§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many courses of dental treatment in each category under the national health service were performed by dentists for the periods from October to December 1991 and October to December 1992; and what was the percentage increase or decrease in the number of treatments provided;
(2) how many courses of dental treatment in each category under the national health service were performed by dentists for the periods from January to March 1992 and January to March 1993; and what was the percentage increase or decrease of treatments provided.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe information is shown in the table.
General dental service—England Number of courses of denial treatment Adults Children October 1991 to December 1991 6,169,678 721,014 October 1992 to December 1992 6,216,373 673,528 Percentage Change 0.76 -6.59 January 1992 to March 1992 6,440,445 712,001 January 1993 to March 1993 6,452,325 702,232 Percentage Change 0.18 -1.37 Notes:
1. Under the new dental contract introduced on 1 October 1990, most 352W child treatment is undertaken under capitation a here no separate course of treatment is identified. The figures for adults and children are not therefore comparable.
2. The reduction in the number of child courses of treatment is due to the inclusion in the figures of "entry payments". These are paid to a dentist on accepting for capitation a child whose teeth require active clinical intervention. The number of such payments is now declining sharply.