Nine out of ten (92%) people who tried to access a NHS dentist in the past two years were successful, suggests a new survey from the Department of Health.
While some regional variation exists - 95% of people in the North East managed to get an appointment compared to 90% in the South Central region - the results suggest that progress has been made in the NHS.
However, the results suggest the public's perceptions about access may remain negative. The second most frequent response given for not trying to get an NHS dentist appointment was the belief that it would not be possible to get one. In a survey of 1,500 workers carried out by dental benefit provider Denplan in March, 67% said they believed there are issues accessing NHS dentistry at the moment.
In total,147,600 people responded to the questions about access to dentistry as part of the quarterly survey of GP adult patients, carried out on behalf of the Department of Health. Of this number 59% had tried to obtain an NHS dentist appointment.
Surveys by insurers tend to suggest more prevalent access problems. Simplyhealth's 2010 dental survey of 1,000 people carried out between February and March of this year found that 39% of respondents had struggled to find an NHS dentist.
From: Health Insurance Magazine
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