The number of high street dentists in Sussex has fallen since the introduction of controversial new contracts earlier this year, The Argus can reveal.

Rather than increasing the supply of dentists as the Government had hoped, the reforms have led to NHS trusts in the county suffering a net loss of 11 dentists in only six months, according to latest figures.

Critics of the new system fear the walkouts will increase pressure on patients to go private.

A total of 937 dentists across the county had signed up to the Government's deal by the end of September.

This is down from the 948 NHS dentists registered at the end of March, just before the new contracts came into force.

Eastbourne, Bexhill and Rother, Hastings and St Leonards and Brighton and Hove have all recorded net losses since the shake-up.

Eastbourne has lost 19 dentists - leaving it with 71, while Brighton and Hove has seen its total fall from 152 to 141.

The figures appear to suggest Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust doubled the number of NHS dentists on its books. But a spokeswoman said this was because 70 community dentists - employed directly by the trust - had been counted in the total for the first time.

Excluding these, the number of high street dentists fell slightly from 74 to 71.

The new contracts replaced a complex system where dentists charged a separate fee for every filling and extraction, with no incentive to carry out preventive care.

It introduced three fee bands - £15.50 for a check-up, £42.40 for a check-up and filling and £189 for more complex work, such as crowns - to end this "drill and fill"

mentality.

But dentists, despite assurances they would earn about £80,000 a year, have complained the deal did not live up to expectations.

In March, The Argus reported that five out of six dental practices in Uckfield had left the NHS.

The Information Centre for health and social care, which published the figures, said dentists' NHS commitments varied and a head count was not the best way of measuring dental access.

A spokesman for East Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust said: "Negotiations are currently under way to provide additional dental services."

Number of NHS dentists PCT March 06 Sept 06 Bexhill and Rother 43 40 Hastings and St Leonards 40 39 Mid Sussex 129 135 Adur, Arun and Worthing 154 158 Western Sussex 98 100 Brighton and Hove city 152 141 Eastbourne Downs 90 71 Sussex Downs and Weald 74 71 Crawley 99 100 Horsham and Chactonbury 69 82 Total 948 937