How our tracking works
DentistTracker exists to answer one question honestly: which NHS dental practices are actually accepting new patients right now? Here is exactly how we do it.
Where the data comes from
Every NHS dental practice in England has an official profile on the NHS website. Practices log in to the NHS Profile Manager and report whether they're accepting new NHS patients — for adults, children, and adults entitled to free care. NHS England asks practices to confirm this information at least every 90 days.
Once a day, we check the official NHS record for every dental practice in England — 5,814 practices at the last count — and record:
- whether the practice says it's accepting new NHS patients, and for which groups;
- the date the practice last confirmed its status with the NHS;
- contact details, opening hours and location from the same official profile.
This page's data was last refreshed on 12 August 2026.
What the statuses mean
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Accepting new NHS patients | The practice told the NHS it's currently taking new patients for routine dental care. We show which groups (adults, children, adults entitled to free care). |
| Accepting children only | The practice is only taking patients aged 17 or under. |
| Not accepting new NHS patients | The practice told the NHS its NHS list is currently closed. Many run waiting lists — it's worth asking. |
| Availability not confirmed recently | The practice hasn't confirmed its status with the NHS recently. Some are still taking patients — phoning can pay off. |
Change tracking
Because we re-check every practice daily, we can record every time a practice opens or closes its NHS list. These changes appear on the practice's page and in our recent-changes feed, so you can see genuine movement rather than a stale snapshot.
What we can't promise
Acceptance statuses are self-reported by practices and can change at any moment — a practice can fill its capacity the same day it opens. Always phone the practice before travelling. DentistTracker is an independent service and is not affiliated with the NHS.
Coverage
We currently cover England (5,814 practices across 1143 towns). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run separate dental systems without an equivalent central availability record — our Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland guides explain how to find a dentist there.
Postcode search
When you search by postcode, your browser sends that postcode to the open Postcodes.io API to find your nearest town. We don't store your postcode, and it isn't linked to you — see our privacy policy.
Licensing & attribution
Practice information is adapted from NHS website data, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If you're a journalist or researcher and would like our aggregated availability data, get in touch — we're happy to share it with attribution.
Spotted an error?
If a practice's details look wrong, tell us. Practices can correct their official record via the NHS Profile Manager, and our next daily check will pick the change up.