THE National Assembly has defended its track record on NHS dental care in Wales after a practice in the valleys went private.

The Argus reported in yesterday's paper on the Dental Centre of Oakdale turning private this month and leaving 3,000 of its patients without access to NHS treatment.

It was the only dental surgery in the Oakdale and Croespenmaen area to offer NHS treatment.

Dr Mark Rice-Jones wrote to every patient to inform them of the decision and cited a lack of "government funding" as the reason.

Penmaen councillor Allan Pritchard, who is also the deputy leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Caerphilly county borough council, said: "With all the promises being made by the government and then for something like this to happen is nothing short of deplorable and despicable.

"This will hurt the community, particularly the most vulnerable, and I think it is absolutely appalling."

But the National Assembly said it was doing a lot to encourage NHS dental treatment in Wales.

Last year, the number of dental students in Wales rose by 17 per cent. An Assembly spokesman said: "There is a UK-wide shortage of dentists which we are tackling in a number of ways in Wales.

"We are providing incentives to dentists who commit to the NHS, and are continuing to discuss how the new contractual arrangements can be shaped and delivered in Wales."

In the last two years the Welsh Dental Initiative, which offers financial incentives of up to £50,000 to dentists who are willing to establish new or expand existing practices, has supported the opening of 10 new dental practices offering NHS dentistry and the expansion of 29 others. This has secured NHS treatment for 48,000 patients.

A further £5 million has been set aside to fund the Personal Dental Service Scheme (PDS) to provide financial support to NHS dentists. The spokesman added: "We hope the new PDS will encourage more dentists to return to offer NHS treatment or persuade dentists who are thinking of leaving to reconsider and stay.

"One of the first applications for PDS is from a dental practice in the Caerphilly Local Health Board area."