FEWER people now have access to NHS dentistry in Romsey and the town's MP is putting the blame firmly on the government.

Sandra Gidley said NHS dentistry had reached "crisis" point before Saturday's introduction of controversial new contracts between the government department and dentists - leaving even more people unable to find NHS dental treatment.

"My postbag has been filled to the brim with constituents' concerns over their struggle to find an

NHS dentist. Now the situation looks grim for Hampshire as many dentists are refusing to sign the contract and are leaving the NHS altogether. Other local dentists have been told by their primary care trust that as of April 1 they can no longer treat children on the NHS," said the Lib Dem MP.

Mrs Gidley added: "The new dental contracts are not giving local NHS dentists enough confidence to make a long-term commitment to the NHS. It is no wonder dentists' have lost their faith in the government as there was no consultation period for the new contract which many dentists received with only a month to go until the April deadline.

"Many dentists have also had to employ lawyers in order to understand the jargon within the contract and are extremely reluctant to sign anything which they don't fully understand."

Her concerns about the future of NHS dentistry come as patients are forced to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for treatment.

Charges are now divided into bands - similar to the council tax. - Band 1: check-up, x-rays and oral guidance now cost £15.50p - Band 2: fillings now cost £42 instead of £8 - Band 3: crowns and dentures cost £189 The new system means that a person receiving a single filling will have to pay the same amount as a patient requiring four. Samantha Price a dentist at Station Road-based Romsey Dental Care said the practice quit the NHS set-up last Friday after 10 years. "When we finally received details of the new contract in January we found that we would not have been a good deal for our patients. For example a check-up and a small filling would have cost them £42.40p, so many patients will not be any worse off having the treatment done privately." She said the new contract did not favour patients who go for regular check-ups and look after their teeth. "We explained to our patients what the changes would mean and I am pleased to say that 95 per cent of them understood the situation and elected to stay with us," said Sam.

At Romsey's Heatherstone Dental Practice, Richard Hurrell said: "We are only doing NHS treatment for children up to 18 and patients exempt from charges and have just signed a three-year contract for that. We will not be taking on any new NHS patients.

"The NHS dental system does not allow us time to look after patients the way we would like to. I don't think the new contracts are going to help people access NHS dentistry. I think that the new treatment banding scheme is unfair to patients and to dentists. If a patient requires one filling or eight fillings then the patient charge is £42 and the dentist is credited with three units of dental activity or UDAs. This will not encourage regular attendance."

Mrs Gidley has carried out a lot of research into NHS dental treatments and has discovered that out of the 28 NHS dentists in the Eastleigh and Test Valley Primary Care Trust region 18 are not accepting new NHS patients and seven of these are only taking on patients under 18.

"In 1999 Tony Blair promised that by 2001 everyone would have access to a NHS dentist. Not only had this not happened, the situation has actually worsened, said Mrs Gidley. She said that between 1997 and 2005 the number of adults registered as NHS dentist patients fell by 12,000.

"The failure to increase registrations through this new contract is an indictment of Labour's failure to restore the NHS to what it should be, a universal, comprehensive service that provides on-going health care to everyone who needs it," concluded Mrs Gidley.