According to the Health Insight Survey, in England, 12% of individuals surveyed do not have a dentist at all, whilst 52.8% of people access dentistry services through the NHS and 35% go private.
On January 9th, the Office for National Statistics published the most recent data from the Health Insight Survey, under commission by the NHS England. This new piece of data offers powerful insights into experiences of NHS healthcare services throughout England and covers a wide range of relevant topics. These include: experiences in GP practices and with NHS treatments, figures on dental and pharmacy services, and data on long term health conditions. These statistics are categorised by sex, age group, ethnic group, rural urban classification, health condition, region, and NHS Integrated Care Board.
The data on dental specific care offers relevant insights on customer satisfaction within NHS services. In total, amongst all demographics, satisfaction with NHS dental care received is high, with only 4% of the population studied reporting dissatisfaction. Nonetheless, the numbers show a high percentage of individuals without a dentist who were unsuccessful in making an NHS dental appointment, (81.2%). Furthermore, 28% of those surveyed who did not have a dentist had tried to access NHS dental care due to urgent need.
The dataset also reveals stark cross country divides on access to dentistry care. The percentage of individuals who have reported to not have a dentist in the ICB of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is 23.3%, followed closely by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB. Across such regions, these rates contrast with those of private dentistry, with 40% of individuals surveyed in the ICB of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly reporting that they use private healthcare providers for dentistry purposes.
The NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board registers the highest rate of individuals who have accessed private dentistry services (48.5%), whilst the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board registers the highest rate of individuals who have accessed NHS practices (72.4%).
About this map
The map below was created using our ‘Integrated Care Boards – 2023’ template, with data from the Office for National Statistics. The visualisation maps the statistics from the Health Insight Survey on dentistry access and is categorised per service type: “NHS dentist”, “Private dentist”, “Dental hospital” and “Do not have a dentist”.
To learn about the statistics in your area, double click the map or use the search bar.