The BDA has written to health secretary Alan Johnson, appealing against his decision to abolish the Standing Dental Advisory Committee (SDAC).

In a letter to Mr Johnson, Susie Sanderson, chair of the BDA's executive board, described the decision to scrap the committee, which was set up in 1949 with all members appointed by the secretary of state, as 'misguided'.

'The committee offered an effective method of canvassing the whole of the profession including those on the frontline,' she said. 'The SDAC, with its professional authority and strong links to frontline patient care would make an invaluable contribution to planning the future of NHS care,' she added.

The decision to abolish the committee followed a consultation exercise, launched in October last year. In its response to the consultation, published in July, the Department of Health argued that 'ad hoc subject specific committees proved a more cost-effective means of obtaining policy advice.

'We agree that it is very important that ministers and senior officials receive expert and clinical advice, but we do not accept that an SDAC is the only route that this may be obtained,' it said.

'Whilst in theory the existence of a standing committee should offer continuity and a capacity to review policy and strategy, recent experience shows there were insufficient issues to compile a meaningful agenda for SDAC bi-annual meetings. The costs of servicing the committee were disproportionate to its outputs,' the statement added.

A standing committee might not have the experience to address specific issues, the statement said. Establishing a subject specific committee offered an opportunity to recruit members with experience relevant to the matter under consideration.