Die-hard Bradford City fans might well think that watching their club can be like pulling teeth on occasions.

But the latest signing at Valley Parade might take some of the pain out of Saturday afternoons… it’s a dentists’ practice.

The new team with the positive dental attitude to make a difference will turn out for their first fixtures early next year when the surgery opens near the club shop on Thorncliffe Road, Manningham.

Fans can add a “scale and polish” to their usual half-time pie when the practice, believed to be one of the first in the country to open at a football club, gets up and running.

The practice will also be for the general Manningham populace, which has higher levels of dental problems than some other areas.

NHS Bradford and Airedale will invest an extra £520,000 a year in the new surgery, which it hopes will cater for up to 5,600 patients annually when it is fully up and running.

The practice will be the fourth new dental surgery in the district since the end of last year. A tender process is underway to find a provider to run the practice.

Catherine Thatcher, deputy director of primary care at NHS Bradford and Airedale, said: “We’ve been working very hard to make sure everyone has access to a dentist, wherever they live across Bradford and Airedale.

“Dental health is very important and we’ll continue to extend and improve services to make sure we’re doing everything we can to encourage people to see their dentist regularly. Opening up a dental practice at a football ground is a bit unusual, but we’re really excited about the opportunities for joint health promotion work with Bradford City.”

David Baldwin, director of operations at Bradford City FC, said: “The club are delighted to have the opportunity to be associated with this project, which we see as a valuable extension to our existing expansive community programme.”

The new dental surgery follows the opening of the Minerva Health Centre at Preston North End Football Club in February, catering for patients with long-term conditions.

A spokesman for the Football League said: “A lot of primary care trusts are looking towards football clubs to host health centres because people, especially young men, are more willing to go to them for check ups.”

According to NHS Bradford and Airedale, the number of people who had visited a dentist in the past two years rose from 274,000 in March 2006 to 284,000 in June this year, an increase of four per cent.