1,000 dentists have quit since botched NHS shake-up...TWICE official estimates, latest figures reveal

More than 1,000 dentists have stopped providing NHS care since the introduction of a controversial contract, the British Dental Association claimed.

The figure is twice as high as official estimates from the Health Department and it is thought many other dentists are no longer accepting new NHS patients.

The contract, introduced by Labour in 2006, aimed to give more patients the chance to register with an NHS dentist and encourage preventive care.

It also simplified the charges for dental work.

But there has been mounting concern that it has had the opposite effect, with dentists rejecting NHS patients or providing less complex treatment over fears their income will be hit.

A survey by Citizens Advice earlier this week found at least seven million

patients, including thousands of children, have been unable to see an NHS dentist for almost two years.

Some went private but almost half have gone without treatment.

Peter Ward, chief executive of the British Dental Association, said the number of dentists providing NHS care has fallen by 1,000 from 21,000 two years ago.

Mr Ward said the Government's recent announcement of an 11 per cent rise in funding for NHS dentistry was a step in the right direction but it would not solve underlying problems with the contract.

He added: "Modern dentistry is a highcost operation, with increasingly complex procedures available, rising overheads, expensive equipment and costly cross-infection control measures.

"But the fee structure we now have - which was never tested - does not reflect the time, effort and overheads necessary to provide a high-quality service."

Roger Matthews, chief dental officer of Denplan, a private care plan for dental treatment, said: "We now have four national systems in the UK, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all offering different levels of care."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "The crisis in NHS dentistry is this Government's hidden legacy.

"Patients are suffering under a two-tier system as only those with access to money and transport get to see a dentist."

A Health Department spokesman said it "recognised a figure" of 500 dentists leaving NHS work since the contract.