DENTISTS claim Bury's NHS dental service has been plunged into crisis because of a controversial new contract being imposed on them.

From April 1, every dental patient across the country will be de-registered and no longer have their own specific dentist. Treatment prices will increase, with the cost of a regular check-up due to treble, and many dentists are being forced to consider practising privately or even quit in protest.

The Bury, Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton Local Dental Committee (LDC) is so concerned about the impending contract it has paid for large adverts in regional newspapers, including the Bury Times, urging patients to take notice of the planned changes and help to stop it being brought into force.

Prestwich dentist Tony Jacobs, vice-chairman of the local LDC which represents all dentists in the borough, said: "There are thousands and thousands of patients in Bury and across the country put into a terrible position by this contract. The NHS are trying to take control of dental practices and patients are very worried that dentists will not be providing NHS dentistry in the future by deciding to go private instead.

"It is bad for dentistry, bad for patients and bad for dentists."

Under the old contract, practices are run as independent businesses and paid per NHS treatment leading some to complain dentists were "over-treating" their patients.

Under the new contract, Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT) will fund the practices in the borough based on the dental care provided over a 12 month "reference period" from October 2004 to September 2005. Dentists will be expected to spend more time addressing preventative measures while still carrying out 95 per cent of the courses of treatment they currently provide. The Bury LDC say the pressure of meeting targets set out under the new contract gives dentists little time for addressing the causes of poor oral hygiene and that a recent pilot scheme did not set such targets. The plans for increased PCT involvement in the running of practices is also facing fierce opposition with dentists objecting to becoming "employees" of the health trust rather than independent practitioners.

Mr Jacobs, who has run the 406 Dental in Bury Old Road since 1981, explained: "I own my building, I pay the heating, staff, dental equipment etc. The new contract will state the hours I'm going to work but if I want to change these hours I have to get permission from the PCT for me not to be there so, in other words, dentists will be treated like employees."

The advert published in the Bury Times on February 2 appealed for readers to help save NHS treatment and complain directly to health minister Rosie Winterton MP. It listed the dentists' concerns, stating patients will no longer be registered with their own dentist, patients will pay more for fillings and dentures and end up subsidising people who do not look after their mouths.

Dentists have the option not to sign the contract and turning to private practice, but could be forced to increase treatment prices in a bid to cover the cost of running the business.

Mr Jacobs added: "When dentists go private it is not about earning more money, it is about having more time for everybody. Patients still want to see their own dentist they have been going to for 20 years or more. They know that person and trust that person but a consequence of the new contract will be the government de-registering every single patient in the country on March 31. In other words, there can be no more reports of thousands of unregistered patients. It is all politics but it does not do the people in Bury any good in my opinion."

A standard check-up on the NHS currently costs around £5 but that figure is set to rise to £15 under the new contract from April. A filling will cost around £40 and more complex work such as crowns will rise up to £190.

Dentist John Mooney, who has been practising in Bury for 30 years and is vice-chairman of the General Dental Practice Committee, described the new dental contract as a"wasted opportunity".

He said: "We feel let down by the NHS. The recent reform mooted around for a while is a wasted opportunity. The government wanted us to work in new ways with more time spent with patients and a pilot scheme was set up following this. The Options for Change report was embraced by dentists and people did start working in different ways and working on prevention.

"But the new system is really nothing much like that and has a series of targets built in which feel just like production targets."

Lester Ellman, chairman of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee, said: "The situation is a shambles for both patients and the profession. Our fear is that the new contract will do nothing to improve access to care for patients or improve the quality of care. The Government claims to be committed to preventive care yet that does not seem to apply to dentistry. We're now faced with a contract that puts dentists on a new treadmill and means they can't give the care and time that they want to give to patients."