asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many dental hygienists and technicians there are in each of the three Services; how many of these are trained annually; and why training for the three Services is not undertaken at the same place.

The numbers are:

	Trained numbers in each Service	Trained in 1974
Dental Hygienists
Royal Navy	27	12
Army	41	12
Royal Air Force	55	16
Dental Technicians
Royal Navy	29 (civilians)	Nil
Army	88	13
Royal Air Force	58	22

We have examined the possibility of joint training for these categories of dental personnel at one place but have concluded that this would not offer any worthwhile savings.