A ten-year-old boy waited two days to see a dentist because he could not get an emergency appointment.

Brett Sykes knocked out a tooth and split his lip on Sunday after he fell off his pogo stick.

He received stitches and the tooth was put back in at A&E in Bradford Royal Infirmary, where he was advised to see a dentist as soon as possible.

Mavis Sykes then had a 48-hour battle to find an appointment for her son, who is not registered with a dentist.

Mrs Sykes, of Burneston Gardens, Buttershaw, said she started calling NHS Direct on Monday.

But the 33-year-old mum-of-four, with two children registered with dentists, was dismayed when NHS Direct called on the Tuesday to say all the emergency appointments were full.

She was advised to call back on the Wednesday.

She said: "I called about 15 dentists and none of them were taking new patients. Even when I explained what had happened, they would not take Brett as an emergency.

"I do not see why a ten-year-old should go through this. Children are always having accidents and I would have thought they would have been given priority."

Brett was given an appointment on Tuesday night after the T&A contacted South & West Primary Care Trust.

A spokesman for NHS Direct, which arranges urgent dental care appointments on behalf of the PCT, said an appointment was not available with an emergency dentist at the time of the call.

Bradford South & West PCT director of primary care, Helen Broadbent, said: "Once the PCT heard about this problem we were able to get Brett an appointment at Shipley Health Centre."

There are currently six dentists across the district taking on NHS patients, and health bosses hope more places will become available in the summer and early autumn after recruitment.

Within Bradford district PCTs, there are usually four dentists during normal working hours on weekdays to provide treatment for people who have an urgent dental problem but are not registered.

An emergency service operates in evenings, at weekends and on Bank Holidays from the Horton Park Centre, Horton Park Avenue, for people who need urgent treatment either because they are not registered with a dentist or because their own surgery is closed.

The service can see up to 14 patients during weeknights, when there is just one dentist working, and up to 28 patients a day at weekends and during bank holidays, over two sessions.