SCOTLAND’S chief dental officer said that “constructive” talks had taken place at a university after it emerged that it was offering students bursaries to defer their studies.

Ray Watkins met staff at Dundee University, which was paying prospective dental school students £2,000 to postpone their studies after an unprecedented number took up offers of a place on the course, leaving it oversubscribed.

The offer has attracted criticism from some politicians, who say that more places should be made available at at time when there is a shortage of NHS dentists in Scotland.

Speaking after a meeting with the dental school’s dean, Professor Bill Saunders, Mr Watkins said: “Last week the Deputy Health Minister highlighted the fact that our priority is not just on getting more students through our dental schools, but on making sure that we get more dentists committed to the NHS at the end of their training. Today I have had a very constructive meeting. I shall now feedback to ministers and they will respond fully in due course. ”

The school, one of only two in Scotland, has seen a 40 per cent rise in applications this year, with the number of acceptances increasing by more than 30 per cent.

The shortage of NHS dentists has seen hundreds of people queuing outside surgeries to register with new practices when they open. The Executive responded to the crisis by announcing a £150 million funding package for dentists over three years.

The SNP’s Richard Lochhead called for the Executive to fund extra training places. “The hundreds of thousands of Scots who are not registered with a dentist will be wanting as many new dentists trained up as soon as possible,” he said. “The chief dental officer should go back to his political masters and demand resources to plug the funding gap that will allow our dental schools to take on more students.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• 6 reasons not to give gifts this Christmas
• Remembrance Day: All the lonely heroes