Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the utility of the information provided by the Adult Dental Health Survey in assessing and planning for oral health needs both nationally and locally.

There has been no formal assessment of the use of previous Adult Dental Health Surveys. The comparable nature of the data facilitates the following uses: for national and local policy makers to design, implement and monitor policies on oral health and dental services; for dental commissioners in NHS England to ensure commissioned services are meeting the needs of the population; for local authorities to fulfil a statutory function to assess the oral health needs of their populations - to inform the adult oral health elements of their joint strategic needs assessments and their local adult oral health improvement plans.