To ask the Minister of Health to detail any measures being taken to implement the recommendations of the Oral Health Improvement Plans for (i) children; and (ii) the elderly.

The recommendations in the Children’s and Older Persons Improvement Plans are ambitious and funding these will be a significant challenge in the current financial climate.

(i) Recent initiatives such as the re-introduction of the Enhanced Child Examination in general dental practice have been underpinned by the recommendations made in the Child Oral Health Improvement Plan. I am committed to improving the oral health of our population and will continue to seek opportunities for this which will be guided by these recommendations.

I am very pleased that oral health has been included in the path finder of my Live Better Initiative in the North West and I look forward to the lessons learned from this initiative to inform our longer term priorities. Empowering children and their families to improve oral health is key to reducing oral health inequalities.

(ii) I am aware that our Community Dental Service teams across Northern Ireland are currently reviewing how best they can assess the oral health of older people in care homes and work with care home staff to improve the oral health of this vulnerable population. This reflects recommendations in the Older Persons Oral Health Improvement Plan.

Any future work related to the General Dental Services (GDS) contract will take into consideration how best practices can be supported to provide care for older persons retaining natural teeth into later life.