A NEW walk-in dental centre opened this week without any teething troubles.

The new Dental Access Centre is based at 18 Parsons Lane in the same building as the Bury NHS Walk-in-Centre.

The Walk-in-Centre Dental Access Centre is only the second of its kind in the country, the first of which opened in Rochdale, and has cost £400,00 to build and equip. The scheme is expected to cost £1 million throughout its three year life as a pilot project.

It will offer instant access to NHS advice and treatment by experienced NHS nurses and dentists.

The centre will initially open from 8am until 4pm Monday to Friday, the hours of which will be extended in the future.

Dental treatment or on an emergency basis will be available for non-registered patients. It is estimated 50 per cent of the population are at some time non-registered. There are two means for referral to the centre, the first being phone and go by ringing 763 9022 and the second being on a drop-in basis.

Together with the services offered by the walk-in-centre, health bosses hope that the addition of a Dental Access Centre will mean that local people will have fast, convenient access to medical treatment.

Mr Phil Emmott, director of operations and primary care at Bury and Rochdale Health Authority, said: "The Dental Access Centre will be a great resource for Bury, further building on the success of the Walk-in-Centre which opened in July 2000. The two centres will offer patients instant access to health and dental advice from experienced NHS practitioners, and will complement both the health services currently available in Bury and the Walk-in-Centre and Dental Access Centre in Rochdale."

He added: "Patients who are registered with their own dentist should continue to access their usual out-of-hours for emergency treatment, the Dental Access Centre is aimed at providing emergency treatment to non-registered patients, and also helping them to get referred to a regular dentist."