Hundreds of people with teeth problems in the North-East and North Yorkshire are being treated in hospital because they cannot find a dentist, new figures suggest.

The number of people admitted to hospital for emergency dental treatment has almost trebled since Tony Blair came to power in 1997.

Now the Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the figures, claim patients in pain end up in hospital because "finding an NHS dentist is like trying to find a needle in a haystack".

But the Department of Health hit back by insisting the increase was due to new rules preventing high street dentists from carrying out general anaesthetics.

According to the department's own statistics, just 49 people received

emergency dental treatment in hospital across County Durham and Tees Valley in 1999/2000.

That tally rocketed to 125 by 2002/3, the most recent figure available - a rise of 155 per cent over just three years.

The increase was even greater in North and East Yorkshire (up 335 per cent since 1997/8 to 200) and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (up 445 per cent since 1997/8 to 158).

All the rises were was far greater than across England as a whole, where emergency admissions leapt by 16.5 per cent from 4,047 to 4,715.

Paul Burstow, Lib Dem health spokesman, said: "This is a sad sign of people's desperation and is a result of the Government not offering the dental service that people have a right to expect.

"Government claims that increased numbers of dentists are solving the crisis are a kick in the teeth for people across the country who cannot get registered at their local dental surgery."

But a department of health spokesman said: "In the late 1990s, a small number of people died in dental surgeries after being given a general anaesthetic, so we changed the rules.

"A small part of the rise is also due to an increase in the overall amount of dentistry. People now have healthier teeth than they have ever had."

However, it is estimated that around half the population in England currently do not have access to an NHS dentist.

Many dentists quit the health service to carry out private practice in the early 1990s, after Conservative changes cut their fees and increased their paperwork.

Last month, the government pledged to recruit an extra 1,000 dentists by October 2005.