NHS dentistry availability in the UK — data and statistics

Headline figures

Across the entire directory, a minority of practices are currently accepting new NHS patients. The figures below include all practices the directory tracks, across all four UK countries.

20,712 practices tracked

2,577 accepting NHS patients

12.4% NHS acceptance rate

2,567 accepting children

1,839 accepting adults

1,914 accepting patients entitled to free care

Breakdown by UK country

NHS dentistry is commissioned separately by the four health services of the United Kingdom. The table below shows total practices and those currently accepting new NHS patients, by country.

Country	Practices tracked	Accepting NHS patients	NHS acceptance rate
England	17,484	2,563	14.7%
Scotland	1,760	1	0.1%
Wales	921	13	1.4%
Northern Ireland	542	0	0%

A note on the devolved nations. The NHS acceptance field used in this dataset is primarily populated for practices operating under the NHS England contract. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each commission dentistry through their own health services (NHS Scotland, GIG Cymru / NHS Wales, and HSC Northern Ireland respectively), and the public data sources available for those countries do not currently expose NHS acceptance at the same level of detail. As a result, the figures for the devolved nations under-report their true NHS capacity. The England figure is the most meaningful headline number in this dataset.

NHS availability in England

Across 17,484 English practices tracked by the directory, 2,563 are currently accepting new NHS patients — an acceptance rate of 14.7%.

This figure is consistent with independent reporting that NHS dentistry in England has faced significant access problems since the 2006 contract, and with the Association of Dental Groups' 2022 description of "dental deserts" in parts of the country. The directory's live figures can be explored per location to see where NHS acceptance is strongest and weakest.

NHS availability in the largest UK cities

The 20 cities with the most dental practices in the directory, showing how many are currently accepting new NHS patients. Cities with a low NHS acceptance rate correspond to the "dental deserts" discussed in the Wikipedia article on NHS dentistry and in the Association of Dental Groups report.

City	Practices	Accepting NHS	NHS %	Browse
London	2,265	324	14.3%	NHS dentists in London
Glasgow	459	0	0%	All dentists in Glasgow
Birmingham	339	94	27.7%	NHS dentists in Birmingham
Bristol	287	14	4.9%	NHS dentists in Bristol
Manchester	285	87	30.5%	NHS dentists in Manchester
Leeds	242	21	8.7%	NHS dentists in Leeds
Nottingham	236	34	14.4%	NHS dentists in Nottingham
Liverpool	199	28	14.1%	NHS dentists in Liverpool
Sheffield	191	29	15.2%	NHS dentists in Sheffield
Leicester	181	32	17.7%	NHS dentists in Leicester
Edinburgh	179	0	0%	All dentists in Edinburgh
Belfast	142	0	0%	All dentists in Belfast
Cardiff	128	0	0%	All dentists in Cardiff
Southampton	122	14	11.5%	NHS dentists in Southampton
Newcastle upon Tyne	121	22	18.2%	NHS dentists in Newcastle upon Tyne
Reading	99	9	9.1%	NHS dentists in Reading
York	99	9	9.1%	NHS dentists in York
Stockport	96	23	24%	NHS dentists in Stockport
Bolton	95	20	21.1%	NHS dentists in Bolton
Brighton	94	13	13.8%	NHS dentists in Brighton

What NHS dentistry covers

NHS dental treatment in England is provided on a three-band charging system, with fixed charges set by the government and reviewed annually. The bands cover all clinically necessary treatment; anything outside the bands (for example, cosmetic dentistry and most implants) is only available privately.

Band	What's included	Charge (July 2025)
Band 1	Examination, diagnosis, X-rays, scale and polish, urgent care	£27.40
Band 2	Everything in Band 1, plus fillings, extractions, root canal treatment	£75.30
Band 3	Everything in Bands 1 and 2, plus crowns, dentures, bridges	£326.70

Charges in Wales are set separately and are lower: Band 1 £20, Band 2 £60, Band 3 £260 (as of 1 April 2024). NHS dental treatment in Scotland and Northern Ireland works differently again. For authoritative detail on charges, exemptions, and eligibility, see NHS.uk.

Methodology

Data source: Practice-level records aggregated from publicly available dental directory sources, including the NHS Business Services Authority practice list and structured listings from practice websites and search engines.
What "accepting NHS patients" means here: A practice is counted as accepting NHS patients if its record carries the status accepting_limited, meaning the practice accepts NHS patients in at least one category (children, adults, or those entitled to free care). Practices marked as private-only, referral-only, or whose status has not been recently updated are not counted. This is the same definition used on every per-location NHS page on AllDentists, so headline figures here are consistent with what you see when browsing by city.
Country classification: Practices are assigned to a UK country from their postcode area (the leading letters), using the standard Royal Mail area-to-country mapping: BT = Northern Ireland; AB, DD, DG, EH, FK, G, HS, IV, KA, KW, KY, ML, PA, PH, TD, ZE = Scotland; CF, LD, LL, NP, SA, SY = Wales; everything else = England.
Update frequency: Figures are regenerated whenever the underlying practice data is refreshed. This page shows the last update date at the top. NHS availability changes frequently at individual practices — patients should always contact the practice directly before travelling to confirm they are currently taking on new NHS patients.
Known limitations: The NHS acceptance field is primarily populated for practices operating under the NHS England contract. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are under-represented in the NHS-accepting counts, as noted in the country breakdown above. The figures should be treated as a snapshot of a moving target, not a definitive register.

NHS dentistry availability across the UK