New data from the King’s Fund’s Public Satisfaction with the NHS and Social Care in 2025 survey shows that NHS dentistry satisfaction remains stubbornly low, but also demonstrates how different national approaches can make a significant difference to public sentiment.
The survey, drawn from 1,460 respondents on specific services including dentistry, found that just 22% of people across Britain said they were satisfied with NHS dentistry, while 54% were dissatisfied. The figures are broadly similar to last year and sit close to the lowest recorded since the survey began.
Scotland tells a different story
The UK-wide headline masks a divergence that the dental profession will find instructive. Scottish respondents reported NHS dentistry satisfaction of 40%, significantly higher than England at 21% and Wales at a striking 14%. Scotland was the only nation where respondents were more satisfied than dissatisfied.
For experienced dental professionals, the reason for this disparity is obvious. Scotland and Northern Ireland continue to operate an item-of-service model, where dentists are paid for each treatment delivered. England and Wales have long relied on the UDA framework, which pays the same regardless of whether a course of treatment is simple or complex. Wales will move away from UDAs from April, shifting to a time-based model.
What the data is really measuring
NHS dentistry satisfaction is not really measuring the clinical competence of the professionals working within it.
Dental teams across the UK continue to deliver high-quality care under sustained pressure, rising patient expectations and shrinking NHS capacity.
The findings in the King’s Fund report arguably demonstrate how public confidence follows system design.
The reform question
With Wales moving to a time-based model in April and England’s dental contract reform 2026 introducing mandatory urgent care quotas, the pressure for structural change is building.
The Scotland data offers policymakers an existing model, within the same healthcare system, that is demonstrably producing better outcomes of patient satisfaction.
For dental teams still operating under the UDA framework, that comparison is becoming increasingly difficult for the government to ignore.
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