asked the Minister for Health the plans he has to ensure a dental service is available to those who are unable to provide for such a service from their own resources.
Written Answers. - Dental Service Availability.
28.
It is a matter for the health boards to allocate as they see fit the funds available to them between the different services they provide. In recent years the health boards have not reduced their dental staff numbers so that the level of the dental service for eligible children is being maintained. The ad hoc dental scheme whereby adults are referred for dental treatment by private practitioners has been suspended in some health boards and curtailed in others. However, the dental staff of the health boards provide dental treatment for eligible adults in priority groups such as expectant and nursing mothers, the handicapped and the elderly. Emergency treatment is available to all eligible adults in all health boards, but eligible adults who require routine dental treatment but do not belong to a priority grouping are placed on a waiting list for treatment when resources become available.