If you cannot find an NHS dentist in Nottinghamshire, you have three options. You can keep chasing an NHS place and get yourself onto lists. You can call NHS 111 if you are in pain right now. Or you can move to private care, either paying per visit or spreading the cost with a monthly plan. Which one is right depends on whether you are in pain, and on what you can afford. This guide covers all three, including the two that do not involve us.
One thing worth saying plainly before any of it. If you have rung a dozen practices and been told no by every one of them, you have not failed at anything. NHS dental lists across Nottinghamshire have been effectively closed to new adult patients for a long time now. It is a shortage, not a personal failing, and the receptionists saying no to you are not enjoying it either.
Option 1: keep chasing NHS care
Do not give up on this just because it is slow. It costs you nothing but time, and it is by far the cheapest care available if you can get it.
Use the official NHS 'Find a dentist' service instead of ringing round at random. It shows which practices are currently taking new NHS patients, and it is updated more often than most people assume.
Widen your radius. Practices in the villages and smaller towns around Nottingham sometimes have space when the city ones are full.
Ask to go on a waiting list even when the answer is no, then ring back every so often. Lists do move as practices take on staff or capacity changes.
If you are pregnant, or have had a baby in the past 12 months, say so when you call. You are entitled to free NHS dental treatment and it is worth stating up front.
Children under 18 get free NHS dental care. If a practice cannot take you, ask whether they can take your children. The answer is sometimes different.
What NHS treatment costs, if you get it
NHS charges in England went up on 1 April 2026. There are three bands, and you pay only one charge for a course of treatment, however many appointments it takes.
Band 1 costs £27.90. It covers examination, diagnosis, X-rays, advice, and a scale and polish if you clinically need one.
Band 2 costs £76.60. That is everything in Band 1, plus fillings, extractions or root canal treatment.
Band 3 costs £332.10. Everything above, plus crowns, dentures or bridges.
You pay nothing at all if you are exempt. That includes under-18s, anyone pregnant or who has given birth in the last year, and people on certain qualifying benefits. If money is the thing stopping you and you think you might be exempt, check properly before you assume you are not.
Option 2: if you are in pain right now
Urgent care and getting registered somewhere are two separate problems, and people run them together constantly. You do not need to be registered anywhere to get help with a dental emergency.
Call NHS 111. It is free, it runs 24 hours, and it can triage you to an NHS urgent dental service. This works whether or not you have an NHS dentist.
Most private practices, this one included, will see someone in pain who is not a registered patient. An emergency appointment here is £50, and any treatment is quoted to you before we start.
If there is facial swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, or bleeding you cannot stop, do not wait for a dental appointment. Go to A&E or call 999.
Our full guide to urgent care, including what to do in the first hour, is here: emergency dentist in Nottingham.
Option 3: moving to private care
A lot of people in Nottinghamshire are private now, not because they chose it but because there was no NHS option and their teeth would not wait. If that is where you have ended up, the useful thing is knowing what it costs, so you can decide using real numbers instead of dread.
A new patient examination here is £60.
A hygienist scale and polish is from £70.
A white filling is from £200. An amalgam filling is from £150.
Root canal treatment is from £300 for a single canal, from £450 for a molar.
A routine extraction is from £180.
An emergency appointment is £50.
Two honest caveats. Private care costs more than NHS care, and nobody should pretend otherwise. If you can get an NHS place, take it. And if you have been away from dentistry for years there may be a backlog of work waiting, which can add up. What we can promise is a written plan with prices before anything is done, and treatment staged over months so it does not land as one bill.
"I can't afford private"
This is the most common thing people say, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch.
If you truly cannot afford private care, keep working the NHS route above, check whether you are exempt from charges, and use NHS 111 for anything urgent. That is the honest answer, and none of it involves us.
It is worth knowing, though, that the choice is not simply the NHS or a frightening bill. What stops most people is not the price of a check-up. It is the fear of an unpredictable one. A membership plan exists to take that away: you pay monthly, your routine care is included, and treatment is discounted.
Spreading the cost with membership
If you are a regular patient, it is worth knowing that Pear Tree membership plans start from £10.95 a month and include your routine check-ups, hygiene visits and X-rays, plus 10% off selected treatments and worldwide dental accident and emergency cover on every plan. For families, the Family Plan covers everyone from £49.50 a month. Members on our Complete Care plan save about £177 a year against paying for the same routine care appointment by appointment — ask us which treatments the discount applies to.
Ask any practice, ours included, one question before you get your hopes up: does outstanding treatment have to be completed before you can join a plan? Plans are built for maintaining a healthy mouth, not for clearing a backlog, and people coming back after a long gap get caught out by this all the time. Ask early, and ask what the way in looks like. There usually is one.
At Pear Tree, care for patients moving from NHS to private dentistry is led by our principal dentists. Dr Javaad Mirza (MD, BDS, GDC 290378) has a special interest in cosmetic dentistry, including implants, veneers and orthodontics, and will talk you through what is realistic for your teeth at your consultation.
If you decide to come to us
We are a private practice in Burton Joyce, NG14 5AE, a few minutes from Gedling, Arnold, Lowdham and Carlton. We are not an NHS practice and we will not pretend to be one. If you want to talk it through before committing to anything, book an appointment or call us on 0115 931 2935. Tell whoever answers that you have been trying to find an NHS dentist. They hear it every week and will know exactly what you mean.
FAQ
Q: Why can't I find an NHS dentist in Nottinghamshire? A: NHS dental lists across the county have been effectively closed to new adult patients for some time. It is a capacity shortage rather than anything you have done wrong, and it affects large parts of England, not only here.
Q: What do I do if I am in pain and have no dentist? A: Call NHS 111. It is free, available 24 hours, and it works whether or not you are registered anywhere. Private practices will also see people in pain who are not their patients. An emergency appointment at Pear Tree Dental is £50.
Q: Are my children still entitled to NHS dental care? A: Yes. Under-18s get free NHS dental treatment. If a practice cannot take you as an adult, ask anyway whether they can take your children, because the answer is sometimes different.
Q: Is private dentistry much more expensive? A: For routine care, yes. NHS Band 1 is £27.90 against a £60 private examination here. The gap narrows on bigger treatment, and a membership plan makes the cost predictable, but nobody should tell you private is cheaper. If you can get an NHS place, take it.
Q: I have not been to a dentist in years and I am dreading it. A: You are in very good company, and nobody here is going to lecture you about the gap. The first appointment is a look, a conversation and a written plan. Nothing gets treated on the day unless you agree to it.
Clinically reviewed by Javaad Mirza (MD, BDS), Principal Dentist at Pear Tree Dental, GDC No. 290378. Last reviewed July 2026. NHS charges are those in force from 1 April 2026. Private prices are correct at the time of review and confirmed in writing before any treatment. Pear Tree Dental is a private practice and does not provide NHS dentistry. Book an appointment.