asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now add to the list of services for which a dentist is paid under the National Health Service a fee for treating teeth with fluoride on the same scale as treatment by silver nitrate.

No. The inclusion of the prophylactic topical application of fluoride to sound teeth in the services available under the National Health Service would, in my view, lead to uneconomical use of dental manpower. Prevention of tooth decay is much more economically achieved by fluoridation of water supplies.