In March 2005 the Scottish Executive Health Department published the ‘Action Plan
for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland’ (Scottish
Executive, 2005), setting out the response of the Scottish Executive to the two consultation
documents, ‘Towards Better Oral Health in Children’ (Scottish Executive, 2002)
and ‘Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland’ (Scottish Executive, 2003). Two
of the main themes of the Dental Action Plan were to improve the oral health of the
Scottish population and to identify specific priority groups of patients within the general
population who would need additional support to maintain their oral health. Of the
several population groups identified prisoners were highlighted as a group of individuals
who required additional support to achieve and maintain their oral health.