All time low: Less than 44% of adults in Northern Ireland registered with dentist, says BDA
Less than 44% of adults in Northern Ireland are registered with a dentist – an all-time low – with not one practice currently accepting new NHS patients.
The comments to light came after reports of a surge in pop-up dentistry consultations in hotels across Northern Ireland which are reportedly being used to reach new customers for treatment overseas.
The British Dental Association (BDA) warns that NI dentists right across NI are increasingly concerned at how common it is for them to have to treat “very serious dental complications” linked to overseas treatment.
However figures confirm that the boom in such unregistered pop-up hotel consultations come as many people across NI find it difficult to get access to dentistry.
The British Dental Association (BDA) told the News Letter that its latest survey indicates that currently “no practices are prepared to increase their NHS commitment at this time”.
Instead, practices intend to increase their private dentistry – in order to survive financially.
Tristen Kelso, Director of the BDA in Northern Ireland, told the News Letter: “The numbers for health service dentistry in Northern Ireland simply don’t stack up. The gross mismatch in fees paid to practices and the actual cost to provide care has fuelled an access crisis, simply because practices can simply no longer continue to provide NHS dentistry at a loss.”
He said that dental payment reform based on a report into the cost of NHS dentistry is key.
"This Stormont Executive needs to act decisively if it’s serious about putting dentistry on a sustainable footing,” he added.
The BDA asked recently how low patient registration had to go before Government would implement what it argues is feasible financial support.
It reported that the General Dental Services Statistics for 2025/26 showed total registration levels had hit 49% “for the first time in a generation”, with less than 44% of adults now registered – what it said was “an all-time low”.
The BDA stressed that the figures reflect “a disappearing service, one that is struggling to maintain its sustainability".
Typical practices are now delivering NHS care “at a loss”, it said, and a promised Cost-of-Service review from the Health Minister must form the evidence base for “a new, fair and genuinely sustainable dental payment model”.
Mr Kelso said that for several years now, overseas providers have adopted “a novel approach of relying on hotels for hosting ‘pop-up’ events to reach a new customer base" in Northern Ireland.
He told the News Letter that he highlighted the issue for NI in the British Dental Journal in July.
“Dentists right across Northern Ireland are increasingly concerned at how common it has become that patients present to their practices with very serious dental complications after having received dental treatment overseas,” he said.
He called on the Department of Health to close off any regulatory loopholes and issue guidance to protect dentists who “all too often are expected to pick up the pieces when overseas care goes wrong”.
The BDA recently met the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation to warn them of a host of legal and financial risks for its members in hosting such events.
Under UK law, it is a criminal offence to practise dentistry without GDC registration – even simple consultations and examinations.
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) told the BBC this week that it had received intelligence about 21 “unregistered entities” that have organised consultation events since October 2023 – many of them in NI hotels.
The Department of Health was invited to comment.