NHS polling suggests 14 million people in England are living with an ‘unmet need’ but are unable to get an NHS dentist
More people are giving up even trying to get a dental appointment amid the ongoing NHS access crisis.
More than a quarter of the adult population in England have an “unmet need” for dentistry and are unable to access an NHS dentist according to the GP Patient Survey 2025. Analysis by the British Dental Association (BDA) shows that within this, some 5.9 million people have given up trying, saying “I didn’t think I could get an NHS dentist”. It suggests an increase of 550,000 people giving up when compared to 2024.
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: “We’ll never make the shift from sickness to prevention when millions have given up even trying to access care.”
READ MORE: Dentist being fined £150K by NHS for keeping patients’ teeth too healthy
The Government has made “from sickness to prevention” one of the three key pillars of its NHS reform plans.
The latest annual primary care survey of 700,000 patients suggests unmet need for NHS dentistry remains at an all-time high of £13.8 million of the population of England.
Within this 5.7 million had tried and failed to get an appointment with an NHS dentist. Some 1.3 million were unable to access care because NHS dental charges were too expensive for them. The survey suggests 880,000 were on a waiting list for an NHS dentist.
READ MORE: ‘I called NHS dentists for 7 years but couldn’t get in, so I pulled all my teeth out’
It comes after dentistry minister Stephen Kinnock vowed to revamp the NHS dental contract during this parliament. The contract is blamed by many for the current crisis which means most dentists are no longer taking on new NHS patients.
It has been branded “not fit for purpose” by the Health Committee and “perverse” by the British Dental Association, as it disincentivises treating people who need care most. Dentists make a financial loss on high-needs patients.
READ MORE: NHS reveals major change after dentist fined £150K for keeping teeth too healthy
Contract reform is a key demand of the Mirror ’s Dentists for All campaign and it comes a week after a series of special reports last week from Devon which is one of Britain’s worst ‘dentistry deserts’.
However minister Kinnock admitted during evidence before the Health Committee this week that overall funding for NHS dentistry was unlikely to be substantially increased. The current £3 billion budget for England is only enough to fund care for half the population.
READ MORE: Dentist: ‘I feel guilty but I’m quitting the NHS to earn more going private’
The committee heard that the budget for England has fallen from £3.6 billion in a decade and the British Dental Association said it has meant a funding cut of a third in real terms.
Eddie Crouch added: “Our patients continue to face an historic crisis, that requires a proportionate response from government.
“Ministers agree that NHS dentistry is at death’s door. But they don’t appear ready yet to invest in the rebuild. It will take both urgency and ambition to save NHS dentistry.”
READ MORE: Major NHS change will see EVERYONE get a dentist within four years
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We inherited a broken NHS dental system and have begun fixing it, including 700,000 urgent appointments and supervised toothbrushing for young children in deprived areas. Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform dentistry. New reforms to the dental contract will prioritise those with urgent and complex needs, with new measures for those with extreme tooth decay and gum disease.
“We are also committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract by the end of this parliament and ensuring NHS-trained dentists stay in the system for a minimum period ”