Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice is being issued to dentists on covid-19.

NHS England issued guidance, on 20 March 2020, setting out expectations for primary care dentistry to minimise spread of disease and protect dentists and patients during the current pandemic. The advice includes radically reducing the number of routine check-ups and agreeing local arrangements to consolidate, where necessary, the provision of any essential, routine National Health Service work that cannot be delayed and urgent dental problems. NHS England has now established over 550 urgent dental care centres across England to provide face to face dental treatment to patients who need this urgently. They are expected to offer the full range of clinically necessary dental treatment. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Issue-2-Preparedness-letter-for-primary-dental-care-20-March-2020.pdf

Notification of the measured resumption of dental services was issued by NHS England on 28 May with further guidance to the profession to follow.