The Which? private dentistry report: what it found on prices, and what happened next

The research had two parts. In May 2026 the polling company Yonder screened 5,848 adults for Which?, and 1,009 said they, or a dependant, had had a problem with private dental care in the past two years. In August 2026 Which? also ran ten hour-long interviews with people who had pursued a complaint.

So the percentages below describe people who had a problem, not private patients in general. That distinction is the heart of the argument that followed.

Among the 1,009 people with a problem:

• —39% believed the price of their treatment was excessive.
• —22% paid more than they had been quoted.
• —21% said pricing wasn't clear before treatment and they only learned the cost during or after it.
• —16% felt pressured to agree to specific treatment, and 11% felt pressured to sign up to a dental payment plan.
• —13% said a payment plan didn't cover treatment they expected it to.

The case studies make the numbers concrete. One patient's £3,400 root canal quote became more than £10,000 after repeated remedial sessions; the practice refunded £6,600 after the patient went to the Dental Complaints Service. Another was invoiced £400 for a £275 promotional offer. Interviewees also described small surprise charges, such as an extra £50 for a deep clean they thought was included.

36% of the 1,009 complained to their practice. Of those, 64% were satisfied with how the complaint was handled, but satisfaction was much higher at group practices (76%) than independent ones (53%). The most common outcome was a verbal apology, which 46% received, and 19% received nothing in response. Among complainants who were unhappy with how it went, 23% said the practice gave no clear information on how to escalate.

Only a small number went further: 32 people went to the Dental Complaints Service, 20 to the GDC and 5 took legal action.

Which? made four recommendations. Three were for the General Dental Council: review its guidance on complaints handling, publish a decision tree to help patients find the right route to redress, and collect and publish complaints data. The fourth was for the government: give private dental patients access to an ombudsman, with mandatory participation for practices and the power to issue binding decisions. On 8 October Which?'s head of consumer protection policy, Sue Davies, said private patients deserve the same protection as people using other essential services.

The British Dental Association said the findings needed to be put firmly in perspective. Its chair, Eddie Crouch, noted that Which? set out to survey people who had already had a problem, and the BDA pointed to the Office for National Statistics' Health Insight Survey. In that survey (fieldwork 21 July to 12 August 2026, published 10 September 2026) 93.5% of adults with a recent private dental appointment were satisfied, against 89.9% for NHS appointments.

The GDC's statement on 6 October welcomed the research, said patients should be able to complain with confidence, and set out the existing routes: the practice first, then the Dental Complaints Service for private care or the NHS route for NHS care. It did not announce any new action.

Both things can be true. Most private patients are satisfied, and when something does go wrong, it is often about a price the patient didn't expect.

Many of the price problems in the report come back to a moment where the price was vague, unwritten or changed without a conversation. Often that starts before treatment, with the first answer to a price question.

1. 01Check the prices on your website are current. If the website says "from £x", the first reply to a price question should give the same range, not a different one.
2. 02Answer price questions in writing. A range in a message is something the patient can refer back to. "Prices vary, please book a consultation" is not.
3. 03Say what moves the price. If bone grafting, extra appointments or a hygiene visit can change the figure, say so before the consultation, not on the invoice.
4. 04If the estimate changes, have the conversation before the work. That is what standard 3.1 already requires.
5. 05Make the escalation route easy to find. For private care, that is the Dental Complaints Service. Name it in your complaints procedure.

ReplyOS answers patient enquiries using the facts the practice has set up, including its services and prices. When a price isn't configured, it doesn't invent one; it says options vary and steers towards booking. Complaints and requests for a person are handed to the team instead of being answered automatically, with the whole conversation attached. Every reply is kept in the patient's thread, so what was said about price is on record.

None of that replaces a current price list. It only means the price list you already publish is the one patients hear first.

Our page on dental enquiry management, at replyos.co.uk/dental-enquiry-management, explains how enquiries from every channel are answered and tracked in one place.