6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Dental Reform

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:24 pm on 14 March 2023.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 5:24, 14 March 2023

Thank you very much. Congratulations on the work you're doing to increase the number of people who are actually getting to see a dentist. That's really good news. I just wanted to go back to the mobile dental unit as the way of ensuring that all children get seen by somebody who’s appropriately qualified, because we know that the number of missing, filled or decayed teeth is a really good indicator of deprivation. We used to have a mobile dental unit in Llanedeyrn on the site of what is now the well-being centre in the Maelfa, which I know the Minister is familiar with. I just wondered whether we have more dental units. I haven't seen it since the pandemic; does it still exist, and, if so, how is it being deployed? Can it therefore be used to offer services to people in super-output areas of deprivation, where we know there are likely to be more missed decayed teeth?