With the biggest shake-up in NHS dentistry due to start in days, five dentists in Bradford and Airedale have said they will no longer treat NHS patients.

Controversial new dental contracts come into force on Friday and there are fears they will be unworkable and lead to dentists leaving the NHS.

But despite these fears, 62 out of 67 NHS dental practices in the Bradford and Airedale districts have said they intend to sign the contracts and continue to treat NHS patients.

A spokesman for Bradford City Teaching Primary Care Trust said that all 21 of the current NHS dental practices in the area had expressed an intention to sign the contract.

In Bradford South and West Primary Care Trust's area, 16 out of 17 practices have said they will sign and in the North Bradford Primary Care Trust area all 11 NHS dentists have said they will sign.

Airedale Primary Care Trust is losing the most NHS dentists because of the contract with 14 out of 18 dental practices currently providing NHS care expressing an intention to sign.

Julie Winterbottom, acting director commissioning for Airedale and North Bradford PCTs said: "Many of the patients belonging to these four practices were private anyway.

"However, we will be looking to reinvest any of the funds we receive for the dentists who have decided to go private into improving access for NHS patients living in those areas."

A spokesperson for the Bradford and Airedale PCTs said: "Five practices have decided not to continue providing any NHS work. These practices already had largely private lists so the number of people affected by their changes is comparatively small.

"Under the new contract dentists now have the stability of a guaranteed income from their NHS work. Another positive change is the new system of charges which is clearer and fairer for patients. People can pick up a leaflet about the new charges from their dental practice."

However, a survey by the Patients Association published this week reveals most dentists have the same three concerns about the future of NHS dentistry.

These are doubts about the future quality of patient care under the new arrangements, doubts that the new contract represents value for money for NHS patients and concerns that the contract will impose further barriers to accessing NHS dental care.

The survey polled 212 dentists in the North of England.

Just three per cent agreed that the new dental contracts would provide better value for money for their NHS patients and 72 per cent believed the provisions in the new contract would represent a challenge to their future provision of NHS care.