Will the Minister outline what the Welsh Government is doing to ensure that children in Wales who are unable to access NHS dentistry are still able to receive free dental treatment?
My reply to WQ89674 outlined my commitment to the provision of free dental care for children in Wales.
Health boards are responsible for the provision of local services. Anyone seeking access to NHS dental services can contact the primary care dental team at their local health board to discuss their particular circumstances. It will be able to provide details of the current level and location of available NHS dental services in the locality. They will also be able to provide details of the access sessions and availability of urgent treatment the health board provides for people not yet placed with a practice. The following link provides the contact details for all our health boards: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/ourservices/directory
In cases where capacity is not available through a high street dental practice, health boards can arrange for children to be seen by the community dental service. The Welsh Health Circular setting out the role of the community dental service was revised in August 2022 to include clear guidance for health boards to consider creating salaried general dental practitioner roles in areas where access is a challenge. There is an excellent example in Powys, where a dental therapist has been recruited and is seeing children from the waiting list.
Earlier this year we unblocked the regulatory barrier preventing dental therapists opening and closing courses of treatment when working in a high street dental practice. This change increases the capacity of our existing workforce particularly for seeing children as dental therapists are ideally suited for treating children.