THOUSANDS of people across the New Forest have no access to an NHS dentist, according to prospective parliamentary candidate Terry Scriven.

Col Scriven, a prospective LibDem MP for the New Forest East constituency, has said he is receiving letters and phone calls from concerned residents on a “daily basis”.

He has written to the chief executive of Hampshire Primary Care Trust and the Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, highlighting his concerns.

He said there is an "absence of preventative care” and that “costs incurred by patients are prohibitive and extremely worrying”.

“The lack of access to dental provision is causing concern in the New Forest,” he said.

“I am aware that this is not an isolated problem but statistics would indicate that Hampshire and the New Forest in particular are experiencing significant shortfalls in comparison to the average provision in England.

“The fact that I am receiving letters on a daily basis, telephone calls and having discussions on the doorstep indicate to me that there is a lack of patient access and a lack of treatment.

“There is now a question mark in the minds of residents as to whether there is an actual NHS dental service for all as it just is not there for many in the New Forest.”

Col Sciven added: “It is my understanding that provision of an NHS dental service is to provide cover for 60 per cent of the population over a two year period.”

He said the rationale behind the figure is that a large number of people will always elect to go private or seek a dentist only when they are in pain.

And he claims in the New Forest the number of patients seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months was 42 per cent - significantly below Government targets.

Julia Bagshaw, associate director of primary care for NHS Hampshire said: “We have been working hard to increase access to NHS dentistry in the New Forest. “Over the last few years we have opened new practices in Holbury and New Milton and have invested in practices in Totton, Holbury, Milford on Sea and New Milton so they can increase the number of NHS patients they see.

“We recognise that the central New Forest area needs more access to NHS dental services and we are working to address this.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “Dentists working in the NHS treat around 250,000 patients every working day and our aim is to ensure that everyone who wants to see a NHS dentist can by March 2011.

“The tide is turning and access to NHS dentistry has been increasing steadily over the past year.”

The Government aims to ensure that everyone who wants to see a NHS dentist can by March 2011.

The number of people seen by a NHS dentist over a two-year period has increased in each of the last four quarters, by a total of 720,000. Anyone who needs to find an NHS dentist should contact their local Primary Care Trust or check the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk.