In January to March 2024, 2.56 million adults were asked about their views on NHS dentistry as part of the GP Patient Survey. Participants were asked if they had tried to obtain an appointment with an NHS dentist and, if so, whether it was with a practice they had been to before and if they had been successful. They were also asked what their overall experience was of NHS dentistry. Patients who hadn’t tried to obtain an NHS dentist in the previous two years were asked to select the main reason why they hadn’t tried.

Since July 2022, results have been shown at ICS level following the changes made in the Health and Social Care Act 2022.  This year, the survey questionnaire has been redeveloped and the survey design changed. This means that it is not possible to draw meaningful conclusions on changes over time from previous versions of the survey.

The results from the survey responses are presented here at national (England), regional and ICS level.

Main results

2.56 million GP Patients aged 16 and over were contacted, 699,790 replies were received, with a response rate of 27%.

• Just over half of all respondents (52.4%) had tried to get an NHS dental appointment for themselves in the last 2 years, with just over a quarter (27.6%) saying they had never tried to get an NHS dental appointment.
• Of those that had tried to get an appointment within the last 2 years, 84.4% had tried on the most recent occasion to get an appointment with a practice they had been to before for NHS dental care.
• 3% of patients who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last 2 years had been able to do so.
• Those who had been unable to do so reported that the dentist was not taking new patients (11.1%), that no appointments were available (9.5%) or that they could not do so for another reason (5.9%). This percentage figure relates to the percentage of patients who had tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last 2 years, not the percentage of patients who had been unsuccessful in getting an appointment.
• It is important to bear in mind that the question asking whether a patient had been able to get an NHS dental appointment allowed multiple, negative responses; for example a patient could have said no appointments were available and the dentist was not taking new patients.
• Of patients who have tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years, 69.2% had a good overall experience of NHS dental services.
• When asked for the main reason why they had not tried to get an NHS dental appointment, the most popular answer amongst those who have not done so in the last two years, (26.8%) was that they prefer to go to a private dentist. The full list was as follows:
  • 26.8% I prefer to go to a private dentist
  • 24.7% I didn’t think I could get an NHS dental appointment
  • 19.7% I haven’t needed to visit a dentist
  • 13.9% Another reason
  • 5.6% I don’t like going to the dentist
  • 5.6% NHS dental care is too expensive
  • 3.6% I’m on a waiting list for an NHS dentist

Additional Documents

Summary report

• The accompanying report below provides a summary of the results, at a national and regional level, and gives comparisons to the previous two years where appropriate. Further breakdowns of these figures can be found in the tables below.
• GP Survey Dental Results Summary January to March 2024

Download data

• For full results of the GP Patient Survey and the questions used, see the GP Patient Survey website.
• GP-Patient-Survey-Dental-Results-January-to-March-2024 – The previous version of Table 5 incorrectly calculated the total respondents; however this calculation had been done correctly in the briefing.

Pre-release Access List

• GP Survey Dental Results January to March 2024 Pre-Release List

How to provide feedback about the results

• NHS England intends to ensure that our published statistics meet the needs of people who use them. We are committed to making information as accessible and useful as possible.
• We therefore welcome feedback from users of the statistics and will consider your comments when reviewing future presentation of the statistics.
• You can tell us what you think by emailing us at feedback-data@nhs.net