Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category (a) 2 and (b) 3 on the basis they need dental care or treatment to achieve optimal dental fitness.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 March 2023 11,451 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 2, and 10,687 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 3.
For UK Defence Dentistry the NATO Dental Fitness Category is interpreted as follows:
NATO Dental Fitness Category 2
Service Personnel in date for Periodic Dental Inspection who require active interventive or operative dental treatment and whose existing dental condition, in the opinion of the clinician, is unlikely to result in a dental emergency within their defined recall period..
NATO Dental Fitness Category 3
Service personnel in date for Periodic Dental Inspection who require active interventive or operative dental treatment and whose dental condition is, in the opinion of the clinician, likely to cause a dental emergency within 12 months. It also includes those previously categorised as NATO Dental Fitness Category 2 who have gone beyond their recall date.
The Joint Medical Employment Standard (JMES) awarded by medical staff in order to inform commanders and career managers of the deployability and employability of Service personnel, will be reviewed if the Service person’s oral health status adversely affects their employability or overall health if deployed, or their oral care needs would be difficult to deliver in the deployed environment.
The Service person will be graded according to the frequency of the symptoms, requirement for medication and medical support, and degree of functional impairment.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel are waiting for dental treatment as of 14 March 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 March 2023 (latest data available) 22,138 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 2 or 3; meaning that they require either preventative or interventive treatment to achieve optimal dental fitness.
NATO Category 2 patients are deployable as they only require minor interventive treatment or treatment aimed at preventing disease. NATO Category 3 patients require treatment for conditions which are likely to result in issues within a year if left untreated. These are the priority for treatment.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many whole-time equivalent dentists are employed by (a) his Department, (b) the armed forces, (c) the Royal Air Force, (d) the British Army and (e) the Royal Navy.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table below provides the numbers of Dental Officers in the UK Armed Forces, by Service, as at 1 October 2022:
Table 1. Trained/Trade Trained Regular and Trained FR20 Reserve Dental Officers in the UK Armed Forces, by Service, as at 1 October 2022 | ||||
| Total | Royal Navy | Army | Royal Air Force |
Total | 180 | 40 | 100 | 40 |
Regular/Full-Time | 140 | 40 | 70 | 30 |
FR20/Part-Time | 40 | - | 30 | 10 |
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The above figures are for uniformed military personnel only and have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. It is not possible to provide data for Volunteer Reserves in terms of whole-time equivalency.
The table below provides the numbers of Ministry of Defence Civilian Dental Practitioners by Top Level Budget Holder (TLB) and Headcount and Full Time Equivalence (FTE) as at 1 October 2022:
Table 2: MoD Civilian Dental Practitioners by TLB and Headcount and FTE | |||||
01 October 2022 | |||||
TLB | Headcount | FTE | |||
UK Strat Com | 102 | 86 | |||
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