The Scottish government is extending free dental healthcare to all young people.
The government says the amendments to regulations which cover the cost of NHS dental care will mean around 600,000 young people will benefit from free dental care from the end of August, subject to Parliamentary approval.
The government had previously committed to removing charges for young people in care within 100 days following the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) election win last month.
Writing to dentists, health secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The oral health of young people often suffers as they move out of the family home, away from the supervision of parents for the first time. I am also particularly mindful of the disproportionate economic impact of the pandemic on our young people.
“That is why we now are going even further than our original commitment to remove dental charges for care-experienced young people within 100 days of this government and widening this out to include all 18 to 25 year-olds.
“At the same time, I fully appreciate the challenges that NHS dental teams continue to face during this period. The situation is particularly hard on the dental sector, with added infection, prevention and control measures making it impossible for dental teams to see the same numbers of patients as before the onset of the pandemic.”
Yousaf noted that emergency financial support measures were in place to mitigate the worst financial impacts of the pandemic on NHS dental services and it had recently announced £5m of funding to support improved ventilation in practices, and a 50% increase in free PPE to NHS dental teams.
“We will be discussing financial support with the British Dental Association,” he added.