NHS Dental Statistics for England

Original data analysis from our directory of 2,350 NHS dental practices

2,350

Total Practices

72%

Accepting Adults

20%

Open Weekends

98%

CQC Registered

Patient Acceptance Rates

Accepting Adult Patients 1,701 (72%)

Accepting Children 2,338 (99%)

Accepting Charge-Exempt 1,772 (75%)

Not Accepting Adults 649 (27%)

Weekend & Out-of-Hours Availability

Open on Saturdays 489 (20%)

Open on Sundays 70 (2%)

Weekday Only 1,860 (79%)

Only 20% of NHS dental practices open on Saturdays, making weekend appointments one of the biggest challenges for working patients.

Best-Served Cities

Lowest people-per-dentist ratio (more dentists per person)

#	City	Practices	Population	Ratio
1	Dudley	72	80,000	1:1,111
2	Marlow	11	14,000	1:1,272
3	Epsom	23	31,000	1:1,347
4	Walsall	40	68,000	1:1,700
5	Henley-on-Thames	7	12,000	1:1,714
6	Whitby	7	13,000	1:1,857
7	Oldham	43	96,000	1:2,232
8	Dartford	24	57,000	1:2,375
9	Stockport	52	136,000	1:2,615
10	Solihull	29	93,000	1:3,206

Most Underserved Cities

Highest people-per-dentist ratio (fewer dentists per person)

#	City	Practices	Population	Ratio
1	Blackpool	1	139,000	1:139,000
2	Lincoln	1	104,000	1:104,000
3	Bristol	5	472,000	1:94,400
4	Bradford	6	546,000	1:91,000
5	Sunderland	2	174,000	1:87,000
6	Weston-super-Mare	1	76,000	1:76,000
7	Carlisle	1	75,000	1:75,000
8	Poole	2	150,000	1:75,000
9	Norwich	2	144,000	1:72,000
10	Peterborough	3	215,000	1:71,666

Patient Review Statistics

1

Total Reviews

5.0

Average Rating

Data Quality

2,350

NHS.uk Listings

2,318

CQC Matched

224

Cities Covered

Methodology & Data Sources

All statistics on this page are computed from our database of NHS dental practice listings, originally sourced from NHS.uk and cross-referenced with Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration data. Population figures are based on the latest available ONS estimates.

The dentist-to-population ratio uses the number of practices listed within a defined radius of each city centre (adaptive radius, typically 10â€“25 miles) divided into the city's estimated population. This provides a relative comparison but should not be interpreted as a precise measure of NHS dental capacity, as individual practice sizes vary.

Weekend availability is determined from published opening times data. A practice is counted as "open on Saturdays" if it has any non-"Closed" entry for Saturday in its opening times. Data is refreshed regularly through automated validation checks.