More than half Scotland's adults do not have an NHS dentist - despite a £350m drive to improve access to check-ups.

New figures, released yesterday, revealed the Scottish Government is significantly behind its 2008 target to enable 400,000 new people to join an NHS dental practice.

Ministers welcomed recent increases in the number of patients registered with a dentist, but experts warned this may not actually mean more people are having their teeth examined.

Mary Scanlon, health spokeswoman for the Tory party, branded the situation a disgrace.

Oral health is poor in Scotland with children suffering the highest rates of tooth decay in the UK.

Ministers pledged to recruit 200 extra dentists and set a target of registering 400,000 new NHS patients by this year. More than £350m over three years was allocated to address the problems. This period of investment is almost over.

The new figures, which reflect the situation at the end of September last year, show 48.6% of adults and 69.9% of under-18s were registered with a dentist. That represents an increase from June 2006, when 46.5% of adults and 67.5% of youngsters were registered.