Nine out of ten Britons were able to have their teeth checked by an NHS dentist in the two years to March 2010, according to new research by the Department of Health .
The latest GP Patient Survey, which was carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the DoH, found that 92 per cent of people who tried to book an appointment with a dentist on the NHS were successful.
The survey also revealed that access to dentistry services has improved in recent months, with 95 per cent of people claiming that were able to arrange an appointment in the last three to six months.
A total of 147,600 people were questioned about access to dentistry as part of the survey of GP adult patients. Of those surveyed, 59 per cent said they had tried to obtain an NHS dentist appointment in the last two years.
Of the 41 per cent of adults who had not tried to make an appointment with an NHS dentist, most said it was because the dentist they usually visited had gone private.
The second most frequent response given for not trying to see an NHS dentist was the belief that it wouldn’t be possible to register with one, suggesting that people’s perceptions about access to NHS dentistry remain negative.
