GPs see 380,00 patients a year with dental problems, a study has found, as ministers are urged to end the 'hostile environment' to accessing a dentist in the UK.

The new study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, warned that GP appointments for dental problems are "often not an effective or efficient use of resources”, with the result being that pressure is “piled on overstretched GPs who are simply unequipped to help.”

Commenting on the study, experts said patients are facing “growing barriers” to accessing the appropriate dental care.

The survey of 39 patients who went to their GP with a dental problem found that people are turning to doctors because of the availability of appointments compared with dental care.

One patient, a 68-year-old woman with a dental abscess, told researchers: "They offered me appointments, to be fair, in three different places, but all of them were either a hundred miles away or more away from us, and I was desperate to get it sorted ... so that's why I went to the GP."