More than one million dental appointments have been lost in Northern Ireland since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new statistics.
It comes as the British Dental Association (BDA) warns that NHS dentistry in the north is "stalling" and that further budget cuts "could prove fatal".
Figures released by the organisation reveal that 464,000 examinations were performed on adults in 2022/23 - compared to 883,680 in 2019/20.
The data also shows that more than a year’s worth of dentistry has been lost in Northern Ireland since lockdown – with 1.2 million fewer patients seen, including nearly 400,000 children.
Around 1.04 million patients were seen on average annually before Covid-19 struck.
The BDA says that "ongoing access problems are fuelling an unprecedented backlog as patients present with higher levels of need, that means more time in the chair".
It says that these pressures are "stretching to breaking point the high volume/low margin model the service works to" with soaring costs also leaving many practices delivering some NHS treatments at a loss.
The BDA adds that the pressures, combined with the very limited recovery made in Northern Ireland’s most deprived communities, will "widen already deep oral health inequalities".
The figures come amid the prospect of significant budget cuts on the health service.
In an open letter sent last month to Peter May, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, representatives of every field of practice in Northern Ireland stressed: "If the axe falls on dentistry - indeed if there is a failure to provide needed investment - this service faces collapse.
"The price will be paid by patients across Northern Ireland."
Ciara Gallagher, chair of the BDA's NI dental practice committee, said that dentistry in the north "has not bounced back".
"The reality is practices facing down an unprecedented backlog, working to a broken system, without a plan or needed support," she said.
“Adding cuts to the mix could prove fatal for this service.
"The patients who need us most will be the ones hit the hardest.”
Ms Gallagher added that "dedicated NHS dentists across Northern Ireland are in an impossible position".
"No health professional should be expected to cover the costs of care out their own pocket," she said.
“Failure to address the rising costs of NHS dental care has pushed the service to the brink.
"Without an urgent rescue plan, this won’t be the last practice to head down this road.”
