MORE NHS dentists are being recruited in Chester.

The latest practice throwing its doors open to NHS patients is Oasis Dental Care in Park Street, Chester, which from Monday can register up to 4,000 people.

The announcement by Cheshire West Primary Care Trust (PCT) is welcome news for those in search of lower-cost dental treatment.

A report by the Audit Commission revealed that four out of 10 dentists in England and Wales will not accept new NHS patients.

John Rose, dental adviser at Cheshire West PCT, said: 'This is excellent news for Chester residents as access to NHS dentistry can be difficult because of a shortage of NHS dentists.'

Having dental treatment done on the NHS is by no means free for most people but it is cheaper than going private. Usually the patient pays 80% of the cost of NHS treat-ment, with the health service footing the rest of the bill.

But the reason why some dentists have opted out of the health service is that NHS fees are fixed, meaning they do not take into account the varying overheads in terms of labour and property costs in different parts of the country.

Last year Ray McNamara, of Northgate Dental Health, in Upper Northgate Street, Chester, added an extra 300 NHS patients to his books.

Explaining why NHS practices had declined, he said: 'Private fees are set according to what the overheads are. But with the NHS, if you take a Chester city centre practice and the staff costs that go with that, you will get paid exactly the same as if you were in central London.'

He said this had left many dentists working harder and harder under to make a living. Some had gone totally private while others had chosen early retirement on health grounds because of stress.

Meanwhile, oral health was deteriorating because patients had difficulty finding an NHS dentist who would take them on.

Dr McNamara, who has about 4,500 NHS patients and 500 private patients, said there were advantages in going private.

He explained that paying for treat-ment meant the dentist could spend more time with a customer, if for example, they were particularly apprehensive, and the materials used for NHS treatments are adequate but not the best available.

'If you are going to gold crown caps then the NHS ones are 40% gold but 60% works better for a whole variety of reasons. The NHS is partly funded by the taxpayer and has to be careful what it spends its money on.'

Cheshire West PCT's work includes developing and supporting primary care services such as family doctor, dental practitioner, optometrist and pharmaceutical services.