An extra one million people now have access to an NHS dentist than three years ago. The latest figures show that more people than ever before are now registered with an NHS dentist in Scotland.
From March 2007 – June 2010 there has been an increase of over 1,035,000 registered with a dentist – over 150,000 children and over 800,000 adults.
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
“It is fantastic that we have an extra million Scots registered with an NHS dentist.
“Our latest figures show there are record numbers of dentists working in NHS Scotland and this has resulted in more people being able to access an NHS dentist.
“With increased access we will expect to see improvements in the oral health of the nation. Last month we seen reports showing that our primary school children now have the best oral health since our records began. We want this good work to continue.
“We now have outreach training centres in place throughout Scotland including Aberdeen, Inverness and Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Boards now have the authority to appoint directly salaried dentists.
“We are continuing to increasing the number of dental students in training and Scotland’s newest dental school in Aberdeen is training 20 dentists every year.”
Background
Children dental registrations
31 March 2007 705286 increase 150366
31 March 2010 855,652
30 June 2010 861,658 increase 6006
Adult dental registrations
31 March 2007 1879626 increase 830137
31 March 2010 2709763
30 June 2010 2760684 increase 50921
Total increase in period = 1,037,430
Source: isdscotland
In 2005 there were 2,307 NHS dentists in Scotland while in 2009 this had risen to 3,251 – more than ever before.
Between 1995 and 2009 the stock of dentists has increased by almost 41 percent.
