Dentists across East Yorkshire are preparing to turn their backs on the NHS and go private.

And in a double blow to patients, charges for NHS treatments are set to increase significantly from April.

The changes will see the price of an NHS check-up rise from the current cost of £5.84 to £15.50.

And patients could be asked to pay £42.40 for a single filling, not far short of paying privately, which costs between £50 and £100. The present price of an NHS filling is £12.04.

The Mail can also reveal registrations at dental practices will be scrapped in April, as part of the controversial overhaul of the dental service.

Dentists are angry and concerned about the proposed changes, with many threatening to quit the NHS as a result.

Today, leaders in the dental service in East Yorkshire admitted the bleak picture looks set to worsen in the coming months.

The crisis surrounds new dentists' contracts, imposed by the Government, which will come into force on April 1.

They stipulate dentists will have fixed incomes and workloads.

Many who have spoken to the Mail over the past week say they have not been consulted over the plans.

They fear they will be financially worse off.

As a result, two East Yorkshire dentists have already formally quit the service in the past few weeks.

Today, leading figures predicted "many more" would follow.

Graham Porter, chairman of the dental committee for East Yorkshire, is one of the dentists considering going private if the new contract means a fall in earnings.

Mr Porter, who practices in Cottingham, said there was a cloud of uncertainty over the profession.

He said: "There's a huge amount of trepidation attached to the contracts and how they will work.

"I know a lot of dentists are worried, and the feedback I've had is that a lot of them are going to test the water, but if the contracts don't suit them, they will quit the NHS."

Under the changes, primary care trusts will be responsible for managing the budgets for dentistry.

The Department of Health has allocated £24.1m to dentistry in East Yorkshire, to be split between the four primary care trusts.

West Hull PCT will be given £8.19m, Eastern Hull PCT £6.54m, East Yorkshire PCT £5.12m and Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT £4.26m.

The money will pay for services from April, for 12 months. It covers a population of almost 600,000 people, with about 200 dentists covering the region.

John Hinchliffe, director of the Primary Care Dental Agency for East Yorkshire, said the increase in NHS prices was aimed at securing long-term dental treatment, as money would be ploughed back into the service.

He said dentists would receive a fixed monthly salary for performing a set number of treatments in a year, keeping a tighter control on spending.

In East Yorkshire, there are 44,000 patients getting their treatment from dental access Centre in Hull, Cottingham, Goole, Driffield and Pocklington.

Those patients will not find it any easier to see a dentist, despite the scrapping of NHS registration.

Dentists will still be allowed to close their lists to new patients, and because of the fixed number of treatments they are being asked to perform, are unlikely to take on extra patients.

Diana Chambers, 54, from Weeton Drive, Wetwang, is typical of many people in the East Riding, where provision is poor.

She said: "I have been trying to find a dentist for ages.

"I have had my name on a list for almost two years now to see an NHS dentist at the access Centre in Driffield.

"I just can't afford to go private and so I haven't seen a dentist in years." Mick Pilling writes; this as been a large problem in Bridlington for many years; what will happen to pensioners; people on low income and people who move into a town to start a fresh life?  Does this mean that if you can't afford it you suffer?  We all now that dentists wear a mask; with these charges in mind, most will be called; Dick Turpin. These new charges will do nothing for most people because there will be a dramatic fall in the number of people attending dentists; thus causing a wider and bigger problem.