The shortage of dentists in England will double during the next seven years, according to a workforce review published by the Department of Health yesterday - just a week after John Reid, the health secretary, promised a better deal for patients.

A report issued on the department's website said there was a shortage of 1,850 dentists in England last year. It forecast this would grow to at least 3,640, and perhaps as many as 5,100 by 2011.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the figures exposed the full extent of the problem NHS patients faced. It was the first review of the dental workforce since 1987.

John Renshaw, chairman of its executive board, said: "There is no doubt that the supply of dentists has reached crisis point, as patients trying to access dental treatment know only too well.

This long overdue report underlines the severity of the situation and shows that the gap between patient need and the number of dentists available is set to get even worse."

Last week Mr Reid promised to hire 1,000 extra dentists and increase the number of dental school undergraduate training places by 25%. He suggested that this would be enough to relieve a shortage that is denying more than half of adults in England the opportunity to register for NHS care.

He said he would increase the health service's annual dental budget by £250m a year (nearly 20%).

Moreover, he would push through a new contract for the profession to reward preventive work, reducing the financial pressure to "drill and fill".

The department said the projections for 2011 were drawn up two years ago and were no longer valid. But a spokeswoman was unable to explain why the government waited until the end of the parliamentary session to publish them without qualification.