Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral answer from the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood of 11 January 2023, Official Report column 552, how many NHS dentists there were on (a) 1 November 2022 and (b) 11 January 2023; and what funding there was for HNS dentists on each of those dates.

Dental Statistics, published annually by NHS Digital, brings together information on National Health Service dental activity in England. Information on funding and the number of dentists on 1 November 2022 and 11 January 2023 respectively are not yet available. The number of NHS dentists at the end of 2021/22 was 24,272.

Dental Statistics are available from the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics/2021-22-annual-report