An increase in the number of dental patients being admitted to hospital with abscesses is being linked to long-standing problems over access to NHS dentists.
In the past eight years the number of hospital admissions for abscesses has almost doubled to just under 1,500 cases per year.
Reforms to NHS dentists' contracts in 1990 meant that many switched their attention to more lucrative private work. As dentists decreased their NHS workload the number of people registered for NHS treatment fell by six million in the decade 1994 to 2004.
Researchers from Bristol University have used official NHS data to compare the number of abscess admissions in the years 1998-9 and 2005-6.
The team dismissed the suggestion that poor oral health was to blame, pointing out that the average age of the abscess patients, at 32, was too young to support that claim.
Instead they have suggested that changes to the dental system - in particular poor access to NHS dentists - could be responsible for the sharp increase in abscess cases.
Lead researcher Steven Thomas, a surgeon who treats dental abscesses, said the rise in admissions was a "major public health problem".
"Most serious dental infections are preventable with regular dental care. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups.
"Changes in service provision could, therefore, have resulted in reduced provision of routine dental care and access to emergency dental care.
"These changes might explain the rise in surgical admissions for dental abscess."
The Government introduced new contracts for NHS dentists in 2006, but early indications are that it has done little to widen patient access.
In the past eight years the number of hospital admissions for abscesses has almost doubled to just under 1,500 cases per year.
Reforms to NHS dentists' contracts in 1990 meant that many switched their attention to more lucrative private work. As dentists decreased their NHS workload the number of people registered for NHS treatment fell by six million in the decade 1994 to 2004.
Researchers from Bristol University have used official NHS data to compare the number of abscess admissions in the years 1998-9 and 2005-6.
The team dismissed the suggestion that poor oral health was to blame, pointing out that the average age of the abscess patients, at 32, was too young to support that claim.
Instead they have suggested that changes to the dental system - in particular poor access to NHS dentists - could be responsible for the sharp increase in abscess cases.
Lead researcher Steven Thomas, a surgeon who treats dental abscesses, said the rise in admissions was a "major public health problem".
"Most serious dental infections are preventable with regular dental care. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups.
"Changes in service provision could, therefore, have resulted in reduced provision of routine dental care and access to emergency dental care.
"These changes might explain the rise in surgical admissions for dental abscess."
The Government introduced new contracts for NHS dentists in 2006, but early indications are that it has done little to widen patient access.
