Dental statistics - fees and treatments
Statistics as at quarter ending June 2022
A National Statistics publication for Scotland
- Published
- 11 October 2022 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides information on NHS General Dental Service (GDS) treatments up to the quarter ending June 2022.
Fees data reported by PHS excludes top-up payments paid to NHS dental practices in response to the substantial service disruption due to COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, fees data will not reflect the total amount of money paid to practices during this time and is omitted from this year's report.
Main points
Children (under 18)
- During the quarter ending June 2022, there were 219,245 GDS courses of treatment given to children in Scotland.
- Over one quarter (27.8%) of claimable dental treatments provided to children were for examination or provision of a care and summary report (detailing the patient's dental health and/or treatment which would not be readily available from visual examination).
Adults (18 and over)
- During the quarter ending June 2022, the number of GDS courses of treatment given to adults in Scotland was 751,770, an increase of 51.2% compared to the previous quarter. Despite climbing in recent months, activity levels remained around three quarters of pre-pandemic levels.
- Over a fifth (22.2%) of adult treatments authorised were for triage activity (such as telephone advice and issuing prescriptions).
Background
The NHS General Dental Service is usually the first point of contact for NHS dental treatment.
A course of treatment can cover a single appointment or multiple appointments. Treatments which do not incur a payment (tooth brushing or dietary advice) and orthodontic interim payments are excluded when counting courses of treatment.
Triage codes were introduced on 22 June 2020 for use initially in Urgent Dental Care Centres (UDCCs) but were also then used across all NHS primary dental services during remobilisation. The codes include treatments such as: telephone advice, issuing prescriptions, undefined aerosol generating procedures (AGPs - medical procedures that can result in the release of aerosols from the respiratory tract and risk transmission of infection) and non-AGPs.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be October 2023.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.