If you live in the UK in 2025, you have probably heard that dentistry is “in crisis”. That is only part of the story. Behind the headlines are some very real numbers that affect how easily you can see a dentist, how much you pay, and what happens if you put things off for too long.
Below are 40 carefully sourced statistics that paint a clear picture of what is going on. Each one links directly to the original data, so you can check the details for yourself.
1. Access to dentists in 2025
1. In 2024 to 2025, NHS England delivered over 35 million courses of dental treatment and 73 million units of dental activity, with around 18 million adults seen in the last 24 months and 6.9 million children seen in the last 12 months, according to official NHS Dental statistics for England 2024 to 2025.
2. Those figures are still below pre covid levels. Analysis for the think tank Onward shows that, instead of the 44 million adults and 12 million children who should ideally be seen in a typical period, only 18 million adults and 6 million children were actually seen by an NHS dentist, based on NHS Dental Statistics for England 2022 to 2023.
3. A new NHS dental workforce release shows there were 24,543 dentists with NHS activity in 2024 to 2025, which works out at roughly 42 dentists per 100,000 people, according to the NHSBSA Dental statistics 2024 to 2025.
4. The House of Commons Library notes that only about 40 per cent of adults had been seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months by mid-2023, compared with 52 per cent before the pandemic, in its briefing on NHS dentistry in England.
5. The same briefing highlights that just 56 per cent of children had seen an NHS dentist in the past year, still below pre pandemic levels, again based on NHS Dental Statistics for England 2022 to 2023.
6. The British Dental Association, using data from the ONS Health Insight Survey, reports that 96.9 per cent of people without a dentist who tried to access NHS dental care were unsuccessful, in its analysis titled “Dentists: 97% of new patients unable to access NHS care”.
7. The same BDA briefing notes that, among those who failed to secure NHS care, 78.5 per cent did nothing, while small numbers diverted to A&E or their GP, as set out in the BDA’s statement on access to NHS dentistry.
8. A 2025 insight piece on access from the House of Commons Library stresses that access to NHS dentists is highly uneven across England, with people in areas with fewer dentists and higher vacancies significantly less likely to have been seen recently, according to the article “How does access to NHS dentistry compare across areas in England?”.
9. A 2025 analysis of ONS data found that 12 per cent of people in England do not have a dentist at all, and that just over half use NHS services while about a third use private care, as summarised in “Dentistry access in Great Britain”.
10. Local Government Association analysis of “dental deserts” shows that some deprived areas, such as Middlesbrough, have far fewer NHS dental practices per 100,000 people than wealthier areas, according to the LGA briefing on persistent dental deserts and inequalities in access.
2. The state of UK teeth and gums
11. The National Dental Epidemiology Programme’s 2024 survey found that 26.9 per cent of five year olds in England had signs of dental decay in their teeth, with 22.4 per cent showing obvious dentinal decay, as outlined in the Oral health survey of 5 year old schoolchildren 2024.
12. Among those five year olds with decay, the average was 3.5 decayed teeth per child, and more than 80 per cent of decayed teeth were untreated, according to the same NDEP 2024 survey results.
13. Inequalities are stark. Children in the most deprived areas are over twice as likely to have obvious dentinal decay as those in the least deprived areas, as highlighted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in its response to the NDEP 2024 findings.
14. Official NHS statistics show that, in 2022 to 2023, there were 47,581 hospital tooth extraction episodes in 0 to 19 year olds, and 31,165 of those were due to tooth decay, according to the government commentary on hospital tooth extractions in children and young people.
15. The estimated cost to the NHS of tooth extractions in children that year was £40.7 million, most of which was for decay related cases, again from the same hospital tooth extractions commentary 2023.
16. An evidence based plan for children’s oral health notes that around 6 million people in England are supplied with artificially fluoridated water and about 300,000 with naturally fluoridated water, which is only around 10 per cent of the population, according to the paper on improving children’s oral health and water fluoridation.
17. A Parliamentary research briefing on water fluoridation confirms that approximately 6 million people have a fluoridated water supply, with a further third of a million benefitting from naturally optimal levels of fluoride, in its report on water fluoridation and dental health.
18. The House of Commons debate on NHS dentistry in early 2024 also recorded that only about 6 million people in England currently benefit from water fluoridation, despite evidence that it can cut extractions in deprived areas by up to 56 per cent, in the discussion on NHS Dentistry: Recovery and Reform.
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3. Habits, hygiene and how often people visit
19. Denplan’s 2024 consumer oral health survey of over 5,000 adults found that 25 per cent of adults do not visit the dentist for a check up at least once every two years, and 8 per cent never go at all, as set out in the Denplan Oral Health Survey Results 2024.
20. The same Denplan report shows that only 40 per cent of adults manage a check up every six months, and 66 per cent say they visit at least once a year, as detailed in the 2024 Denplan survey tables.
21. A separate 2024 survey by a Leeds practice, 543 Dental Centre, found that only 40 per cent of adults go for a check up every six months, 25 per cent go less than every two years, and 8 per cent say they never visit the dentist, according to the article on shocking statistics about the nation’s oral hygiene.
22. The same 543 Dental survey reported that almost a third of adults brush less than twice a day and 6 per cent admit they do not brush every day, as described in its review of UK oral hygiene habits.
23. Earlier work from Denplan, summarised by the Oral Health Foundation, found that 20 per cent of UK adults are not visiting a dentist regularly, and 23 per cent of adults who attend less often than every two years do so only when they are in pain or not at all, highlighted in the Denplan oral health report.
24. The Adult Oral Health Survey 2021, published in 2024, found that among adults who visited less often than every two years before the pandemic, 34 per cent said they could not afford charges and 12 per cent said they could not find a dentist, according to the official report on service use and barriers to accessing care.
25. In the same survey, 19 per cent of those irregular attenders cited being afraid of going to the dentist as a reason, and 15 per cent pointed to previous bad experiences, again set out in the Adult Oral Health Survey barriers chapter.
26. A 2025 Denplan briefing on the UK’s oral health crisis noted that three quarters of adults are not seeing a dentist as often as recommended, according to its article on collaboration to tackle the UK’s oral health crisis.
4. Money, costs and how people pay
27. For 2024 to 2025, NHS dental charges in England are £27.40 for Band 1, £75.30 for Band 2, and £326.70 for Band 3 treatment, with £27.40 for urgent care, as laid out in the government guidance on NHS dental services charges.
28. Over the last decade, the Commons Library notes that the real terms contribution from NHS England to dental services has fallen, while patient charges now account for around 26 per cent of funding, discussed in its briefing on NHS dentistry in England.
29. Research by MyTribe, reported in late 2024, shows that since 2022 the price of a private white filling has risen from £105 to £129, an extraction from £105 to £139, a scale and polish from £65 to £75, and a new patient consultation from £65 to £80, summarised in coverage of “eye watering” dental treatment price hikes.
30. The same analysis found that a routine check up has increased from £48 to £55, and that a tooth extraction can cost up to £435 in some regions, again reported in the article on private dental treatment price increases.
31. Denplan’s 2024 survey found that 61 per cent of NHS dental patients would consider paying for private care, mainly to access faster treatment, as summarised in its Oral Health Survey 2024.
32. A related Denplan press release reported that 29 per cent of people who do not visit regularly say it is because they cannot find or access a local NHS dentist, a rise of 12 percentage points since 2021, according to the article on paying for private dental care.
33. Denplan also highlights that nearly 13 million people are unable to access NHS dentistry and now live in so called “dental deserts”, in the same paying for private care briefing.
34. The Dental Schools Council estimates that poor oral health leads to over 1.2 million lost workdays every year, costing the UK economy around £105 million, in its 2025 position paper “Fixing NHS dentistry”.
5. Children, extractions and school
35. The Dental Schools Council notes that in 2022 to 2023 there were 31,165 tooth decay related extractions in children, an average of 85 per day, costing NHS England £40.7 million, as set out in “Fixing NHS dentistry”.
36. The same report highlights that dental problems cause children to miss an average of three school days each year, again summarised in its analysis of the impact of poor oral health.
37. A Parliamentary research note on water fluoridation reiterates that tooth decay remains a leading cause of hospital admission for children aged five to nine, in its 2024 update on water fluoridation and dental health.
38. House of Commons Library analysis for the Liberal Democrats suggests that 5.35 million children in England had not been seen by an NHS dentist in the year to March 2024, meaning around 44.6 per cent of children missed out on a check up, according to the press release on children not seen by an NHS dentist in the past year.
6. Mouth cancer and serious disease
39. The Oral Health Foundation’s State of Mouth Cancer UK Report 2024 shows there are 10,825 new cases of mouth cancer a year in the UK, an increase of 133 per cent over 20 years, as set out in “Mouth cancer cases in the UK hit record high” and its State of Mouth Cancer UK 2024 report.
40. That report also notes that mouth cancer causes around 3,637 deaths each year, with more than half of cases diagnosed at stages 3 or 4, again detailed in the State of Mouth Cancer UK Report 2024.
What these numbers mean for you
Taken together, these 40 statistics show a clear pattern. Access to NHS dentistry is tight, private fees have risen sharply, and children’s teeth are taking the brunt of the system’s problems. At the same time, preventable issues like decay and mouth cancer are still very common, despite dentistry being almost entirely avoidable disease when prevention is taken seriously.
For patients, the practical message is simple: keep up regular check ups where you can, look after your teeth at home with fluoride toothpaste and sensible sugar habits, and seek help early if something does not feel right. For policymakers, the numbers are a reminder that dental care is not cosmetic, it is basic healthcare, and the statistics are already telling the story before patients even open their mouths.
For readers who want to learn more about oral health, prevention and modern dentistry, the Smile London blog has plenty of useful guides and insights.
