The number of people in Oxfordshire going to hospital to have teeth removed has risen by six per cent.
Department of Health figures show 1,275 people received dental treatment involving the extraction of teeth in the county's hospitals in 2007/8 — up from 1,198 the previous year.
Nationally, hospital extractions increased 14 per cent from 154,100 in 2006/07 to 175,400 in 2007/08 fuelling claims by the Liberal Democrats that patients are finding it increasingly difficult to see an NHS dentis.
However, the chief dental officer for England, Barry Cockcroft, refuted the suggestion, claiming the increase was insignificant when put in the context of the four million extractions carried out by dentists every year.
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