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Written question asked by Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Wednesday, 15 July 2026. A substantive answer was provided by James Frith (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 August 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Dental Services: Children

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the (a) number of children between 5 and 10 admitted to hospital for dental procedures in each of the last five years and (b) average cost of such instances from admission to discharge.

Answer

The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for children aged five to 10 years old where the main purpose was for a dental procedure, in each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25:

Year

Number of children admissions

2020/21

12,702

2021/22

22,698

2022/23

25,740

2023/24

25,437

2024/25

27,748


An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. These figures do not represent the number of patients, as a child may be admitted to hospital more than once during the period.

Data is not specifically collected on the average cost of such instances from admission to discharge.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17228
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Children Dental services Admissions Costs Hospitals
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk