HC Deb 04 March 1994 vol 238 c42W
Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when she will publish the oral health strategy;

(2) when she will publish her response to the Bloomfield report.

Dr. Mawhinney

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 18 February at col.1042.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish for each year since 1990, by region, the incidence of dental decay in(a) children and (b) adults.

Dr. Mawhinney

This information is not available centrally in the form requested. The Department commissions the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to conduct surveys of the dental health of adults and children at 10-year intervals. The report of the last adult dental health survey carried out in 1988 was published in 1991 and copies are available in the Library. The most recent survey of children was carried out in 1993 and the report will be published later this year.

Information on dental decay among children is available from surveys by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. Copies of the latest report published will be placed in the Library.