Written question WQ84304

We are making steady progress with the recovery of dental services but dentistry is one of the most complex areas of primary care in terms of the reinstatement of services.

Dental services remain in the Amber phase of recovery. In this phase, dental practices are providing a full range of care and treatment for patients. However, as COVID-19 is still in circulation public health measures - physical distancing, enhanced PPE, and infection control requirements - mean fewer patients can be ‘seen’ in a clinical session.

There is a clear requirement to see patients according to need. Practices have been asked to treat people who have experienced problems during lockdown first. We also need to prioritise care for those who had treatment delayed as a result of the pandemic.

We have asked Health Boards to encourage dental practices to start recalling patients who are overdue their routine NHS dental examination, in addition to providing appropriate NHS treatment for all patients. However, the return of services will continue to be gradual and will depend on capacity within individual practices.

To boost NHS dental capacity for the remainder of the year I have recently announced additional in-year funding of up to £3m for Health Boards. From 2022/23 additional recurrent funding of £2m is also being made available to improve access to NHS dentistry across Wales. Health Boards will have the flexibility to invest this funding in NHS dental services to address local needs and priorities.