Dental registration rate in Northern Ireland’s public healthcare service falls below 50%, with 95,000 patients lost in one year

Source: 2025/26 General Dental Services Statistics Report

DentalGoodNews｜Recently, the "2025/26 General Dental Services Statistical Report" published by the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DoH) and the Business Services Organisation (BSO) of the Health and Social Care system shows that as of the end of March 2026, the dental registration rate for Northern Ireland's Health Service (HS) was 49%. The British Dental Association | BDA stated that this is the first time in "a generation" that the registration rate has fallen below 50%.

Statistics show that the number of registered HS patients across Northern Ireland decreased by 95,000 compared with March 2025, a decline of approximately 9%. Among them, the adult registration rate fell to 44%, the lowest level since 2009; the child registration rate was 67%.

The number of practicing dentists in Northern Ireland also shows a shrinking trend. Data from this report shows that as of the end of March 2026, Northern Ireland had a total of 351 dental practices and 1,180 registered HS dentists, with the number of registered dentists decreasing by 2% year-on-year.

Source: 2025/26 General Dental Services Statistics Report

In terms of regional differences, adult registration rates vary significantly across regions: Causeway Coast and Glens had the highest registration rate at 52%, notably higher than the Northern Ireland average (44%); while Fermanagh and Omagh had the lowest at only 30%, 13 percentage points below the Northern Ireland average, yet the child registration rate in that region reached 70%, higher than the Northern Ireland average (67%). In addition, adult treatment claims decreased by 5% year-on-year, and the number of clinical examinations fell by 37% compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019/20).

Source: 2025/26 General Dental Services Statistics Report

The report also pointed out that the Gross Cost of Dental Services in Northern Ireland for 2025/26 was £134.4 million, with a per-capita cost of £118.70 for registered patients, up 11% year-on-year. Cross-regional data shows that 94% of Northern Ireland residents live within 5 miles of a dental practice, but differences in service accessibility still exist.

Ciara Gallagher, Chair of the British Dental Association | BDA Northern Ireland Dental Practice Committee, said: "With funding shortages and overwhelming workloads, practices are already on the brink of collapse, and they cannot be expected to continue providing health services at a loss." In response to the £8 million in support funding invested by the Northern Ireland Department of Health mentioned in previous reports, the BDA pointed out that the measure is insufficient and called for the prompt publication of the "Cost-of-Service review" and the advancement of reform of the dental payment system.