NHS patients face a “postcode lottery” of care after £20 million was pulled from dental services in Wales, according to a dentist union.

The British Dental Association (BDA) Wales says the number of people being treated by dentists on the NHS is being capped and is forcing some patients to make 90-mile round journeys for appointments.

Figures show 15% of Welsh NHS dental clinics accepted new adult patients last year, with 28% taking on new child patients.

BDA Wales said dentists are being penalised by the NHS dental contract system, a model also used in England, which can see funding returned to health boards when practitioners are unable to meet targets based on their activity levels.

The trade union says a total of £20,645,987 was pulled from NHS dental services across the country over the last three years.

Tom Bysouth, chair of the BDA’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, said: “Sadly the Welsh Government remain wedded to a failed model of tick boxes and targets, that funds NHS care for little over half the population.

“Families across Wales are now paying the price for a system that effectively caps the number of patients a dentist can treat.”

Data from NHS Direct shows people living in Aberystwyth now face a near 90-mile round trip to see an NHS dental practice which is accepting new patients, while people in Newtown face 80-mile journeys and those in Cardiff face travelling almost 30 miles.

Mr Bysouth called on the Welsh Government to end “the postcode lottery of care”, adding: “It’s utterly perverse that £20 million has been lost from local services, while some patients are travelling 90 miles to see a dentist under the NHS.

“Sadly, it’s the inevitable result of a failed system, where officials bank on dentists missing their targets just so they can plug holes in other budgets.”

The BDA Wales will tell the Welsh Assembly’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on Thursday the current NHS contract model is also causing recruitment and retention problems across Wales.

Recent official data has revealed morale in the dentistry profession has fallen to its lowest levels since 2000, and more than half of dentists have considered quitting.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Despite continued cuts to our budget we have committed additional funding to pay in full the recommendations of the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.

“We believe this is a fair deal for dentists and for NHS Wales as a whole.

“It is disappointing BDA Wales fail to recognise the significant changes we are making as part of our ongoing dental contract reform programme, that are being welcomed by dental clinicians, and which BDA Wales are also actively playing a part in.”