Here is London area with best NHS dentist access in England

North West London has been identified as the area with the best access to National Health Service (NHS) dentists in England.

The British Dental Association warns that the NHS dentistry service “has effectively ceased to exist for millions”.

It comes a few days after the Government rolled out 700,000 extra urgent dentist appointments in ‘dental deserts’ where patients struggle to access dental care.

According to MyLondon’s report, figures from the NHS Business Services Authority, an arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care, show there were 1,427 dentists working in the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board area in 2023-24.

This translates to 67 dentists per 100,000 people in the area – up slightly from 66 the year before, and from 65 in 2019-20.

Across England, there was an average 42 dentists per 100,000 people in 2023-24, which was in line with the previous year, but down from a rate of 44 in 2019-20, the magazine reports.

There were also significant disparities in access to dental care across the country – Norfolk and Waveney counted 31 dentists per 100,000 population last year for instance.

“Access to NHS dentistry has always been a postcode lottery, but the chances of your numbers coming up are now more remote than ever. This reality is this service has effectively ceased to exist for millions,” BDA chair Eddie Crouch told MyLondon.

Crouch urged the Government to fund its pledge to rebuild the NHS dentistry service, which includes the roll out of extra urgent dentist appointments as well as supervised toothbrushing in schools, saying “Only then will this service have a future”.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, warned NHS dentistry is “leaving patients struggling to get the care they need”.

She added that dental care appointments were out of reach in certain areas.