THE government’s failure to tackle the growing exodus from the NHS workforce has left morale among dentists at an all-time low, official data shows.

Figures reveal that 64 per cent of dentists in England are thinking of leaving the NHS.

The British Dental Association (BDA) has described the government’s recent recovery plan as “unworthy of the title” and hit out at the “non-stop spin from ministers attempting to defend their unambitious and unfunded policies.”

It also slammed the Tories for rejecting the health and social care committee’s key recommendation to break with the discredited NHS contract, “which is fuelling this exodus.”

Any progress will “hinge on real reform and sustainable funding,” it said.

BDA chairman Eddie Crouch said: “This government hasn’t given dentists any reason to be cheerful.

“We can’t have NHS dentistry without NHS dentists. Without real reform, ministers won’t make it a place dentists want to work.”

A Toothless in England spokesperson said that the “appetite for dentists to continue to perform under the current system is waning faster than ever,” adding: “In our Six Point Charter, we call for reforms to the NHS dental contract to encourage dentists to provide NHS treatments.

“Unless this government, or the next for that matter, properly funds and undertakes radical reform of the current dental contract, then we will see fewer dentists working for the NHS and consequently, we’ll see more and more needy patients sunk by a completely broken oral healthcare system.

“NHS dentistry needs more than a life jacket thrown at it, it needs a flotilla of rescue ships to haul it out from the deepest and darkest of waters.”