NHS Dental Statistics for England

Original data analysis from our directory of 2,542 NHS dental practices

2,542

Total Practices

69%

Accepting Adults

21%

Open Weekends

75%

CQC Registered

Patient Acceptance Rates

Accepting Adult Patients 1,771 (69%)

Accepting Children 2,530 (99%)

Accepting Charge-Exempt 1,843 (72%)

Not Accepting Adults 771 (30%)

Weekend & Out-of-Hours Availability

Open on Saturdays 537 (21%)

Open on Sundays 69 (2%)

Weekday Only 2,003 (78%)

Only 21% 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	Marlow	14	14,000	1:1,000
2	Dudley	77	80,000	1:1,038
3	Sevenoaks	14	20,000	1:1,428
4	Epsom	20	31,000	1:1,550
5	Walsall	42	68,000	1:1,619
6	Gosport	16	32,000	1:2,000
7	Henley-on-Thames	6	12,000	1:2,000
8	Whitby	6	13,000	1:2,166
9	Dartford	23	57,000	1:2,478
10	Stockport	52	136,000	1:2,615

Most Underserved Cities

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

#	City	Practices	Population	Ratio
1	Lincoln	1	104,000	1:104,000
2	Bradford	7	546,000	1:78,000
3	Northampton	3	230,000	1:76,666
4	Weston-super-Mare	1	76,000	1:76,000
5	Carlisle	1	75,000	1:75,000
6	Norwich	2	144,000	1:72,000
7	Corby	1	61,000	1:61,000
8	Bristol	8	472,000	1:59,000
9	Cheltenham	2	117,000	1:58,500
10	Sunderland	3	174,000	1:58,000

Patient Review Statistics

1

Total Reviews

5.0

Average Rating

Data Quality

2,542

NHS.uk Listings

1,909

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.