by Hassan | May 6th 2026 
In March 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority announced a full market study into private dentistry in the UK. If you work in a private dental practice, this is something worth paying attention to.
The CMA gathered input from both practice owners and patients,to help shape the areas to be examined. Their findings could lead to a range of outcomes, including recommendations to change regulation, direct CMA action, or new guidance for practices.
The review is looking at everything from how practices advertise prices, to how easy it is for patients to compare providers and understand their treatment options. The CMA’s CEO, Sarah Cardell, put it plainly: “For some, turning to private dentistry is a choice – but for many, it’s a necessity. People need clear, accessible information at the right time.”
Honestly? That’s not a new idea. That’s just good practice.
The context behind the CMA private dentistry review
NHS dentistry has been under pressure for years, and patients have been moving to private care as a result. Not always by choice. In 2024, 36% of people who went private did so because they couldn’t get NHS treatment at all, and a further 31% couldn’t get seen quickly enough. Private dentistry is no longer a niche; it accounted for over two thirds of the market in 2025.
With that kind of growth comes expectation. Patients are spending their own money, often without a referral or a safety net, and they want to know what they’re signing up for before they book. A lot of practices still aren’t making that easy enough, and that’s exactly what the CMA is looking at.
What the review is actually focused on
There are a few key areas to be aware of.
Pricing transparency
Pricing transparency is the big one. Between 2022 and 2024, the cost of an initial consultation rose by over 23%, and routine check-ups by over 14%. Patients are noticing that. If your website doesn’t give them a clear picture upfront, they’ll find a practice that does.
Transparent pricing isn’t just about staying on the right side of any future guidance, either. Patients who can see honest, upfront fees are more confident when they book. They’re less likely to cancel, less likely to question invoices at the end of a treatment, and more likely to recommend you. Clear pricing is a patient acquisition tool as much as anything else, and it starts with how your website is built.
Access to information
The CMA is also looking at how easy it is for patients to find you, compare you, and actually get in touch. Can patients compare you against other providers? Do they understand what’s included in your fees? Is it obvious how to get in touch or book an appointment? These feel like small things, but they make a real difference to whether someone chooses you.
A slow, incomplete, or hard-to-navigate website quietly costs you patients every week, long before you’d ever notice it in the numbers. Getting found in the first place is a separate challenge, and one worth looking at too. Here’s how we approach dental SEO.
Your online presence should reflect the practice you already are
Most dental practices that get this right aren’t doing it to tick a box. They care about their patients, they’re transparent in the clinic, and they communicate clearly face to face. The gap is usually just that their website and marketing haven’t caught up with that yet.
The CMA review is a nudge to close that gap. The practices that act on it won’t just be better placed if formal guidance follows, they’ll be doing right by the patients who are trying to find them, understand them, and trust them before they’ve even walked through the door.
If you want to see what that looks like in practice, take a look at some of the dental practices we’ve worked with.
The bottom line
The practices in the strongest position over the next few years will be the ones that treat transparency as an advantage, not an obligation.
That means looking honestly at your pricing pages, making sure your website communicates clearly, and removing the small points of friction that quietly cost you patients every week. By the time the CMA publishes its findings and any formal guidance follows, the best-placed practices will already have done the work.
If you’re not sure where your practice stands, we’re happy to take a look. It’s what we do.
