Information Centre reports on NHS dentistry

A patient undergoing NHS dental treatment under the new contractual arrangements is more likely to have dentures or tooth extractions and less likely to have fillings or crowns than under the old arrangements, a report released by the NHS Information Centre suggests.

The report, Dental Treatment Band Analysis: England and Wales, 2007-08, considers nearly 10,000 adult dental courses of treatment in England and suggests the percentage of band 35 courses of treatment including dentures increased from 38.1 per cent in 2003-04 to 47.9 per cent in 2007-08. Meanwhile, the overall percentage of courses of treatment including an extraction increased from 6.9 to 7.9 per cent. 

However, the percentage of band 3 courses of treatment including a crown fell from 47.8 per cent in 2003-04 to 35.3 per cent in 2007-08, while the percentage of courses of treatment including a filling fell from 28.3 per cent to 26.0 per cent.

The report is published alongside two further reports from the Information Centre: NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08, and Dental Working Hours: England and Wales, 2006-07 and 2007-08.

NHS patients

Key findings from NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08 show there were 36 million courses of treatment in 2007-08, a 2.7 per cent rise (937,000) on the previous year. During the same period, the number of units of dental activity carried out increased by 4.5 per cent (3.3 million) to 77 million.

There were 20,815 dentists with NHS activity during 2007-08 - an increase of 655 dentists (3.2 per cent) on 2006-07, the first year of the new dental contract system. But the total number of patients seen up to the 24 month period ending 31 March 2008 decreased by 3.9 per cent (1.1 million).

Working hours

Key findings from Dental Working Hours: England and Wales, 2006-07 and 2007-08, show that in 2007-08 NHS dentists reported working an average of 37.0 hours per week in dentistry, of which 26.2 hours were devoted to the NHS. Overall, dentists reported 84.8 per cent of their time was spent on clinical work, while 15.2 per cent was spent on administrative work.

The proportion of total time spent on NHS dentistry varied by region, with figures ranging from 56.2 per cent in the South Central strategic health authority to 83.6 per cent in the North East SHA.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "These reports show the most comprehensive picture of NHS dentistry to date under the new contractual arrangements. As a qualified dentist myself, it is interesting to see how a typical course of dental treatment is changing."

Full copies of the reports are at:

NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08

Dental Treatment Band Analysis: England and Wales, 2007-08

Dental Working Hours, England and Wales, 2006-07 and 2007-08