Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Dental Services and Mouth Cancer Diagnosis

Tuesday 17 November 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial assessment shows over 600 urgent dental centres were established during the first wave of the covid-19 outbreak to provide essential dental care.
  • Since June, dentists have prioritised urgent dental treatment for vulnerable groups and have resumed routine care with safety measures in place.
  • The minister is collaborating with NHS Improvement and the chief dental officer to address challenges such as fallow time and ventilation improvements for dental surgeries.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Rosie Cooper Lab
NHS
Context

The question follows the initial suspension of dental services during the first wave of COVID-19, which led to urgent measures being put in place. Since then, there has been a gradual restoration of dental activities.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) access to routine dental services and (b) early diagnoses of mouth cancers?

Answer from Jo Churchill

Over 600 urgent dental centres were set up during the first wave to deliver care. Since June, dentists have prioritised urgent treatment for vulnerable groups and provided routine care across the network while maintaining safety measures due to aerosol-generating procedures.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about early diagnoses of mouth cancers was not directly addressed with concrete commitments or statistics.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Rosie Cooper Lab
NHS
Context

Dental services have been impacted by reduced capacity and safety measures such as fallow time between patients, raising concerns about routine care.

Question

What help can be given to dental surgeries to improve their capacity? Can grants be made available for expensive ventilation systems that could reduce the required gap between patient visits?

Answer from Jo Churchill

I am working closely with NHS Improvement and the chief dental officer on challenges like fallow time and testing solutions. We are also looking at the issue of ventilation and will report further progress soon.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask for grants was not directly addressed with concrete commitments or timelines.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)