Public dissatisfaction with NHS dentistry appears to be directed at the system rather than individual practitioners, according to new polling data released by the British Dental Association (BDA).
Recent analysis of the British Social Attitudes Survey found satisfaction with NHS dentistry had fallen to a record low of 20%.
However, a YouGov poll commissioned by the BDA ahead of the Dentistry Show in Birmingham today found 85% of patients were satisfied with the dental care they had received in the last five years, with 38% indicating they were very satisfied.
Overall satisfaction stood at 85% in England, 80% in Wales, 89% in Scotland and 82% in Northern Ireland.
Among patients who said they had received both NHS and private dental care during the last five years, net satisfaction reached 84%.
According to the BDA, the findings demonstrate that patients distinguish between frontline dental teams and wider problems within NHS dentistry.
Dr Eddie Crouch, BDA chair, said: 'Satisfaction with NHS dentistry is on the floor, but beneath the surface there's a very different story.
'Satisfaction with dental care is sky high. Both private and NHS, the picture is unrelentingly positive.
'Patients agree, the problem isn't their dentist: it's NHS dentistry.'
The association said unmet need for dental care in England now stood at almost 14 million adults, equivalent to more than one in four of the adult population.
Dr Crouch said dental teams were continuing to deliver high standards of care despite growing pressures on the service.
'The public don't have any love for broken systems, but they value the teams on the front line,' he said.
'hese numbers reflect what dental teams are managing to achieve, in spite of everything.
'The crisis millions face was made in Westminster, in Holyrood, in Stormont and in Cardiff Bay. And this profession won't carry the can for the government if ministers fail to act,’ Mr Crouch added