The oral health needs of men and women in the armed forces based in England, including all necessary checkups, treatment and care are handled by the Dental Defence Services, part of the Defence Medical Services Department. However, dependants of armed forces personnel rely on NHS dentists for dental treatment.
Forces families tend to have to move frequently, often at short notice, and so they are at particular risk of a lack of continuity of care. They are sometimes uncertain as to how to seek treatment, especially in a new location. Furthermore, because dependants of armed force personnel tend to be based in rural locations, access to dentistry can be difficult. There are, on average, 2.5 dependants per serviceman or servicewoman.
The DH is working with the MoD to monitor and address these and other specific difficulties faced by forces families. While it is generally acknowledged that the bulk of the problem is focused on the ten PCTs in which the forces are mainly based, there are also dependants in other areas of the country who are having similar difficulties. It is also recognised that all PCTs will inevitably have a number of 'invisible' forces families - namely naval dependents - who are not mobile and could therefore be living anywhere whilst their naval relative is away at work
To read the minutes of the latest DH/MoD meeting, click here.
To assist PCTs in monitoring and targeting dental services provision to this group, NHS PCC is currently co-ordinating a range of focus groups, following which examples of good practice and collaborative working will be published.
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