, the Hong Kong SAR government officially announced the 2026/27 civil service salary adjustment plan.
According to the Civil Service Bureau of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong government press release, the salary of civil servants will be uniformly increased by 2% from April 1, 2026. As part of Hong Kong’s civil service system, the salary scale of dental officers of the Department of health in Hong Kong has also been adjusted simultaneously.
For dentists planning to go to Hong Kong for development, this is undoubtedly another official news worthy of attention.
The starting salary of public dentists in Hong Kong officially exceeded 72000 Hong Kong dollars/month
According to the master pay scale recently released by the Hong Kong Civil Service Bureau:
2025 (MPS point 30)
HK$71, 010/month
↓
2026 (MPS point 30)
HK$72, 430/month
In other words, in just one year, the starting salary of public dentists in Hong Kong has increased by HK $1420/month, or about 2%.
Screenshot of salary of dentists recruited by Hong Kong Government in 2025
Screenshot of Hong Kong government recruiting dentists’ salaries in 2026
Why is this salary increase worth paying attention to?
When many people see this news, their first reaction may be:
“Wages have gone up again.”
But in fact, for dentists preparing to practice in Hong Kong, what is more noteworthy is the career development environment reflected behind it.
Public dentists in Hong Kong belong to the civil service system, and their salaries are not fixed, but are protected by the salary adjustment mechanism of civil servants in Hong Kong.
In addition to the government’s overall pay review based on the economic situation, dentists can also be promoted gradually within their salary scale with their service years. If they are promoted to higher positions in the future, the corresponding pay will also be further increased.
That is to say, the income of public dentists in Hong Kong does not stay at the number of “starting salary”, but has the space for continuous growth of professional development.
For many dentists who plan to develop in Hong Kong for a long time, this is also an important part of the attractiveness of Hong Kong’s medical system.
The salary of public dentists in Hong Kong is high. Can mainland dentists go?
Sure!
For the vast majority of mainland dentists, to practice legally in Hong Kong, they mainly need to pass the Hong Kong dental licensing examination (hkdle) held by the Hong Kong Dental Council.
The whole exam is divided into three parts:
Part1: written examination
Multiple choice questions for 8 subjects. It mainly examines the basic theory and clinical knowledge of Dentistry, and adopts bilingual test papers in Chinese and English.
Part2: practical examination
It mainly examined the ability of dental preparation, restoration, dental technician and clinical operation.
Part3: clinical examination
It is mainly based on case analysis and oral examination, as well as multi topic written examination. The test focuses on the candidates’ comprehensive clinical thinking, diagnostic ability and treatment planning ability.
After all the three parts are approved, you can apply for the registration qualification of Hong Kong dentists and practice legally in Hong Kong after completing a one-year internship in Hong Kong (the salary during the internship is half of that of a public official dentist) in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Hong Kong Dental Council.
How to improve the hkdle pass rate?
There are obvious differences between the hkdle examination and the mainland medical licensing examination. In addition to the wide coverage of the examination, it also emphasizes international guidelines, English medical expressions and the concept of diagnosis and treatment in line with Hong Kong clinical norms.
In particular, part2 and part3 pay more attention to the candidates’ comprehensive ability to deal with real clinical scenes, rather than just the memory of knowledge points.
Therefore, for most candidates, systematic learning and targeted training are often more important than simply skimming questions.
Zency Education — focus on the training of Hong Kong dental licensing examination
Zency education focuses on Hong Kong dental licensing examination (hkdle) training, covering:
✅ Part1 written examination course
✅ Part2 practical examination course
✅ Part3 clinical examination course
All the courses are taught by Hong Kong registered dentists. All the instructors have successfully passed the hkdle examination and have rich clinical experience and teaching experience.
In order to meet the needs of candidates from different backgrounds, Zhengxi education currently provides:
Chinese Course
English Course
The course content closely follows the examination requirements, helps candidates to establish a knowledge system that conforms to the characteristics of hkdle examination, and formulates a systematic test preparation plan for different examination stages. And the courses can be played back indefinitely without passing the subjects.
In recent years, more and more dentists from the mainland, overseas and different educational backgrounds have chosen to prepare for hkdle through systematic training, hoping to successfully obtain the qualification of dentists in Hong Kong.
If you also plan to apply for the dental licensing examination in Hong Kong, you may wish to understand the examination requirements as soon as possible and formulate a scientific preparation plan to prepare for practicing in Hong Kong in the future.