Finding a dentist in the UK shouldn’t be this hard
OpenWide is building the Booking.com for UK dentistry — one place to see every practice, compare on the things that matter, and book with confidence. Free for patients, always.
The UK dental access crisis
Millions of people across England cannot find an NHS dentist. The British Dental Association estimates that over 4 million adults have tried and failed to get an NHS dental appointment in the past year. In many areas, every practice within a reasonable distance has closed its NHS list entirely.
The process of finding a dentist hasn’t changed in decades: you search online, find a list of names and phone numbers, and call them one by one until someone says “yes, we’re taking patients.” Most say no. Some don’t answer. Nobody publishes whether they are accepting new patients, what they charge for private treatment, or how their care quality compares.
Hotels had this problem. Then Booking.com solved it by aggregating availability, pricing, and reviews into a single search. Flights had this problem. Then Skyscanner solved it. Dentistry in the UK still doesn’t have its equivalent — until now.
The CMA investigation into dentistry
In 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a formal investigation into the UK dental sector. Their findings confirmed what patients already knew: the market is not working.
- •Patients struggle to find available NHS practices — there is no centralised, up-to-date source of which practices are accepting new patients.
- •Pricing is opaque — NHS charges are standardised but private prices vary enormously and are rarely published upfront, making comparison almost impossible.
- •Information asymmetry favours providers — patients have no practical way to compare quality, availability, and price across practices before committing.
- •Consolidation is reducing choice — corporate dental groups are acquiring independent practices, and patients often don’t know who actually owns the practice they’re visiting.
OpenWide directly addresses every one of these problems. We show live NHS availability, transparent pricing, CQC quality data, and patient reviews — the information the CMA says patients need but currently cannot access.
Our mission for patients
OpenWide exists so that finding a dentist is as straightforward as booking a hotel. Enter your postcode, see who’s available, compare on the things that matter, and book — without making a single phone call.
Live NHS availability
See which practices near you are accepting new NHS patients right now, updated daily from NHS regional datasets matched by ODS code.
Transparent pricing
NHS Band charges (Band 1 £26.80, Band 2 £73.50, Band 3 £319.10) and private fees displayed on every listing. No surprises.
Real-time appointments
Practices using Dentally show live bookable slots. Choose a time and book directly — no phone tag.
Quality you can trust
CQC inspection data, Google ratings, and patient reviews on every practice. Make decisions based on evidence, not luck.
OpenWide is completely free for patients. No premium listings, no paywalls, no hidden tiers. Every practice is displayed on equal terms. Think of it like Airbnb for dental care — every option visible, every price transparent, every review real.
Our mission for dental practices
The dental landscape is changing. Corporate groups like {my}dentist, Bupa Dental Care, and Portman Dental Care are acquiring independent practices at pace. Patients searching for a dentist increasingly see the same group names dominating search results, local directories, and paid advertising.
For independent practices and smaller groups, visibility has never been harder. You can’t outspend a national chain on Google Ads. You can’t match their SEO budgets. And generic directories like Yell or Google Maps don’t let you showcase what makes your practice different — your team, your treatments, your pricing, your patient care.
OpenWide levels the playing field. Every practice gets a rich, detailed profile that highlights:
- ✓Your full treatment menu with transparent pricing
- ✓Real patient reviews and your Google rating
- ✓CQC registration and inspection status
- ✓NHS acceptance status and appointment availability
- ✓Opening hours, languages spoken, and specialist expertise
- ✓Direct online booking for patients who are ready to commit
The patients who find you on OpenWide are actively looking for a dentist. They’re not browsing — they’re comparing and ready to book. That’s why practices on OpenWide see higher-intent enquiries than from generic search.
List your practice for free →How we verify availability
Automated data feeds only go so far. NHS acceptance datasets can be weeks out of date, and many practices change their patient intake status without updating any central register. That’s why OpenWide goes beyond APIs — we manually verify availability by contacting clinics directly.
Phone verification
Our team calls dental practices across London and England to confirm whether they are currently accepting new NHS patients, new private patients, or both. We record the date of each call and update our database in real time.
Email outreach
We email practices to verify their treatment menus, pricing, opening hours, and specialist services. Responses are cross-referenced with CQC registration data and the NHS ODS register to ensure accuracy.
Dentally API (real-time)
Practices using Dentally practice management software show live appointment slots updated every 60 seconds. Patients can see exact available times and book directly through OpenWide.
Continuous monitoring
We re-verify high-demand areas on a rolling basis. If a practice stops accepting NHS patients, we update their listing within 24 hours of confirmation. Our verification cycle covers all London boroughs monthly.
This combination of automated API data + manual human verification means OpenWide has the most accurate picture of dental availability in the UK. When we say a practice is accepting NHS patients, we’ve confirmed it — not just scraped it from a spreadsheet.
Where our data comes from
OpenWide isn’t built on guesswork. Every listing is assembled from authoritative, verifiable data sources — the same ones used by the NHS, CQC, and dental regulators.
| Data Source | What It Provides | Update Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| NHS ODS ORD API | Complete register of every NHS dental practice in England (role code RO110) — ODS code, name, address, active status | Daily sync |
| Dentally API | Real-time appointment availability — bookable slots, practitioner, appointment type | 60-second cache |
| NHS Regional Datasets | Acceptance status — accepting adults, accepting children, referral only — matched by ODS code | Daily sync |
| CQC API | Registration status, inspection data, regulated activities, provider details for every CQC-registered dental practice | Weekly sync |
| Google Places API | Patient ratings, review counts, phone numbers, opening hours, photos | Periodic sync |
| Direct clinic outreach | NHS and private acceptance status, treatment menus, pricing — verified by phone calls and email to each practice | Rolling monthly cycle |
For full technical details, see our data sources page.
Why dentistry needs its Booking.com
Before Booking.com, finding a hotel meant browsing individual websites, calling to check availability, and hoping the price you were quoted was competitive. Sound familiar? That is exactly how finding a dentist works in the UK today.
Booking.com succeeded because it aggregated three things: availability (which rooms are free tonight), pricing (what they cost), and reviews (what other guests thought). Patients need exactly the same information for dental care:
- →Which practices are accepting new patients? (Availability)
- →What will my check-up or treatment cost? (Pricing)
- →What do other patients say about this practice? (Reviews)
- →Has the practice been inspected and what was the outcome? (Quality)
No other dental platform in the UK brings all four together. The NHS website shows practice names but not availability. Google Maps shows reviews but not NHS status or pricing. CQC publishes inspections but not appointment slots. OpenWide combines them all — availability, pricing, reviews, and quality — in a single search, for free.
The OpenWide Score
Every practice on OpenWide receives a match score that helps patients identify the best option for their needs. The score is calculated from verifiable data — not paid placement:
- •Distance from your location (50% weight)
- •Patient reviews and Google rating (30% weight)
- •Verified practice status (10% weight)
- •Online booking availability (10% weight)
No practice can pay to rank higher. The score is entirely merit-based, ensuring patients always see the most relevant results first.
Coverage
OpenWide currently covers over 3,000 dental practices across London, with NHS availability data, CQC registration status, transparent pricing, and patient reviews. Coverage is expanding across England, with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland planned as devolved health data sources come online.
Our goal is simple: every dental practice in the UK, with the data patients need to make an informed choice.
Ready to find your dentist?
Search over 3,000 practices. Compare prices, reviews, and NHS availability. Completely free.