I TOO find the current situation with dentists appalling.

I have had a letter from mine stating that they can no longer treat my children on the NHS. According the article you printed on March 15 they were still not decided on whether they would sign the contract, but the letter I got was dated March 8.

I had given in to the pressure and gone private as it was the only way we could keep our children at this dentist and, as both my children go to school locally and we both work full time, this seemed like the best option. Now we are in the situation of trying to find a dentist to take them on. Using the NHS website, our options appear to be Harrogate, Ripon or Market Weighton. If we have to register them with Denplan, the minimum amount we will pay monthly as a family for our dental care is £42.

It is abhorrent that we have to pay for children's dental care, it is equally abhorrent that after the amount of contributions the general public make to the NHS we have to pay at all - but is there really any choice? Maybe we could go to Beverley because the reader there who deemed this as progress is fortunate to find one in their home town (Letters, March 21).

Julie Hawksby.

Windsor Drive,

Wigginton, York.

Updated: 16:27 Friday, March 24, 2006