Dental Services (Hansard, 20 January 1997)

§ Mr. Gordon Prentice
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average salary by decile for NHS dentists. [9012]

§ Mr. Malone
General dental practitioners are largely paid through fees—such as item of service fees and continuing care—rather than salaries. The table shows average gross fee earnings by decile for dental rates study group, DRSG, dentists in England.

Average gross fee earnings¹ by the decile for DRSG² dentists in 1995–96 in England

Decile³ Average gross fee earnings¹£

Bottom 8,000

2 26,000

3 43,000

4 61,000

5 75,000

6 87,000

7 99,000

8 112,000

9 131,000

Top 188,000

¹ These have been rounded to the nearest £1,000. Gross fee payments do not account for all NHS earnings, which can include other payments such as maternity payments, long-term sickness payments and seniority payments. These additional payments amount to about £2,000 per practitioner on average.

²DRSG dentists are those who have been in practice throughout 1995–96. Dentists who have joined or left during the year have been excluded, as well as some other small groups.

³There were 13,687 DRSG dentists in England in 1995–96. Each decile comprises about 1,369 dentists.

§ Mr. Prentice
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 13 January,Official Report, columns 165–66, how many adult patients and children were registered with the highest paid NHS dentist in each year from 1991–92 to 1995–96. [11890]

§ Mr. Malone
The dentist with the highest level of gross earnings in each of the years 1991–92 to 1994–95 had a very small number of registrations, and was engaged490W mainly in orthodontic treatment. For 1995–96, the dentist with the highest level of gross earnings had 8,991 adult registrations and 2,258 child registrations.

§ Mr. Prentice
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 14 January,Official Report, column 220, in which London postal district the practice of the highest earning NHS dentist was situated in 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, and 1994–95. [11889]

§ Mr. Malone
Giving this information would be in breach of the open government code of practice, which exempts information which could facilitate an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

§ Mr. Prentice
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish for consultation draft proposals for making extensive and wholly unnecessary dental treatment a criminal offence. [11900]

§ Mr. Malone
Extensive and wholly unnecessary dental treatment can constitute an assault for the purposes of the criminal law and there is therefore no need to introduce any further legislation.

Average gross fee earnings¹ by the decile for DRSG² dentists in 1995–96 in England
Decile³	Average gross fee earnings¹£
Bottom	8,000
2	26,000
3	43,000
4	61,000
5	75,000
6	87,000
7	99,000
8	112,000
9	131,000
Top	188,000
¹ These have been rounded to the nearest £1,000. Gross fee payments do not account for all NHS earnings, which can include other payments such as maternity payments, long-term sickness payments and seniority payments. These additional payments amount to about £2,000 per practitioner on average.
²DRSG dentists are those who have been in practice throughout 1995–96. Dentists who have joined or left during the year have been excluded, as well as some other small groups.
³There were 13,687 DRSG dentists in England in 1995–96. Each decile comprises about 1,369 dentists.