It is enough to set your teeth on edge.

A report published today shows 205,000 adults in London have never been to the dentist.

The report, entitled Teething Problems and compiled by the London Assembly's health and public services committee, also shows around two-thirds of the capital's children have not been to an NHS dentist in the two years to March 2007.

In desperation some people who fear they cannot afford treatment have resorted to do-it-yourself dentistry.

The report's authors found London has more NHS dentists than most other parts of the country but only half of the capital's citizens are using them.

The report highlighted Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust as having no NHS dentists taking on new fee-paying adult patients.

Kingston PCT has only two practices accepting new patients and Wandsworth just five.

Currently there are 51 NHS dentists for more than 100,000 Londoners compared to England's national average of 42.

The committee found reforms to NHS dentists' funding in 2006 may have been responsible for reducing some people's access to them.

The new charging system was also blamed for discouraging people from regularly going to the dentist due to an increase in the cost of some treatments.

The report also stated the system may have been to blame for discouraging dentists from taking on patients who need complex treatment fearing they will not be properly compensated.

London Assembly member Joanne McCartney, chairman of the health and public services committee, said: "The capital has one of the lowest uptake levels in the country and this is a serious public health issue. Left untreated, poor oral health can lead to serious health consequences such as tooth loss and infection."

The report's authors recommended the Department of Health revise its dental charge banding and say more advice should be given on preventing tooth and gum disease.

PCT area NHS dentists taking on all new types of patients including paying adults NHS dentists only taking on charge exempt patients NHS dentists not taking on any new patients Non-NHS (private) dentists Croydon 24 22 3 22 Hounslow 31 1 3 20 Kingston** 2 12 9 16 Richmond 9 13 7 20 Sutton & Merton** 0 67 1 25 Wandsworth 5 29 8 25

** Information for these PCTs was not avalible for April 2007, so figures are based on analyiss from September 2006.