THIRTY-FIVE thousand dental patients, young and old, in south Worcestershire have lost their NHS dentists.

Dentists who between them cared for 26 per cent of 134,000 NHS dental patients have opted out of a new Government contract that came into force on Saturday.

Their patients will now be forced to pay more for their treatment or go without.

Some of the patients affected include 7,000 at Neil Dawkins and Edward Tulacz's surgery in Bath Road, Worcester; 5,000 patients at Roy Morris' practice in Droitwich, and thousands more at Colin and Kate Stokes' Shrawley House surgery in Malvern.

All practices blamed new government funding contracts being imposed by South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust for forcing them to take the drastic action.

Under the new system the dentists will get cash from the PCT for the number of NHS treatments they carry out - but many say the way the calculations were done would have left them short, forcing them to go private.

Gary Kibblewhite, who along with his family has been taken off the NHS list at Shrawley House, said it would lead to a poorer oral health.

"I would like to think I will be able to afford private care but what is going to happen to those who can't?"

Piers Symon, of Battenhall, Worcester, whose family's NHS provision has also stopped because of the decision by Bath Road practice, said he could just about deal with the fact that he would go without NHS provision but thought his three children should still be entitled to it.

"The only people who will go to the dentist now are those who can afford to pay," he said.

But South Worcestershire PCT said the changes heralded a new way of delivering and paying for NHS dentistry. Deputy chief executive Dr Tim Davies said: "Now the PCT is aware of the local provision for NHS dentistry, we will be taking steps immediately to replace the lost NHS dental capacity which amounts to about 26 per cent of the registered population.

The PCT was unable to give the Worcester News a full list of dentists that had opted out as the paper went to press.

He said the PCT is continuing to bring more dentists into South Worcestershire.

Patients lucky enough to keep their NHS dentist will also have new charges:

£15.50: includes check-up,

X-rays, scale and polish

£42.40: Fillings, root canal work, extraction

£189:crowns, dentures, bridges