Almost one in 10 drop in dental practices offering NHS care
New analysis shows a widespread move away from NHS dentistry towards private and specialist care
At least 600 dental practices in England have left the NHS since 2017, according to analysis of the latest figures.
Independent health think tank The Nuffield Trust found that while the number of practices had risen by more than 400 in that time to 10,160, there had been a 9% (64.6% to 55.6%) drop in the number offering NHS services.
The number of practices with no NHS contract increased by almost 1,000 during the same period, but the number of NHS contracts fell from around 6,260 in March 2017 to 5,650 in March 2026.
All but one of England’s 42 integrated care boards has seen a fall in numbers with the South West and East seeing the steepest declines, with the number of NHS general dental practices down 27 per cent in Cornwall and 26 per cent in Devon.
The Nuffield Trust's figures show a fall of 20 per cent in Dorset and 15 per cent in Somerset.
Gloucestershire saw a drop of 19 per cent, with 14 per cent across Swindon and Wiltshire.
The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire area recorded a fall of 10 per cent, while the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire area was down 17 per cent.
In the West Midlands, the number of NHS general dental practices fell by seven per cent across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and by six per cent across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Nuffield Trust policy analyst Mark Dayan said: “As the government delivers the contract reform it has promised, it will face a stark choice.
“Either it makes NHS work attractive enough to turn this trend around and bring back enough practices to cover everyone, or it will need to give up on the promise of a universal service and prioritise those who need preventive care most, or do not have the money to pay privately.”
The research found six in 10 adults have not seen an NHS dentist in two years with visits dropping by 8% from pre-Covid levels.
Of those who have attempted to book a new patient appointment, just 38% were successful according to the Nuffield Trust research.
The British Dental Association (BDA) said 135 practices had left the NHS since Labour came to power in 2024.
The BDA’s general dental practice committee chair Shiv Pabary said: “What we’re seeing here is the direct result of choices made by successive governments.
“A new team at the Department of Health need to grasp that if they fail to fix and fund NHS dentistry, dentists will have no choice but to walk away.”