The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the number of patients seen by a national health service dentist in the previous 24-month period as a percentage of the population is available in Table D4 of Annex 3 of the report “NHS Dental Statistics for England, Quarter 2: 30 September 2008”. Information is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and by strategic health authority and is available for each quarter from 31 March 2006 to 30 September 2008.
This report, published on 26 February 2009, has already been placed in the Library and is available on the website of the Information Centre for health and social care at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0809q2.
Patients not recorded as having seen an NHS dentist may have chosen to receive regular dental care from a private dentist.
The dental reforms implemented in 2006 gave primary care trusts (PCTs), for the first time, the responsibility for providing or commissioning dental services in their area. It is for PCTs to assess local needs, review current service provision and develop services to meet local needs. The Department has recently established an expanded national dental access programme to help managers and clinicians rapidly to expand services where needed and to provide support to those who need it.