§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has for a review of orthodontic services in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. AncramThere are no plans, at present, to undertake a specific review of orthodontic services. The Department of Health and Social Services has however recently commissioned an oral health review group to carry out an analysis of oral health in Northern Ireland, and to make recommendations for improvement. These recommendations will take account of orthodontic needs.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many clients were registered in Northern Ireland with general dental practitioners in each year since 1983.
§ Mr. AncramThe registration of patients with general dental practitioners was introduced in October 1990. The registration details from October 1990 onwards are set out in the table.
Year Number of patients registered 1990 198,585 1991 788,496 1992 976,312 1993 1,010,180
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are waiting for orthodontic treatment in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. AncramInformation on the total number of people waiting for orthodontic treatment in Northern Ireland is not held centrally.
676W
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general dental practitioners in Northern Ireland received remuneration for NHS treatments in each year since 1983.
§ Mr. AncramThe information requested is set out as follows:
Year Number of dentists 1983 377 1984 393 1985 421 1986 428 1987 438 1988 461 1989 483 1990 519 1991 517 1992 525 1993 551
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general dental practitioners in Northern Ireland were registered with the Dental Practice Board in each year since 1983.
§ Mr. AncramThe equivalent body in Northern Ireland is the Northern Ireland Central Services Agency. The information requested is set out in the table:
Number of dentists on dental list at 1 July Year Number 1983 360 1984 379 1985 397 1986 414 1987 424 1988 447 1989 467 1990 491 1991 517 1992 525 1993 541
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his estimate of the number of individuals who received private orthodontic treatments in Northern Ireland during the period from 1983 to 1993.
§ Mr. AncramInformation on private treatment is not held centrally and it is impossible to give a realistic estimate.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general dental practitioners qualified and took up national health service practice in Northern Ireland in each year since 1983.
§ Mr. AncramThe information is not available in the form requested. However, the number of dentists joining the dental list in Northern Ireland in each year since 1983 is set out in the table:
677W
Year Number of dentists joining dental list 1983 32 1984 33 1985 44
Year Number of dentists joining dental list 1986 30 1987 36 1988 46 1989 46 1990 77 1991 37 1992 51 1993 58
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dental de-registrations there were in Northern Ireland in the period 1985 to 1993.
§ Mr. AncramThe registration of patients with general dental practitioners was introduced in October 1990. Since then a total of 2,340 patients have been de-registered.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many NHS episodes of orthodontic treatment there were for Northern Ireland for the period 1983 to 1993; and what was the cost of NHS orthodontic treatment for Northern Ireland for the same period.
§ Mr. AncramThe number of courses of orthodontic treatment in Northern Ireland from 1983 to 1993 is set out in the table. Information is not available for 1991 and 1992. Information on the cost of orthodontic treatment is not available prior to 1993. For 1993, the cost was £1,686,393.
Number of courses of orthodontic treatment Year Number 1983 13,380 1984 10,562 1985 9,671 1986 11,667 1987 5,842 1988 19,391 1989 22,692 1990 25,365 19911 n/a 19921 n/a 1993 17,464 1 Due to technical difficulties in dental information system, figures are not available for these years.