Thousands of people are being denied low-cost dental care because NHS managers are failing to plough enough money into the service.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust spends £20m a year on NHS dentists, which covers enough care for 718,000 appointments at about 78 practices - but it is estimated that thousands are still waiting for treatment.

Now a dedicated phone line has been set up to help patients.

It comes a month after reports that NHS dentistry across the UK was in such short supply that people were resorting to pulling out their own teeth with pliers.

Oxfordshire dentists claim they would like to look after more NHS patients, but their work has been financially capped since a new dental contract was introduced in April 2006. Only the PCT can increase funding.

ADP in Kidlington moved from Cowley, Oxford, two-and-a-half years ago when it became a dedicated NHS practice.

Operations director Steve Frampton said it treated about 11,000 people, but an estimated 500 were still waiting for care.

He added: "The new dental contract means you can only do a certain amount of NHS work because the funding for each practice is capped, unlike the old system where you could do as much as you liked as long as you had enough dentists.

"We have 66 branches across the UK and where we do have high waiting lists we work with the PCTs to get funding for extra capacity. We can ask, but it's not our decision at the end of the day. We're in discussions with Oxfordshire PCT but we've had no extra funding confirmed for this year."

Nicky Wadely, PCT service development manager, said she was aware ADP had a high waiting list, while 450 people had called the phone line between April and September for help finding an NHS practice.

Last night the Oxford Mail asked the PCT exactly how many people were waiting to register with an NHS dentist. It refused to answer.

However, Ms Wadley said since the new dental contract had been launched, the number of Oxfordshire people seen by an NHS dentist had risen from 40 per cent to 49 per cent - but did not deny thousands of people remained unable to access care.

She added: "The PCT has been working with county NHS dentists to make best use of the resources we have to provide dental services and we have plans to increase access which will be agreed by our board in the next few weeks.

"We've set up a dedicated line to deal with requests from people looking for an NHS dentist in Oxfordshire. By giving the public this number we'll be able to provide them with the latest up-to-date information about which practices are taking on NHS patients."

A spokesman later confirmed patients calling the hotline would only receive information about dentists registered to do NHS work and not those definitely accepting new patients. The number is 01865 337267.

If you are searching for an NHS dentist contact the Oxford Mail newsdesk on 01865 425445.

When Lucy Jackson, 22, started getting severe toothache, she was forced to visit a private dentist for treatment because she could not find an NHS alternative.

The pre-press designer, of Botley, said: "I did find an NHS dentist but when I got there the whole practice had shut down - and the private dentist told me I needed about £400 of work, which I just couldn't afford.

"As a result, I had to suffer for six months until I was told about the NHS Bury Knowle Dental Practice in Headington.

"I had a wisdom tooth taken out during my first appointment because it was so painful.

"I was very angry I couldn't find an NHS dentist earlier.

"I couldn't afford to spend £400 privately and I wasn't going to when I knew I had the right to NHS treatment."