Drive-in dentists: Chain will hire Eastern European staff to offer cut-price treatment

They plan to set up a national chain charging the same or less than NHS clinics.

Fergus and Judith Wilson, who have amassed a £240million property portfolio, said they had been shocked into action by the Daily Mail's coverage of dentist shortages.

Patients have flown abroad for treatment or even pulled out their own teeth because they could not find a state dentist.

Mr Wilson, 59, said: "It grieves me that the situation has come to this, when the NHS is not providing a basic level of treatment.

"If people are being driven to extract their own teeth, there is clearly something seriously wrong."

The Wilsons aim to build seven 24-hour centres near motorway junctions with patients expected to drive.

The first, employing 150 dentists, will open just off the M20 near Maidstone, Kent.

Mr Wilson said: "What really caught my eye was reading in the Mail about dental tourists and it coincided with the time that people were getting upset about carbon emissions from aircraft.

"It seemed a wee bit stupid that people were trailing over to Budapest when we could simply bring the staff over here."

Their dentists will be offered free housing but given salaries in line with what they would earn back in Eastern Europe.

Treatments there can cost £2,000 compared with £12,000 in the UK. Although much of the dentistry will be cosmetic, emergency treatment will also be available.

The Wilsons, who started their buy-to-let empire in 1975, own more than 700 properties.

The first house they bought will be converted to become the Maidstone clinic.

Mr Wilson said: "We are doing this to make money but we are also doing a service to the country because lots of people can't get NHS treatment.

"People think NHS service is free but it's not - it's paid for.

"At a moment the prices that are being charged by many dentists are outrageous.

"There is an issue about what is a reasonable charge and whether people can afford it, and in many cases it is not a reasonable charge."

Since the introduction of a new contract in April last year, 500 dentists have left the Health Service. Hundreds more now take private patients only.

Mike Penning, the Tory health spokesman, said the Wilsons' scheme highlighted the dire state state of NHS dentistry.

He added: "It is frightening given the amount of money going into the NHS. It's fine if you can afford it but what if you can't?

"You're left pulling out your own teeth or using superglue."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Despite recent scare stories, some 28million people in England already have regular access to an NHS dentist.

"If anyone, particularly if they are in pain, is having difficulty in finding an NHS dentist they should go to their local primary care trust for advice on getting urgent NHS treatment.

"But let's be clear, this company say themselves that the majority of treatment offered will be cosmetic.

"The NHS dental service provides clinically-needed treatment, but purely cosmetic work has never been something for the NHS to fund."

He said the chain's staff would need to be registered with the General Dental Council and meet its standards before offering any treatment.