City has one of the lowest numbers of adults using NHS dentists in the UK

Peterborough has one of the lowest numbers of adults using NHS dentists in the UK, according to new figures.

Just-released data for two years to June this year, shows that just 21.6 per cent of adults across the city have access to the NHS for dentistry treatment.

That is down from 34. 6 per cent for the two years to 2019.

It puts Peterborough into one of 10 local authority areas with the lowest share of adults seen by an NHS dentist.

Neighbouring Fenland is also among the lowest 10 areas with 23.3 per cent of adults accessing NHS dental treatment over the same period.

That is a fall from 35.9 per cent in 2019.

Peterborough is fifth-lowest and Fenland eighth-lowest of England's council areas.

The figures have been released by Emergensee, which is a national network helping patients access private emergency dental care through selected partner practices.

It means there are about 132,200 adults in Peterborough and 65,500 in Fenland who have not been seen by an NHS dentist in the past two years.

Among people aged 65 and over the share who have not seen an NHS dentist is 20.1 per cent in Peterborough and 22.9 per cent in Fenland, against about 42 per cent across England.

For children, 52.6 per cent of under-18s in Peterborough and 52.3 per cent in Fenland were seen by an NHS dentist in the 12 months to June 2026, against about 60 per cent across England.

The number of dentists doing any NHS work has also fallen across the NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area, from 438 in 2019/20 to 410 in 2025/26

That is equivalent of 43 dentists for every 100,000 people against 49 dentists.

Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes said: “Peterborough has become a NHS dental desert over the last decade with fewer NHS dentists to serving adults and children alike.

“This simply is not good enough.

“It isn’t just people struggling to find NHS treatment it is also the cost to all of us as dental problems build up and become much more serious and costly to deal with.

“This report is a SOS call for the state of NHS dentistry and much more urgent action is needed to fix the broken NHS dental contract and boost the number of practices taking on NHS patients.”