A billboard poster for the Commission for Racial Equal-ity has been condemned.

The poster features a black man and the words 'Scared? You should be. He's a dentist'. It has been criticised by Oak-worth dentist Roger Furness.

The poster is one of several on a theme and is part of a campaign by the Commission for Racial Equality. The posters, some of which have been pasted on billboards around Keigh-ley, were designed by advertising gurus Saachi and Saachi.

Mr Furness says many dentists have found the campaign insulting, both personally and to the profession as a whole. The British Dental Association (BDA), of which he is a member, has written to the Commission and the Advert-ising Standards Authority to ask for the withdrawal of the poster.

The BDA accepts that the campaign's goal is to encourage people to challenge their preconceived notions of others. But its members believe the poster reinforces as many prejudices as it seeks to undermine.

Mr Furness says the poster reinforces an outdated image of dentistry and is hurtful to the growing number of dentists from ethnic minorities. Many of these dentists have complained.

He says: "Fear remains one of the most important barriers to the uptake of dental care." He says this fear is most common in areas of social poverty where regular attendance for advice, preventative help and relatively painless treatment is not yet the norm. Mr Furness, who has a practice in Bradford, says Keighley certainly has such areas and communities where the level of uptake of dental care is much lower than the national average.

He says he would prefer the Commission for Racial Equal-ity to use its resources to promote better health provision for people from ethnic minorities rather than being drawn into a negative and potentially harmful campaign.

The BDA, which says it supports action to tackle racism, thinks the poster an ill-judged element of an otherwise laudable campaign. It says the poster perpetuates the myth that people are scared of dentists and does not help its efforts to prevent suffering caused by tooth decay.

Keighley's racial equality officer Zafar Ali welcomes the campaign generally. He says the posters draw attention to racism and that it is an issue which needs to be addressed.

"Ethnic minorities, after 40 years of integration into British society, still face problems in housing, education and emp-loyment," he says. "A coloured youth is three times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than a white youth."

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