ONLY three NHS dentists are taking on new patients in the whole of Southampton, the Daily Echo can reveal.

The crisis has been brought to a head after yet another government-funded practice - GW Associates in Oakley Road, Shirley - closed its books to non-paying patients.

It reflects the situation across Hampshire where the number of NHS dentists has slumped from 565 to 431 in the past year alone.

That has led to scenes such a 200-strong queue outside Whiteley Dental Practice last February when bosses revealed they had 100 spare NHS places.

The latest surgery to opt into private treatment is GW Howe and Associates in Shirley.

Dr Gary Howe, who runs the Oakley Road practice, believes he had no choice.

He said: "Over the past 18 months I have gone from four dentists and a part-time dentist to one dentist and a part-time dentist. We lost our NHS dentist as well. Now I am trying to keep my business afloat and maintain a high level of care for my patients."

He has calculated that, in order to see all his patients under an NHS regime, he would only have a minute to spend with each, making privatisation the only option.

GW Howe and Associates is the third dentist to close to NHS patients in the past nine months. In June, Portswood-based JJ Carroll and Associates shut their books, as did M J Darby at Maybush in April.

But the move has angered patients.

Angelina Chivers, of Prince of Wales Avenue, said: "I am absolutely fuming. I have been going to my dentist for the past 37 years and I cannot believe that, after all this time, I will have to pay out for treatment or see my teeth rot.

"There are hardly any NHS dentists left in Southampton, so I will have to travel miles for treatment which I simply cannot afford."

Ms Chivers, a part-time worker, and other patients now face the choice of paying £15 a month to stay with GW Howe and Associates - or trying to find a rare space elsewhere.

Tracey Murrin, practice manager at Ocean Dental Centre, one of the few city dentists taking new NHS patients, said it is hard for a practice to find NHS dentists.

"What most practices do is to open as NHS to start with, but then they do find it hard so they go across to private. It is a problem."

Fareham MP Mark Hoban is shocked at the number of dentists leaving the NHS.

He said: "These figures show the full scale of the dental crisis affecting Hampshire. It appears the dental service in the county is just rotting away, like bad teeth."

A spokesman for the Patients' Association said: "Oral health is such an important part of healthcare, and we are aware from the helpline that people are experiencing problems. They're also having to travel long distances to get to an NHS dentist."

The Department of Health is starting a pilot scheme in April which will offer funds to enable dentists to take on more patients.

Stella Saunders, consultant in dental public health for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight strategic health authorities and primary care trusts, said: "This will make things clearer and stop the worry that patients will have to pay fixed monthly fees when they aren't having any treatment."

It is hoped the new scheme will run officially from April 2005.

REMAINING SOUTHAMPTON DENTISTS THAT ACCEPT NHS PATIENTS ARE:

Lords Hill Health Centre, 023 8073 8916

Atlantic Dental Practice, 023 8023 8377

Ocean Dental Centre, 023 8068 2068

OTHERS OUTSIDE SOUTHAMPTON:

Chandler's Ford, 023 8026 2607

Thurlow Dental Practice, Horton Heath, 023 8069 2653

For further information on dentists still accepting NHS patients in your area, contact NHS Direct helpline 023 8033 8336.