A DENTAL practice in Rossendale is going private -- leaving half its registered adult patients without a dentist.

Three principals run Denpoint Dental Care, the former G Wood Dental Surgeons, with practices in Waterfoot, Haslingden and Rawtenstall.

Letters are being sent out to some 15,000 to 20,000 patients on the surgeries' books, but Dr Michael Duffy said: "We will be able to accept about 10,000 adult patients. A lot of people are going to find themselves without a dentist."

Dr Duffy has worked in the Valley since 1981 and is also secretary of East Lancashire Dental Committee, negotiating and advising the health authority.

He said: "It is not like a doctor's practice where you sign on and are registered indefinitely.

"When they first brought registration in people were registered for a period of two years and after that they lapsed, in 1998 it was brought forward to 15 months and so if people hadn't visited the dentist in that time their registration was cancelled, which wiped off 6,000 patients.

"In our practices we were £75,000 down. In East Lancashire we reckon 160,000 were wiped off the register at a cost to dentists of £1.5million a year."

He said the decision had also been taken because patients were not able to have the treatment they wanted through the NHS.

Dr Duffy added: "We are obliged to provide the cheapest alternative but if somebody decides to do something on a private level then we have to stop the treatment and issue paper work.

"We can't perform a mixture of NHS and private works on the same tooth."

"We are encouraged to go on courses to update our dentistry skills, but then we can't implement them because they are not in the NHS guidelines."

He said the company had set up its own Denpoint registration scheme which is more than 50 per cent cheaper than the Denplan, BUPA or insurance company alternatives. Patients who register with the practice will have to pay a minimum of £16 per quarter.

He added: "The response from our patients has been favourable and we have has hundreds of replies to our letters already."

There are four other NHS dentists in the Valley and anyone wanting to find out about getting treatment can contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647.