The State of NHS Dentistry in 2026
- We track 13,949 UK dental practices — 6,435 NHS practices in England, plus Scotland, Northern Ireland and 6,174 private practices.
- Of England’s 6,435 NHS practices, only 2,819 are currently taking new NHS patients.
- The hardest counties to find an NHS dentist right now: Cumbria, Devon, Bristol.
- Figures sync daily from official NHS data — this page updates itself, last refreshed 12 July 2026.
Hardest places to find an NHS dentist
Counties with the lowest share of NHS practices accepting new patients.
| # | County | Accepting |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cumbria 38 practices |
13% |
| 2 | Devon 145 practices |
18% |
| 3 | Bristol 102 practices |
20% |
| 4 | Somerset 94 practices |
21% |
| 5 | Dorset 90 practices |
21% |
| 6 | Cornwall 38 practices |
21% |
| 7 | County Durham & Teesside 144 practices |
23% |
| 8 | North Yorkshire 81 practices |
23% |
| 9 | Hampshire 167 practices |
25% |
| 10 | Norfolk 71 practices |
25% |
Easiest places to find an NHS dentist
Counties where NHS dentists are most likely to be accepting new patients.
| # | County | Accepting |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Midlands 388 practices |
71% |
| 2 | Staffordshire 72 practices |
67% |
| 3 | Greater London 1,097 practices |
64% |
| 4 | Warwickshire 89 practices |
60% |
| 5 | Greater Manchester 377 practices |
58% |
| 6 | Berkshire 146 practices |
51% |
| 7 | Leicestershire 124 practices |
50% |
| 8 | Hertfordshire 171 practices |
49% |
| 9 | Essex 182 practices |
49% |
| 10 | Kent 262 practices |
48% |
How we measure this
finddentist.co.uk tracks the “accepting new patients” status of every NHS dental practice in the NHS Directory of Healthcare Services, synced daily and supplemented by reports from patients between official updates. A county’s rate is the share of its NHS practices flagged as accepting new adult or child NHS patients, grouped by postcode area (which can straddle county lines). Counties with fewer than 15 practices are excluded from the rankings so the figures stay meaningful. We are an independent directory and are not affiliated with the NHS or NHS England.
Journalists & researchers — cite this report
This data is free to use and updates daily. Please credit finddentist.co.uk with a link.
Source: finddentist.co.uk, “The State of NHS Dentistry 2026”
https://finddentist.co.uk/nhs-dentist-report (accessed 12 July 2026)
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