The number of people seeing a dentist in the city has dropped by three per cent since the introduction of a new dental contract in April 2006, according to new figures.

In March 2006, a total of 414,947 patients had seen a dentist at some point during the previous two years.

But by December 2007 the number of patients who had seen a dentist during the preceding two years had fallen to 400,647.

The number of children in Leeds who had seen a dentist dropped by 1.3 per cent.

Similarly, the number of children who had seen a dentist during the previous two years in Wakefield dropped from 51,607 in March 2006 to 49,254 in December 2007.

The overall number of patients seeing a dentist in Wakefield also slightly fell from 194,748 to 194,735 over the same period.

The findings are embarrassing for the government, which insisted the contract was designed to improve the quality of care and end the "drill and fill" culture, in which dentists sought to slash waiting lists and quick fixes.

Income

Dentists used to be paid a fee for each item of treatment they provided, but they now receive an annual income in return for carrying out an agreed amount of work.

But despite the shake-up, almost 900,000 fewer people in England saw a dentist in the two years to December 2007 than in the two years to April 2006.

The figures follow a damning report by the Commons health select committee which exposed that patients have been having their teeth extracted unnecessarily since the contract's introduction.

The MPs' report adds: "Although in some places access to dentistry has improved since 2006, it remains uneven across the country."

This is borne out by the figures from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, which showed an increase in the number of patients seeing a dentist in Kirklees – despite the drop in nearby Leeds and Wakefield.

A total of 248,316 people saw a dentist in the Kirklees Primary Care Trust area in the two years to December 2007, compared to 247,498 in the two years to March 2006.