Martin McAlpine set out early to secure a dentist for his family

Although registration began at 0900 BST at a hotel in Lampeter, the first would-be patients arrived as early as 0400 BST.

The surgery, operated by private company Denticare, is offering 8,000 places in the town.

Among those wishing to register was a father with his two-week baby.

New dad Martin McAlpine said: "I went down to register myself, my wife and my mother-in-law, we started out at 0545 - it fitted in nicely with the baby's feed, she was up at 0500."

Mr McAlpine, who runs a country house in Cilcennin, said there was already a queue in front of him at the registration venue, the Black Lion Royal Hotel, when he arrived at around 0615 BST.

"It's very important (to register). Having our first child, she's only two and a half weeks, we thought it was really important to bring her up with healthy teeth and healthy food.

"I think she is the youngest baby to be registered here today. I am very pleased to have got a form," he added.

Opened early

Managers Martin and Christine Jones opened a function room at the hotel early because of the cold and the noise of the crowd.

They opened up one of the suites, which was also the registration room, at 0600 BST.

Up to 1,000 people had joined the queue by mid morning on Monday

"They were making so much noise and there were old people there, so we opened it," she said.

The sub-zero temperatures led to small snow flurries on Monday morning.

Despite the weather, the queue of hundreds of people snaked up past the hotel.

One man said he had travelled to Lampeter to register after failing to get a dentist in Brecon.

'Fair as possible'

Another man said he had been queuing since 0730 and was happy to get a form which he had to bring back by Thursday.

"Well, you have got to go once in a lifetime so I might as well get ready," he said.

A Denticare spokeswoman said around 3,000 people either took a form or had been signed up by Monday afternoon.

She said: "It was very busy with people queuing around the block. Some people seem they could only sign up today but there are 8,000 places, we are signing people up every day until Friday lunchtime so there are plenty of places."

Denticare creating places for up to 26,000 new NHS dentists in Newtown, Port Talbot, Brecon, Killay as well as Lampeter.

The new surgery in a converted building will employ four dentists and they are expected to start work by the end of April.

Registration in Lampeter will take place all week.

A Denticare spokesman said: "We want to be as fair as possible to everyone who should rightfully be eligible to register - if demand outpaces the numbers of places available there will be a waiting list."