§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to introduce regulations to require dentists to comply with stricter hygiene standards.
§ Mr. FreemanNo. Regulations already exist under which general dental practitioners are required to furnish their surgeries with adequate equipment and to provide treatment with suitable instruments. And in providing general dental services a dentist must employ a proper degree of skill and attention. Any dentist who fails to comply with his terms of service renders himself vulnerable to disciplinary proceedings. In addition a dentist who fails to employ adequate hygiene procedures would be vulnerable to a charge of unprofessional conduct brought against him by the General Dental Council, which in serious cases is able to order the erasure of a dentist's name from the dental register, thus preventing him from carrying out the practice of dentistry.