Private dental practice in Wales will be regulated more closely from tomorrow to ensure safer, higher quality services.
New regulations will require practitioners who provide any non-NHS dental treatment to register with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW), the healthcare watchdog. HIW will have the powers to inspect practices and act on any complaints.
It means that dental practitioners providing private dental treatment in Wales will be inspected to the same standards applied to NHS funded services.
Currently, all dentists are regulated by the General Dental Council but outside the NHS there is no systematic inspection of premises and facilities against national standards.
Health Minister Edwina Hart said:
The new regulations will ensure that private dental treatments are regulated to the same high standards as NHS care.
It is important that there is uniformity of regulation between NHS and private care as many patients often choose to supplement their NHS care with private treatment, often from the same dental practice.
Peter Higson, Chief Executive of HIW, added:
These regulations will act as a strong mechanism to encourage continuous improvement in the provision of private dental treatments and the improvement of clinical governance throughout primary dental care in Wales.
Registering dental practitioners will also assist in identifying where wholly private dental care is being undertaken in Wales.
