AN MP is calling for a new dental centre to be built in Bolton to stop thousands of children and adults missing out on treatment.

David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, said there were not enough NHS dentists in the town and an easy access surgery is needed to avert a dental crisis.

He raised his demands with Health Minister Dr John Reid following complaints from constituents that they are having to leave the dental practices they are registered with unless they sign up as private patients.

Bolton is among the worst towns in the country for tooth decay -- five-year-olds have an average of almost three bad teeth.

But shortages of NHS dentists and long waiting lists mean many find it almost impossible to register with a non-private practice.

Mr Crausby said: "There is a huge danger that many children and adults are missing out on treatment because of the huge difficulty in Bolton to getting to access NHS dental care.

"We have a responsibility to make sure everyone gets access to good dental care. I want people to be able to ring and arrange to have a filling. At the moment, all many people can get is emergency treatment on the NHS.

"It is unacceptable when children can't get to see a dentist until they have a swollen face. If dentists do not want to operate within the NHS, then we have to intervene in that market as soon as possible and set up an alternative."

He believes one answer could be the setting up of a dental access centre in Bolton, providing NHS treatment for patients who cannot find a practice to register with locally.

People would not have to register at the centre, and they would be able to telephone to make routine appointments and get emergency treatment.

Mr Crausby has also met Bolton's Primary Care Trust to discuss the idea. The Trust says it recognises the need for more NHS dentists in the area and it would like to see a facility such as a dental access centre.

The Trust already runs a seven-day emergency dental service based in Ashburner Street, Bolton, but it does not perform routine dental checks. It says attracting dentists to work in Bolton for the NHS is a problem, and there are unfilled vacancies.

The British Dental Association says graduates from dental schools, burdened with debt from their student days, are more interested in taking lucrative positions with private practices in the South of England than heading north to work for the NHS.

Jan Hutchinson, director of public health for the Primary Care Trust, said: "We have already expanded the emergency dental service and launched a new service, with dentists employed by the Trust, for people who have been unable to register with a dental practice but are in need of treatment.

"However, there is a national problem in recruiting dentists and it has proved difficult to recruit dentists to this new service despite funding which the Government has made available.

"We are now exploring a number of alternative options, including providing dental treatment at some of our health centres around Bolton using local dentists working on a sessional basis."

The decisions of individual dental practices to stop providing NHS care are outside the control of the Primary Care Trust, but the position might change with the Government's new dental contract due to be introduced next year.

"We welcome Mr Crausby's interest in this issue. Building a dental access centre would be a major enhancement to dental provision in Bolton, but this would be a much more long-term plan.