Finding a dentist in York can start with a postcode search and end with a list of practices to call. A practice may offer NHS treatment, but that tells you little about whether it has room for a new patient.
In Healthwatch York’s 2025 Core Connectors report, long waiting lists were the biggest dental concern raised by the young people who took part. Some described waiting months or even years for an appointment.
Going private can still mean spending an evening on the search. A patient might open several practice websites just to work out which ones offer the treatment they need, where they’re based and whether their opening hours fit around work or school. There are comparison tools for flights, hotels and car insurance. When it comes to dental care, people are often left to piece together the information themselves.
Sul Malik, a dental student at Newcastle University, heard similar frustrations from patients during his training. Some had already called several practices looking for NHS care. Others told him they had given up. Those conversations led Sul to build DentalCompare, a free website that brings local dental options together.
On the York comparison page, residents can look at NHS and private practices side by side. Someone considering private care can compare locations, opening hours, patient ratings and listed services in one place before contacting a practice. A family looking for NHS care can check which practices are listed as taking new adult or child patients and work out which ones to call first.
Residents still looking for NHS care can also sign up for free NHS Dentist Alerts. They enter their postcode, choose how far they can travel and select whether they need care for an adult, a child or both.
Once they confirm their email address, they can receive an alert when a practice within that distance is listed as accepting new NHS patients. They can then call the practice directly to confirm whether it still has space.
