Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide clearer guidance to dentists on what services they are able to provide during the covid-19 outbreak; and whether dentists are permitted to make their own risk assessments on what services they can deliver.

Dentists are already able to provide all treatments, including aerosol generating procedures, where they can do so safely. NHS England and NHS Improvement has issued a series of guidance notes setting out the personal protective equipment and infection control procedures required to deliver the full range of dentistry safely while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community. Routine National Health Service dental treatment was suspended during the pandemic peak and face to face urgent care was restricted to over 600 urgent dental centres to minimize risk of transmission. NHS England and NHS Improvement guidance at the end of May authorized a restart of NHS care including routine care from all practices from 8 June. Dentists have been encouraged to reopen as fast as possible as is compatible with safety.

Detailed guidance has been issued to dentists as they reopen for face to face care. The guidance can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/preparedness-letters-for-dental-care/

All dentists, whether offering NHS or private care, are responsible for ensuring the care they offer is safe. Dentistry is regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the General Dental Council as well as, for NHS dentistry, NHS England and NHS Improvement.