CHRIS Brooks is the friendly face of the dentist.

He is so good with his patients that he has just been short-listed for a national award.

Mr Brooks, who runs a dental practice on Chorley New Road, Bolton, has been nominated for the Sensodyne Sensitive Dentist Awards.

Bolton-born Mr Brooks set up his NHS practice 12 years ago after qualifying in 1983 and working at other surgeries in Bolton and Preston.

And his chair-side manner has proved so popular that his patient list is full, with up to 30 people a day ringing to inquire about moving to be treated by him.

The first dentist awards were launched earlier this year in a bid to alter the negative public perception of the profession.

Mr Brooks, who works with three part-time colleagues, said he was delighted to be among 20 dentists from around the country short-listed for the title.

"I am absolutely thrilled," he said. "But there is no magic to it. We are not a fancy, flashy practice, just a straightforward NHS dentist." Patients who nominated him praised his ability to make them comfortable and relaxed, no matter what their age.

Mr Brooks believes it is especially important to avoid fear in children to prevent a phobia of dentists developing.

"I try to avoid anything that intimidates them," he said. "It is the fear, especially in adults, that causes people to visit the dentist less often than they should."

Mr Brooks added that public perception of dentists has not been help by their regular portrayal on TV and in films as drill-wielding sadists.

But, while he accepts that people might never regard a trip to the dentist as fun, he hopes they can learn it is not an unpleasant experience.

A panel of experts will meet later this month to decide which dentist should be awarded the national title of Britain's Most Sensitive Dentist.