Your experiences of NHS Dentistry
We previously asked questions about NHS Dentistry in a poll in January 2023 and wanted to see if there had been any changes over the past two years.
2023 NHS Dentistry poll results
In January 2023, 220 people from across Sussex shared their views with us and in January 2025, 595 people responded to our dentistry poll.
Accessing NHS Dental services:
- More than half our respondents (52%) indicated it is a struggle to access a dentist able to offer NHS treatment, which is higher than in 2023 (41%).
- However, we saw an increase in the proportion of respondents who said they were able to access NHS dentistry without any issues in 2025 (44%), compared to 2023 (26%).
- We also saw a decrease in the proportion of respondents in 2025 (55%) who were not confident about accessing NHS dental services in the next 12 months, compared to 2023 (62%).
A greater percentage of respondents (40%) are paying for treatment privately as they could not find any NHS dentists, compared to 22% in 2023, or to access an appointment or treatment more quickly (27% in 2025 compared to 5% in 2023).
Our results show a greater proportion of people are struggling to pay for dental treatment in 2025 compared to 2023. A growing percentage are unable to afford either NHS charges for dental treatment or private treatment costs.
Rates of satisfaction with ‘ability to find a dentist offering NHS treatment’ increased, with 42% being very satisfied/satisfied in 2025, compared to 26% in 2023.
Rates of satisfaction with ‘treatment received’ also increased. In 2025, 50% of respondents report being ‘very satisfied/satisfied’ with treatment received, compared to 29% in 2023. We saw a slight decrease in ‘very dissatisfied’ responses, down to from 12% in 2023 to 9% in 2025.
49% of respondents who had used Emergency Dental services and 50% of respondents using the Sussex Dental Helpline were ‘very dissatisfied’.
Next steps
As the public champion for local health and care services, Healthwatch will continue to work in partnership with commissioners and providers to monitor the experiences of patients and the public in accessing health and care services locally and explore how ongoing improvements may be delivered.
