By Steve Bargeton, political editor

Plans by ministers to bring in free dental checks got a kick in the teeth yesterday when dentists said they could not meet the deadline.

A promise for free check-ups for all by 2007 was made in the partnership agreement between Labour and the Liberal Democrats which underpinned the coalition Executive deal in the wake of the last Scottish elections.

However, the parties did not consult dentists before making the pledge which is part of the Smoking, Health and Social Care Bill published last week.

Yesterday dentists warned that even though the policy is enshrined in the law, they may not be able to deliver it.

The British Dental Association Scotland said there were just too few dentists working in the NHS north of the border to meet the target.

BDA director Dr Andrew Lamb said the pledge would be “very difficult” to meet because the NHS was around 10% short of dentists currently.

“I think it will be very difficult to meet that target by 2007,” he said.

“I think part of the problem was perhaps what MSPs believed is that a quick look around the mouth to see if you’ve got any holes in your teeth is what’s required.

“This is not what’s required nowadays in modern dentistry: you’ve got to assess the needs of patients, you need to work out the causes of their problems and you need to give them support in preventing the problems from dietary advice to smoking cessation advice.

“You need to look at the implications of medical health, the medication they’re taking and the impact that has on their dental health. All that takes time and at the moment the NHS doesn’t fund that time.”

Deputy health minister Rhona Brankin admitted that the target was “challenging” but said it would be met.

“We have already got measures in place at the moment to encourage dentists to take on more NHS patients,” she said.

“There is lot of work to be done and we are going to be publishing what I think is a very radical overhaul of NHS dentistry in Scotland early in the new year.

“It’s a challenge—but that’s what we intend to do. We are looking at introducing free dental checks in the first instance to older people who already receive free eye checks.

“There will be a phased introduction, but our target is to have this in place by 2007.”