Young dentists 'are abandoning NHS for private work'

The proportion of income from NHS work by dentists under 35 years old has nearly halved in a five-year period, according to figures from the NHS Information Centre.

In 2000/01, 64.7 per cent of the income of dentists under the age of 35 came from the NHS, but by 2005/06 this figure had dropped to 36 per cent.

Dentists aged over 45 also saw a significant fall in the proportion of their income coming from NHS work in the same period.

The statistics come from a report, Dental Earnings And Expenses, Great Britain, 2005/06.

The data has been released after a poll for Citizens Advice Bureau found that millions of adults have not seen an NHS dentist for almost two years because they cannot find a practice that will accept them.

The survey, released in January, found a third of people in England and Wales have not visited a dentist since April 2006. Lack of access to the NHS was the most commonly cited reason.

Peter Ward, chief executive of the British Dental Association, pointed out that the data sample for dentists under 35 was small.

However he added: "What the figures do show is a dental workforce looking to a future in which they feel less and less able to rely on the NHS and patients demanding increasing amounts of care that the NHS does not provide.

"They also underline the small gap between the earnings of dentists who derive the majority of their income from NHS or private care.

"The new dental contract introduced in England and Wales in 2006 actually limits the amount of NHS dentistry that primary care trusts can commission.

"The result is that some dentists who want to provide NHS care are unable to do so and that millions of people who wish to access NHS care cannot."

But Barry Cockcroft, chief dental officer for England, said: "Improving access to NHS dentists is a top priority for the Government.

"We don't see the NHS and private provision as competitors. Modern-day dental practices are likely to have a case mix of both private and NHS patients.

"There is no shortage of dentists bidding to provide local NHS dental services. Recently, there's been a growing interest by private corporate bodies to provide NHS services too."