Furious dentists say the service is on its knees with a recruitment crisis and a crippling lack of funding.
That is preventing them giving NHS patients appropriate treatment, it has been claimed.
It has led to dentists leaving the health service in frustration and more newly-qualified experts preferring to treat paying patients.
Dentists complain the Scottish Government has created a two-tier system where those living in poverty who cannot afford private dentistry get lesser care.
A British Dental Association survey reported that 80 per cent of operators estimate their practices will reduce their NHS commitment should the Scottish Government withdraw emergency support and return to pre-Covid models of care.
Dentists had been assured there would be a complete overhaul of the payments system for two years but nothing has been done.
One dentist said he has only just managed to keep his business afloat.
Stuart McGrow, 41, who owns the BD Dental Care Practice in Clydebank, added: “I haven’t paid myself a consistent wage all the way through Covid.
The only reason I am not in a financial hole is because I am back staying with my parents.”
Some patients have not had a routine appointment for more than two years and dentists fear the lengthy backlog means they could wait even longer.
Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the “very existence of NHS dentistry in Scotland is currently under threat.”
Sheila Macintyre, a founding member of the Scottish Dental Association and a dentist in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, said: “We have got backlogs of treatment, we have got a real recruitment crisis.
"NHS dentistry couldn’t be frowned upon any more than it is just now.
“The recruitment side of things is set to get worse because young dentists that are coming out are not wanting to do NHS dentistry. They are moving abroad, they are leaving the profession or they are staying within the hospital system.
“It is not a pretty picture for dentistry right now.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The new system being introduced next month will support dentists to see more
patients while avoiding a cliff-edge for practices and ensuring a soft transition during what is still a constrained period for dental teams.”
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