Parliament's spending watchdog has warned that government targets to increase NHS dentistry are "ambitious" and may not be met.

In a report released on Thursday the National Audit Office found ministers may have set their sights too high in aiming to ease the shortage of supply of taxpayer funded dentists.

The Department of Health has postponed plans to recruit 1,000 more dentists from April to October of next year and hand control of policy in the area to local primary care trusts.

But the report concluded there are "significant risks" in both strategies, with the target proving difficult to achieve and PCTs suffering from a lack of experience in the field.

It also raised concerns that poor areas are suffering the most from shortages, although at the other end of the scale dentists in the wealthiest communities have no incentive to offer NHS treatments.

And it criticises current practices for focusing too much on cures to oral health problems, rather than preventions, as well as the fact public money is wasted on unnecessary check-ups and tooth polishing.

Promises

Auditor general Sir John Bourn said ministers must make sure that they live up to their promises.

"The Department of Health is pursuing an ambitious programme to reform NHS dentistry," he said.

"There are good reasons to modernise the system but it is vital that the Department gets it right. I have identified significant risks that will need to be carefully managed.

"In the light of concerns raised by dentists and the NHS, the department's decision to postpone the introduction of the new arrangements to October of next year is welcome.

"It now needs to be more transparent about its plans and its timetable for managing the change process to achieve the new date – and ensure that these are conveyed to dentists and their patients."

Welcome

But a statement from the Department said the measures already in place would be implemented.

"We welcome the NAO's recognition that we are taking radical steps to improve NHS dental services and that this is supported by £368 million of new investment," it said.

"We know that some people in some areas of the country have difficulty booking routine NHS dental treatment and we are devolving record levels of funding to primary care trusts to address this.

"The equivalent of 1,000 dentists will be recruited by October 2005. It is expected that about two thirds of these will be new recruits, either from home or abroad.

"We are also increasing the number of undergraduate training places by 25 per cent from October 2005 and introducing a new contract for dentists to keep them in the NHS."

Ian Wylie, chief executive of the British Dental Association, also welcomed the report and said that it "will not make easy reading" for the government.

"The BDA has consistently warned the government that it needs to get these changes right first time if it is not to lose what little confidence the dental profession has left in NHS dentistry," he said.

"Our own research earlier this year found that only one in ten dentists believed their PCT could cope with their new responsibilities.

"With less than a year to go until implementation, and still without a draft contract, it's no wonder that many dentists are seriously considering whether or not their future lies within the NHS."