(a)

NHS England has the responsibility for commissioning dental services across the entire pathway which includes high-street dentists, urgent, community and hospital services;

(b)

new contracts introduced for general dental practitioner by Government in 2006 had impacted the way NHS dentistry was now made available;

(c)

high-street dentists set themselves up as a business enterprise and then offer their services back to the NHS.  High-street dentists are a business unit and constantly balancing how to stay afloat;

(d)

they were focusing on how to integrate the dental pathways across primary and secondary care models and the clinical lead advisory group ensures the maximum amount of dentistry for patients;

(e)

there were currently 2,500 children and 10,000 adults waiting to be seen by an NHS Dentist.  This figure was monitored on a monthly basis.

(f)

if you can find your way to the dentist you will receive treatment.  They target efforts around commissioning to meet health needs but cannot means test people for treatment;

(g)

there was a shortage of dentists across Plymouth in every area;

(h)

they were undertaking a piece of work between PCC and the NHS to review the waiting list and to look at where in the city residents live to ensure services are targeted appropriately;

(i)

that one of the strands within the Child Poverty Action looks at oral health and as a result a document has been produced on how to access dental services in Plymouth.  This was available to access on the Plymouth Online Directory (POD);

(j)

the Dental Access Centre had seen an increase in demand and on average receive between 75 to 80 calls per day.  They will see around 22 people a day in the clinic as commissioned by the NHS leaving around 60 people a day unable to have their pain dealt with;

(k)

they were looking at how they can prioritise a families y because they have children and an important issue for them to look at;

(l)

that over 700 children have their teeth extracted under general anaesthetic and nearly of all of those cases were preventable.  A number of projects were in place to address this such as supervised tooth brushing scheme, life education mobile classroom and dental champion training;

(m)

discussions were taking place to create a new practice in the city centre to relieve the pressure within the system;

(n)

the school dentist was no longer a national requirement but this service was retained for the special schools;

(o)

retention was a major problem and recruitment from abroad was getting more difficult in terms of visas.  Rural areas were finding it more difficult to recruit.