A DENTIST tricked the National Health Service out of thousands of pounds by claiming for work he had not done, a court heard yesterday.

David Ratliff, 54, claimed money for gold fillings and expensive crowns when he used standard materials, it was alleged at Newcastle Crown Court.

He was caught when other dentists joined the practice and looked into irregularities in his book-keeping.

Read More: Dentist cleared over NHS claims

As part of the inquiry, 32 patients' teeth were checked to find out whether Ratliff had carried out the work he claimed for.

Ratliff, who has been a dentist for 29 years, lives in Montague Avenue, Gosforth, Newcastle.

He denies 19 charges of false accountancy relating to 17 patients.

The court heard how Ratliff began to fleece the health service in October 1995, when he owned the South View dental practice in West Denton, Newcastle.

It is alleged he used a sophisticated national computer system to claim for work he never carried out.

The system was based on a trust between the NHS and dentists, believing they would only claim for procedures they had done.

But Ratliff, who also had a practice in Alnwick, Northumberland, is said to have breached that trust.

Prosecutor John Evans said: "Mr Ratliff had for some time been making improper claims, claiming for work he simply had not been doing. Thereby he had been considerably enhancing his income."

The types of treatment Ratliff claimed for included intravenous sedation -where he claimed for the costs of a visiting anaesthetist but actually carried out the work himself.

The court heard he had also claimed for gold inlays, which are required by law to be 60 per cent gold for the NHS, but he would order inlays of as little a 0.8 per cent gold.

The hearing continues