HAVING recently been president of the British Dental Association, and as chairman of Selby and York PCT oral health group, I need to address your editorial leader (September 19).

The hypocrisy of the Government is beyond belief. On the one hand, the Department of Health is urging preventative dentistry; on the other, the Audit Commission is complaining about the wastage of £137 million on scaling and polishing and "unnecessary" check ups.

Dentists prescribe treatment based on patient need. The commonest problems are gum diseases, which are severely aggravated by the presence of calculus (tartar) creating inflammation and infection. If left unchecked, this will cause pain, loose teeth, loss of teeth, the necessity for dentures and so on. The most effective prevention is removal of the accumulated plaque and tartar.

While £137 million sounds a lot, it averages £6 per year for each patient registered with the NHS. Hardly a king's ransom.

What use is any preventive procedure if it is not adequately monitored? Some patients require reviewing every three months, others annually; the optimum for most is six monthly.

To suggest checks every two to three years is counter to all creditable research, and even patients with full dentures should be screened annually for early signs of disease including oral tumours.

For the Audit Commission to suggest dentists are doing unnecessary treatment is an insult to the profession and their consenting patients, who generally dislike visiting the surgery but realise it is necessary.

J.S. Robson,

Blossom Street, York.

Updated: 10:27 Monday, September 23, 2002