A quarter of people in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire struggle to get an appointment with an NHS dentist, new survey data suggests.

The British Dental Association said for millions accessing NHS dentistry "is just a nice idea rather that a reality they can depend on".

During the General Election campaign, Labour pledged to create 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments a year, as well as recruiting new dentists to under-served areas.

The NHS GP Patient Survey found 26 per cent of 7,697 respondents in the area covered by NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board were unsuccessful when they tried to book an appointment with an NHS dentist in the last two years.

Of those, 9 per cent said no appointments were available, while 11 per cent were told the dentist wasn't taking any new patients.

Louise Ansari, chief executive at Healthwatch England, said more fundamental reforms are needed, to give everyone a right to register with a local NHS dentist, in the same way as they can with a GP.

She said: "At the moment, dentists are not obliged to keep patients on permanently, which affects continuity of care, while the payment model for dentists does not incentivise them to offer fully preventative care to patients."

Across England, more than a quarter of people could not access an NHS dentist, which the British Dental Association said is around 5.6 million adults.

Areas with higher proportions of patients not being able to secure a dental check-up also saw higher levels of dissatisfaction with the services provided.

Of those who visited a dentist in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire in the last two years, 19 per cent found the experience to be fairly or very poor.

Eddie Crouch, chair of the BDA, said "many have simply given up trying", with the union also estimating 5.4 million people no longer attempt to make appointments, as they do not believe they can get one.

In Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, 26 per cent of 9,127 respondents who have not tried accessing dental care in the last two years said they had not think they could get an appointment.

Mr Crouch said: "We're still seeing sights like 'DIY' dentistry that belong in the Victorian era.

"None of these horrors are inevitable, and the new Government can turn the page."

He added: "Over a decade of underfunding and failed contracts has brought us here. A problem made in Westminster can be fixed in Westminster."

The figures also show 35 per cent patients who have not tried to get an appointment in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire preferred to go to a private dentist, while 4% found NHS dentistry too expensive.