The initial phase of the research will focus on the attitudes and opinions about dental care in England, and what the role of NHS dentistry should be.

This will be done through interviews with members of the public (including NHS dental patients, private dental patients and non-users of dentistry) and interviews with dental professionals. 

The interviews will be recorded, transcribed and de-identified and anonymised to ensure participants cannot be identified. Analysis will then be done on the transcripts to identify common themes and begin to build a picture about what people and providers want from dental healthcare, and what they believe NHS dentistry should be responsible for. 

Later stages of research will involved choice exercises issued to the public and dental professionals.