The fee cut at the start of the 90s caused enormous resentment in the profession and dentists began to shed NHS patients in favour of more lucrative private work.

Yet is the money really so bad in the public sector?

An investigation by Which? magazine in 2001 found a dentist fully committed to the NHS can earn £55,000 to £65,000 a year after expenses.

But since it all depends on patient numbers, not quality of care, many dentists say the NHS is backbreaking work, with little job satisfaction.

HAVE YOUR SAY I didn't know that you could still get an NHS dentist Sarah Miles, Worcestershire Send us your comments

"It's not like a GP who has time to talk to patients. It's all 'chair-side' work which is operative and very stressful," says Mr Renshaw. "Patients are apprehensive and conscious, which just increases the pressure."

Rotten state

Dr Renshaw says he turns away more than 1,000 potential NHS patients a year because his books are full. Of the few he does take, their teeth tend to be in a bad state.

"He who strives for excellence on the NHS will be the first to go bust Dentist Amolak Singh

"They need a fair amount of treatmeant because they haven't seen a dentist in so long. There's no doubt this is affecting the nation's teeth."

Dr Azhar Sheikh, a dentist for 20 years, is in the process of dropping his NHS commitment to go wholly private.

"To put it crudely, the NHS is 'piece work': low margin, high volumes. It's not stimulating work," he says.

Another dentist, Amolak Singh, who mixes his NHS and private work 50/50, puts it thus: "He who strives for excellence on the NHS will be the first to go bust."

In tandem with all this, science has expanded the horizons of dentistry, making it more like cosmetic surgery than basic healthcare, and more challenging to those in the profession. Inevitably, the NHS does not fund this sort of work.

"I deal in smiles; straight white teeth," says Dr Sheikh, who has renamed his surgery the London Smile Studio.

But for those unwilling to spend anything more than the bare minimum on their teeth, improvements have been promised by the government. Next year the responsibility for dental care will devolve to a local level, in theory making it easier for NHS blackspots to be targeted.

Jackie Glatter of the Consumers' Association says it is "absolutely a positive move" for patients. She also backs a consultation by the government which could see the end of the NHS pay-per-job arrangement.