ACCORDING to The Press article, Tory Julian Sturdy is miffed at a Labour attack after 14 years of Tories overseeing the demise of dentists - watching people extract their own teeth etc.

Not half as miffed as I am with his party.

Let me tell you the reality, Mr Sturdy. For 48 years my wife was a NHS patient with a York central practice then three years ago this ceased so she never visited the dentist for three years.

Then behold a few months ago they found a NHS dentist so she enrolled again.

A couple of weeks ago she had a letter saying they no longer had a NHS dentist and (the word the Tories live by) privatisation was offered to her.

We can all see Mr Sturdy's idea of fair play in dentistry.

William Moore,

Lochrin Place,

York

... REGARDING the crisis in NHS dentistry, the rot set in when the new dental contract was introduced when Labour was in power in 2006.

It is ironic that the people creating the most fuss about the contract are affiliated to the Labour Party.

This caused a significant number of dentists to leave NHS dentistry.

Radical changes need to be made and large sums of money invested to reinstate NHS dentistry - perhaps they could start by reinstating a comprehensive community service for under-16s run by salaried dental professionals?

Ruth Clarke,

Lime Avenue,

York

... I HAVE just received a letter from my dental practice informing me there is now no NHS dentist available.

This has shocked and angered me.

I suspect I'm one of many to have been given this shock through the post. The reason given is the chronic lack of NHS funding and difficulty in recruiting NHS dentists in York.

Is this yet another indication of an uncaring government slowly dismantling our health service and steering it into the private sector?

This government can afford to spend billions financing a war no-one really wants and yet turns a blind eye of indifference to the desperate people of Britain who do need help.

Phil Shepherdson,

Woodthorpe,

York

---