The number of NHS-registered dental practices fell by almost 13% in the five years leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, according to official data.
Figures provided by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) also showed one million fewer NHS dental appointments took place per year after 2014-15.
The data came from NHS Digital and the NHS Business Services Authority after a written question posed by Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Daniel Poulter.
According to the data, in 2014-15 there were 9,661 NHS-registered dental practices, however this fell steadily over the following years to reach 8,479 in 2018-19 and then 8,408 in 2019-20 – a drop of almost 13%.
Patient numbers took a different pattern.
After seeing 30 million patients in 2014-15, this dropped to 28.8 million in 2015-16 and then plateaued at 29 million for the next three years.
There was a drop off to 27.3 million in the 2019-20 year, however this was likely due to the imposition of the national lockdown in March 2020.
