§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many dental treatments of children there have been annually in Birmingham since 1964.
§ Sir George Young[pursuant to his reply, 27 July 1979, c. 685]: Information cannot be given in the form requested since the details are not available before 1978 of dental treatment provided for children in Birmingham in the National Health Service general dental service. However, the following tables give the numbers of fillings and extractions and of general anaesthetics provided by the community dental services—formerly the school and priority dental services of local authorities—between 1965 and 1978 inclusive. Figures for dental treatments provided in the community dentae services in England are given for comparison.
These figures show that during these years, compared with England, there have been among children treated in the Birmingham community dental services (a) substantial reductions in the numbers of deciduous and permanent teeth extracted and in the numbers of general anaesthetics—which are often associated with multiple extractions—and (b) a substantial increase in the number of natural teeth conserved.
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COMMUNITY DENTAL SERVICE TREATMENT FOR PRE-SCHOOL AND SCHOOL CHILDREN* Birmingham England Extractions Fillings Extractions Fillings Year Deciduous teeth Permanent teeth Deciduous teeth Permanent teeth General anaesthetics Deciduous teeth Permanent teeth Deciduous teeth Permanent teeth General anaesthetics 1965 35,450 11,431 4,367 44,815 18,398 881,391 286,057 699,777 1,850,708 390,424 1966 37,722 11,188 4,037 39,088 19,318 878,247 267,323 788,186 1,880,479 384,746 1967 32,660 10,398 2,534 33,224 17,372 874,623 259,306 852,858 1,888,547 381,364 1968 29,064 8,946 2,939 32,335 15,877 882,570 260,282 897,069 1,897,760 376,963 1969 25,109 9,266 8,936 36,659 13,868 878,935 261,766 956,511 1,967,407 367,127 1970 20,482 8,391 10,085 35,076 11,541 850,321 262,264 1,022,486 2,044,650 348,278 1971 18,775 7,667 11,638 37,566 9,100 851,721 273,280 1,108,806 2,176,423 343,879 1972 16,454 6,748 13,101 38,177 7,855 854,709 285,128 1,145,258 2,207,230 330,295 1973 13,317 6,107 14,299 37,358 5,924 818,676 284,099 1,138,387 2,193,389 311,157 1974† 16,146 6,833 17,749 46,002 5,719 772,688 279,778 1,090,361 2,150,524 286,818 1975† 15,014 6,764 15,661 44,845 5,426 747,912 280,528 1,047,233 2,088,556 259,990 1976† 13,813 6,108 16,299 42,440 5,100 707,315 274,675 1,037,615 2,079,347 236,722 1977† 10,705 5,180 9,227 28,748 3,851 642,163 264,777 973,313 1,952,023 210,960 1978† 10,972 4,458 14,398 33,610 3,010 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. *Source: Routine returns to the Department. † Figures for unfluoridated Sutton Coldfield included from 1 April 1974. N.A. = Not yet available.