In the Senedd today, James Evans MS called on the First Minister to expand dental provision into schools to guarantee children dental care.

The Brecon and Radnorshire MS said: “In my constituency, accessing a dentist is extremely difficult and even if you get a dentist, the travelling times to those dentists can be very lengthy.”

Mr Evans went on to ask: “Will the First Minister look at bringing mobile dentists into schools, so we can actually have them in the schools, so they can get the check-ups they need to ensure that their oral health is in good condition?”

The First Minister, Mark Drakeford responded by saying that the Health Minister would be making a statement on dental services in a fortnight’s time, and that the statement would touch on “ideas for dealing with dental services in rural areas and the possibility of mobile dentistry in secondary schools.” 

The First Minister had earlier said that "prevention not intervention" has to be the aim of good-quality dental care for children, adding that the Designed to Smile scheme, a national programme to improve oral health of young children in Wales, is now operating fully again.

He said that nearly 240,000 children have been treated in general dental services since April 2022 - of that number, over 55,000 are new patients.

Recently, the British Dental Association conducted polling which said the "overwhelming majority of dentists say the Welsh Government's approach to reform of NHS dentistry is failing.”

Speaking after today's session, Mr Evans said: “We all know that good oral health leads to the overall good health and wellbeing of our children.

“The Labour Welsh Government have been failing on dental services – this is bad enough for adults but has an even bigger negative impact on our children.

“I want to see dental provision in schools, so children are guaranteed good quality dental care.”