General Dental Service
The NHS General Dental Service (GDS) is usually the first point of contact that patients have with dental treatment. Patients register with an NHS General Dentist (a "High Street dentist") to receive the full range of NHS treatment provided by independent contractor dentists working on behalf of local NHS boards. There are also a number of salaried dentists working in the GDS, who provide an alternative service to the contracted General Dental Practitioners, in order to meet the needs of the local population.
There are three main areas of GDS information published by ISD:
Registrations and Participation
This section provides data on
- the number and level of people registered with an NHS dentist across Scotland and over time
- the extent to which the registered population participates in NHS General Dental Services across Scotland and over time
Dental Fees
This section provides data on the fees dentists are paid for the treatment they provide to their patients under NHS General Dental Services.
Dental Treatments
This section provides data on all the treatments NHS General Dentists prescribe and provide to their patients.
Treatment provided by dentists
ISD also provides the data for the Scottish Dental Practice Board's Annual Reports.
