State of UK Dentistry · September 2026
Dental Art's analysis of Care Quality Commission records — every registration and deregistration in England — shows where practices are closing, which regions are losing them fastest, and the towns where nothing has opened to replace them.
12,113
dental locations currently registered in England
1,122
practices closed since January 2023
3,361
new registrations in the same period
13.9%
of the North East's practices closed since 2023 — England's worst rate
The trend
New registrations have held broadly steady — closures are what moves. Hover the chart for exact figures.
Regional league table
Closures since January 2023 as a share of each region's currently registered practices.
| Region | Registered | Closed since 2023 | Closure rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| North EastWorst | 462 | 64 |
|
| South West | 1,151 | 127 |
|
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 1,042 | 102 |
|
| London | 2,427 | 229 |
|
| South East | 2,219 | 209 |
|
| West Midlands | 1,151 | 107 |
|
| North West | 1,527 | 125 |
|
| East Midlands | 863 | 71 |
|
| East | 1,269 | 88 |
|
Dental deserts
Every town below has had at least two genuine practice closures since January 2023, with zero new dental registrations of any kind in the same period.
Truro
4 closed · 0 opened
New Milton
3 closed · 0 opened
Stockton On Tees
3 closed · 0 opened
Atherstone
2 closed · 0 opened
Birkenhead
2 closed · 0 opened
Broadstairs
2 closed · 0 opened
Chalfont St Giles
2 closed · 0 opened
Hyde
2 closed · 0 opened
Shoreham By Sea
2 closed · 0 opened
South Molton
2 closed · 0 opened
South Ockendon
2 closed · 0 opened
Stoke On Trent
2 closed · 0 opened
Weston Super Mare
2 closed · 0 opened
Methodology
A CQC deregistration is not always a closure — when a practice changes owner, the old registration closes and a new one opens at the same address. This analysis counts a closure only when a deregistration has no corresponding new registration at the same postcode within a window of 90 days before to 6 months after the deregistration date.
That filter removes 1,308 ownership transfers from the raw 2,430 deregistrations since January 2023, leaving 1,122 genuine closures. London is treated as a single conurbation and excluded from town-level counts. Figures refresh daily from the CQC register.
Journalists: regional and town-level breakdowns are available on request — contact us. Please credit Dental Art with a link when citing this analysis.
Search 12,113 registered practices across the UK.