Written question asked by Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 June 2026. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Dentistry

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS dentists there were in England in each of the last five years.

Answer

The following table shows the number of dentists that performed National Health Service work each year in England between 2020/21 and 2024/25:

Financial year	Number of dentists performing NHS work
2020/21	23,733
2021/22	24,265
2022/23	24,151
2023/24	24,307
2024/25	24,655

Source: NHS Business Services Authority annual dental statistics

Secondary information