The Worst Places to Find an NHS Dentist in 2026
Right now the hardest towns to get an NHS dentist are Darlington, Tunbridge Wells, Halifax. Scroll down to see the full ranking, and check whether your town is on it. Figures update daily.
Hardest towns to find an NHS dentist
Ranked by the share of local NHS practices accepting new patients (towns with 12+ practices).
| # | Town / city | Accepting | Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darlington | 0% | 0/16 |
| 2 | Tunbridge Wells | 0% | 0/13 |
| 3 | Halifax | 0% | 0/12 |
| 4 | Milton Keynes | 5% | 1/22 |
| 5 | Lincoln | 8% | 1/13 |
| 6 | Durham | 8% | 1/12 |
| 7 | Poole | 13% | 2/15 |
| 8 | Reading | 13% | 2/15 |
| 9 | Bristol | 15% | 12/79 |
| 10 | Bradford | 17% | 7/42 |
| 11 | Preston | 17% | 5/30 |
| 12 | Peterborough | 17% | 3/18 |
| 13 | Kettering | 17% | 2/12 |
| 14 | Maidstone | 17% | 2/12 |
| 15 | Southport | 17% | 2/12 |
Easiest towns
Where NHS dentists are most likely to take you on.
| # | Town | Accepting |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dudley | 92% |
| 2 | Chelmsford | 85% |
| 3 | Walsall | 83% |
| 4 | Coventry | 74% |
| 5 | Birmingham | 74% |
| 6 | dartford | 69% |
| 7 | Stourbridge | 69% |
| 8 | Slough | 69% |
| 9 | Croydon | 69% |
| 10 | Hereford | 67% |
How we measure this
Each town’s figure is the share of its NHS dental practices flagged as accepting new adult or child NHS patients in the NHS Directory of Healthcare Services, synced daily and supplemented by patient reports. Only English towns with at least 12 NHS practices are ranked, so the percentages are meaningful. finddentist.co.uk is an independent directory and is not affiliated with the NHS or NHS England.
Journalists & researchers: cite this ranking
Free to use and updated daily. Please credit finddentist.co.uk with a link.
Source: finddentist.co.uk, “The Worst Places to Find an NHS Dentist 2026”
https://finddentist.co.uk/worst-areas-nhs-dentist (accessed 5 November 2026)
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