Fear over cheaper dental procedures

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The Dental Laboratory Association pointed to a sharp fall in the most complex "Band 3" treatments since the introduction of a new contract for dentists in April.

The professional body for dental laboratory owners suggested the contracts rewarded dentists for administering less complex procedures.

Chief executive Richard Daniels said: "The current contract is forcing dentists to make prescription decisions based on financial resources rather than clinical need."

He added: "We are getting a lot of inquiries from patients, mainly the most vulnerable in society who require dentures, who just can't get them.

"So rather than getting a denture they are having a tooth extracted. We are going back to the dark ages of dentistry."

The DLA claimed that, according to a survey of its members, there had been a 57% reduction in Band 3 treatments such as crowns and dentures.

But the Government said the new contract was designed to cater for modern needs, while dramatically improved dental health meant fewer complex treatments were necessary.

Mr Cockcroft told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Dentists are free to use their clinical judgments and the vast majority of dentists will actually still do what is right for their patients.

"We piloted this before April and we saw this drop off and there was no actual impact on patients' health - the patients actually liked the system."