Dentists in England and Wales earned an average of £96,135 before tax in 2006-2007, the first year of the new contract, according to a survey by the NHS Information Authority.

The survey, comprising 10,552 respondents – nearly half the dentists practising in England and Wales – included part-time and full-time practitioners and those working in mainly private, mixed and mainly NHS practices.

It showed that dentists who held a contract with the primary care trust (PCT) or local health board (LHB) to provide NHS services earned on average £134,827 before tax, with average gross earnings of £353,869 and average expenses of £219,042.

Dentists who held General Dental Services (GDS) contracts earned on average £117,083 and those who held Personal Dental Services (PDS) contracts earned on average £172,494.

The report, published last month (September), highlighted a wide range in earnings, with some dentists earning £25,000 or less and 455 earning more than £300,000.

It also looked at earnings and expenses related to the working patterns of the dentist, their age and gender, their level of orthodontic activity and the strategic health authority in which they worked. Average earnings were highest in the East Midlands SHA where they were £110,672, followed by the East of England (£103,299), and the North East (£102,311) and Yorkshire and Humber (£101,597). Average earnings were lowest in London (£93,412) and South Central SHA (£89,459). Overall average earnings for England were £95,986, lower than for Wales, where the average was £98,945.

The figures in the report are based on self-assessment tax returns. Average earnings for women dentists were £71,093 and for men £110,747. Among dentists who worked under 35 hours a week average earnings were £76,445 rising to an average of £166,644 for those who worked more than 45 hours.

The average earnings for mainly private (less than 25% commitment to NHS) dentists were £103,533; for mixed (more than 25% and under 75% NHS) they were £105,072 and for dentists whose work was more than 75% NHS they were £103,774.

Average earnings for dentists between strategic health authorities ranged from £86,154 in London to £134,257 in East Midlands SHA.

The report said it was difficult to compare earnings under the old and new contractual arrangements as previous reports covered the whole of Great Britain and classification of dentists had changed with the introduction of the new contract in April 2006.

The NHS Information Centre's previous dental earnings report, published in September 2007 and covering 2005-2006, showed that average pre-tax income for GDS dentists who were practice owners, working with other dentists who were not partners, was £114,068. The average income for dentists working in a stand-alone business was £94,369.

Peter Ward, BDA chief executive, said: 'These figures do not tell the full story. They fail to take account of the clawing back of money from NHS dentists who have failed to meet the flawed treatment targets set for them.'

In August 2007 the BDA asked the Department of Health for an amnesty on clawbacks for dentists who had completed a significant amount of their units of dental activity (UDAs). But England's chief dental officer, Barry Cockcroft, rejected this, saying that the majority of dentists had met the requirements and that it was up to PCTs whether or not to clawback funding in cases of significant underperformance.

The full report, Dental earnings and expenses, England and Wales, 2006/07 can be found online at http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalearnexp0607