To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding was allocated for NHS dentistry in each of the last five years. (133212)

Primary care trusts (PCTs) assumed responsibility for local commissioning of primary care dentistry from 1 April 2006. The following table sets out the resources allocated to the national health service for commissioning dental services in 2006-07, including resources distributed via strategic health authorities to support dental vocational training. Total (gross) expenditure on NHS primary dental services also includes income raised from patient charges. The table includes the indicative assumptions made before the start of the year about gross budgets and patient charge income. A number of factors will affect the actual levels of gross expenditure and patient charge income, including the levels of dentistry commissioned by PCTs, the time needed for new dental services to be commissioned and come into operation, and changes in the mix of charge-paying and charge exempt patients treated.

PCTs did not receive full primary care dental allocations prior to 2006-07. The bulk of primary dental care was provided through the centrally funded general dental services (GDS). Under GDS, spending was largely demand-led, with dentists determining how much NHS work they carried out and claiming separate fees for each individual item of treatment. The following table sets out overall (gross) expenditure on NHS primary dental care in the four years from 2002-03 to 2005-06.