Our position on NHS dentistry

News - 17 February 2026

Communities across England have made it clear that NHS dentistry needs to be fixed – so it’s affordable and accessible. Read more about our evidence and what changes we’re calling for the NHS and Government to make.

Access to NHS dental care continues to be one of the main issues we hear about from the public and in extreme cases, some people take matters into their own hands and do their own dental work.

The Government has pledged to deliver 700k extra urgent dental appointments on the NHS each year and is rolling out a supervised toothbrushing programme to prevent oral health problems in young children.

Ministers are also planning long-term changes to the way dentists are paid for taking on NHS work.

We believe these plans should fundamentally overhaul the current system, to give patients the right to sign up with an NHS dentist permanently. And we’re calling for transparency on the progress that is being made.

Our recommendations

Fundamental reform of NHS dentistry, to give people a right to register with a local NHS dentist, in the same way as they can with a GP, to access ongoing check-ups, appointments, and urgent care when needed.
Publicity campaigns targeted at people most in need on how they can access the 700k extra NHS appointments pledged by the Government’s Dental Rescue Plan.
Transparency on how many extra urgent dental appointments have been delivered in each Integrated Care Board (ICB) area since the election pledge in July 2024.
Updates on how councils are implementing supervised toothbrushing for three to five year-olds living in the 20% top areas of deprivation.
Greater promotion of NHS dental charge exemptions and the NHS Low Income Scheme to ensure people aren’t put off seeking help because of cost.
Full compliance by practices with their contractual duty to update their NHS availability on the NHS website.
Greater transparency over ring-fenced NHS dental budgets, held by ICBs, including any underspends.
Involvement by ICBs of local Healthwatch and communities in shaping local NHS dental services.

Our evidence

We have carried out a number of national polls and analysed the evidence shared with our network of 153 local Healthwatch.

Key findings are listed below in chronological order:

In December 2025 we published evidence about difficulties people faced getting NHS help for urgent dental problems, including the ‘revolving door’ caused by lack of follow-up care and symptoms returning.
68% of people wrongly believe they have the right to permanently register as an NHS patient with a dental practice in the same way as they can sign up for life with an NHS GP, according to polling findings we published in November 2024.
21% of people we surveyed in a cost-of-living poll in January 2024 were put off going to the dentist because of cost. This was up from 15% in March in a similar poll in 2023.
69% of people who accessed private dental care in the past 12 months had no dental insurance, according to our findings in November 2023.
Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions were more likely to avoid going to the dentist because of the cost, according to January 2023 findings.
Four in five people struggled to access NHS dentistry between April 2020 and September 2021, according to analysis of experiences reported by more than 8,000 people to Healthwatch.
Seven out of 42 Integrated Care Board areas had no dental practices taking on new NHS adult patients, according to analysis we conducted between April and December 2021.
61% of people we polled in February 2021, felt that NHS dental treatment was expensive.
73% of people who contacted Healthwatch between July and September 2020 found it difficult to access dental help and support when needed it, compared to 11% who could access it easily.

Our action

We have heard about problems with NHS dentistry ever since Healthwatch launched in 2013 and published our first major report on the topic in 2016. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated access problems and prompted us to launch an #fixNHSdentistry campaign.

Following our high-profile campaigning, NHS England announced some dental contract changes in 2022, including a new contractual duty on NHS dental contractors to regularly update their NHS availability on the NHS website.

In 2023 a national and local Healthwatch representative gave evidence in person to an inquiry held by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. The final inquiry report concluded that there was an access crisis and that “Everyone should be able to access an NHS dentist when they need one, wherever they live”.

We returned to give evidence to MPs in March 2024, describing how people living in areas with no NHS dental provision were driven to desperate DIY measures, which in one case had led to a person overdosing on borrowed painkillers because of untreated problems.

We also shared evidence with a National Audit Office (NAO) inquiry into the impact of the previous Government’s Dental Recovery Plan. In late 2024, the NAO concluded as we had, that the plan had not delivered expected increases in NHS dental appointments being offered to new patients.

We continue to analyse feedback we hear from the public and share our findings with Department of Health and Social Care officials. We also continue to press for data on how many extra urgent dental appointments have been provided on the NHS since the 2024 election. Figures tracking progress on other pledges – such as those for hospital waiting lists - are regularly published.