§ Mr. ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of(a) the annual cost of abolishing all charges for dental checks and (b) the annual number of people who currently make some payment for such checks. [78529]
403W
Mr. Jon Owen JonesAll children are entitled to free dental examinations and in Wales around 30 per cent. of adults are either entitled to free NHS dental care or receive partial help with its cost.
In 1997–98, 1.1million NHS dental examinations were carried out for adults in Wales. On the assumption that 70 per cent. of those were for patients who had to pay full NHS charges, around 770,000 of those examinations would have contributed some £3.5m in NHS patient charges.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.