NEARLY one in four NHS dentists will go private on April 1 in some parts of the region, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Provisional figures show a significant number of dentists will defect from the health service when the new NHS dental contract goes live.

However, in the North of the region, the vast majority of dentists with existing NHS contracts look likely to be staying within the health service.

NHS bosses say money saved by dentists going private will be used to expand services at dental practices that stay loyal.

In some areas, it could lead to private companies being invited to build and staff new dental surgeries on behalf of the NHS.

But, in the short term, it could mean that patients might find it even more difficult to get an appointment to see a dentist.

Patients who have problems seeing an NHS dentist after April 1 will be asked to ring the NHS Direct helpline to be directed to their nearest surgery.

Health service officials say the contract will improve access to services in less well-off areas that tend not to have many dentists.

An NHS dental surgery in Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, is part of a pilot scheme operating under the new rules.

But some dentists believe that the contract is not in the interests of patients.

Frank Rycroft, a long-serving dentist at the Leyburn Dental Practice, in North Yorkshire, said: "For years, we have been encouraged to try to preserve patients' teeth, now it seems we are being encouraged to extract teeth, which runs against our philosophy."

Mr Rycroft, who is one of a team of four, said the dispute was not about money.

The contrast between dentists in the north and south of the region is extreme, with less than five per cent going private in Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland and less than six per cent in County Durham and Tees Valley. But heading south, the percentage of defectors increases to nearly one in four.

The worst affected part of the region is the area covered by Selby and York Primary Care Trust where 23 per cent of existing NHS dental practices have indicated they will not be signing the contract.

In total, 11 out of 47 practices there are going private.

Selby and York PCT officials said the majority of the practices going private had small numbers of patients and the 36 practices staying within the NHS were "on track" to sign up.

There are also defections from the NHS in the Craven, Harrogate and Rural District PCT area of North Yorkshire, where seven out of 48 existing NHS practices are going private (14.5 per cent).

In the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale area, four out of a total of 31 existing NHS dentists are going private (12 per cent).

Allan Beaumont, head of primary care for Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale PCT, said: "Since we launched our action plan two years ago, we have increased the number of NHS dentists working in our area, including Polish dentists, and provided care to an extra 10,500 patients.

"What the new contract will do is free-up resources which we can use to buy back that lost access from our local practitioners."