Only about three in ten NHS dental practices in England are taking on new adult patients, according to live data from the NHS website, underlining how hard it remains to find an NHS dentist.

Of the 5,847 NHS dental practices in England listed on the NHS website, 1,784, or 31 per cent, say they are taking new adult NHS patients, while 2,551, or 44 per cent, are taking children. A further 1,260 practices, 22 per cent of the total, have not said either way. The figures were updated on 11 November 2026.

The picture varies sharply by region. Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East have the lowest adult access, with only 16 per cent of listed practices in each region taking new adult patients. The South West is only slightly better at 17 per cent. London stands at 45 per cent, while the West Midlands has the highest rate in England at 57 per cent.

Whole areas with no practice taking adults

In some parliamentary constituencies, not a single listed practice says it is taking new adult NHS patients. Darlington, Liverpool West Derby, North Somerset, the City of Durham, Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Poole and Halifax all record zero per cent for adults, each with between nine and 13 listed practices.

The same pattern repeats in other areas. In Pendle and Clitheroe, Calder Valley, Bristol Central, Lincoln and North Cornwall, no listed practice is taking new adults either, and in each case only one practice is taking children.

There are small signs of movement: 35 practices have started taking new NHS patients in the past seven days and still say they are doing so.

Why so few practices are taking patients

The British Dental Association says the NHS in England only pays for enough dentistry to treat around half the population, and that the roughly 3 billion pound budget for NHS dentistry has barely changed in years despite rising costs and a growing population. In written evidence to Parliament, the association said around 13 million people were unable to access NHS dental care at the start of 2024, more than one in four adults in England and more than three times as many as before the pandemic.

The association also cited official figures showing that 97 per cent of people without a dentist who tried to access NHS dental care in England were unsuccessful, with a fifth of those who tried saying they were in pain.

During 2026 the government began changing the NHS dental contract in England, making urgent care a core part of what NHS practices must provide and paying for longer packages of treatment for people with complex problems such as severe tooth decay or gum disease.

What to do if you cannot find a dentist

Patients can search for NHS dentists on the NHS website, which shows whether practices say they are taking new patients. If no practice nearby is accepting NHS patients, the local integrated care board, which manages NHS dental services in the area, may be able to help. For urgent dental problems such as pain or swelling, the NHS advises calling NHS 111 or visiting 111.nhs.uk.

One caution applies to the figures themselves: they reflect what practices have told the NHS website, and more than a fifth of practices have not stated their position at all, so the true number taking new patients could be slightly higher, or lower, than the headline suggests. Even so, the data shows that for most adults in England, finding an NHS dentist still means long odds.