Written question asked by Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 28 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 2 March 2006. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 April 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

NHS Dentistry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors underlay the decision to introduce the new contracts for NHS dentists.

Answer: The old fee per item remuneration system encouraged high levels of invasive treatment and did not allow sufficient time for preventative work. The new contracts abolish this treadmill”” effect. They will pay dentists for the overall service they provide to patients, rather than on a fee per item basis and provide significantly more time for preventative care and oral health promotion.The old system has also failed to provide stability for local communities. Dentists could set up practices where they wished and vary the amount of national health service work they did without any influence by primary care trusts (PCTs). Where a dentist left the NHS or reduced the level of NHS service provided, the PCT was relatively powerless to replace this lost service. The new contracts enable PCTs and dentists to agree in advance what level of NHS service the dentists will provide. Where a dentist ceases to provide NHS service, the PCT will retain the funding for that contract and will use it to re-provide services.

Secondary information