§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of(a) children and (b) adults in England are registered with an NHS dentist. [59599]
§ Mr. LammyArrangements are now in place to ensure that patients can gain access to national health service services simply by calling NHS Direct. This means that 255W even if a patient chooses not to register with a dentist it will still be possible for that patient to access all forms of dentistry that are provided by the NHS.
60 per cent. of children and 43 per cent. of adults were registered with a general dental service (GDS) dentist in England at 31 March 2002.