§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of free dental treatment in the latest 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage of this was in respect of retirement pensioners.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe cost of treatments in courses with no chargeable elements, together with those courses which included chargeable elements but were supplied to patients not required to pay, and the non-chargeable elements in courses which attracted a patient's contribution, amounted to £109 million in the 12 months ended December 1976.
Retirement pensioners are not automatically exempt from dental charges and figures for full remission on income grounds are not broken down into categories of patients.