A million fewer treated by dentists

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Patients are also more likely to have teeth removed or dentures fitted rather than undergo complex work such as fillings and crowns. The details emerged in the latest statistics released by the NHS Information Centre.

The Government introduced a new contract for NHS dentists in April 2006, insisting it would improve access to treatment.

However, the deal was so unpopular that about a tenth of dentists refused to sign it. There has also been criticism that because dentists now receive a flat salary, they no longer have any financial incentive to carry out difficult work such as crowns and bridges.

The latest figures for England show that 27 million people - 53.3% of the population - were seen by an NHS dentist in the two years following the introduction of the contract.

That was 1.1m down on the number seen in the two years before the arrangements were put in place.

The number of children treated fell by some 200,000 to 7.6m during the same period - just over two-thirds of the total child population.

In 2007-8 the costs to the NHS of treatment totalled £531.4m, up £56m on the previous year.

But the proportion of complex work being carried out in England went down. The number of crowns fell from 48% to 35% and fillings from 28% to 26%. Meanwhile, treatments that included dentures increased from 38% to 48% between 2003/04 and 2007/08, and extractions from 7% to 8%.

The Government's chief dental officer, Dr Barry Cockcroft, said there were 655 more dentists working in the NHS compared with 2006-7, and the system was "on the road to recovery".