[holding answer 27 November 2007]: The information is not available in the requested format. Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with a dentist to receive national health service care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. Information is available at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) area in England, but not at constituency level.
In the East Lancashire PCT 164,213 patients were seen over a 24-month period ending 31 March 2007; 111,291 adults and 52,922 children.
In the north west SHA 4,090,077 patients were seen over a 24-month period ending 31 March 2007; 2,993,028 adults and 1,097,049 children.