The US has more dentists than ever, yet many practices are not busy enough: in late 2026, 38% of dentists told the ADA they could treat more patients. This page collects the numbers behind that gap, from the workforce and DSOs to spending, visits, insurance, how patients choose a dentist and what search ads cost. Each section leads with the newest data, mostly from the ADA Health Policy Institute, CDC, CMS and BLS, and every figure links to its original source.
Dentist workforce
The ADA Health Policy Institute (HPI) counts dentists from the ADA masterfile; BLS counts jobs. The workforce is growing, younger and more female.
- 205,088professionally active dentists work in the US, up from 202,485 in 2024.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2025
- 60.0dentists per 100,000 people in the US, up from 59.5 in 2024.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2025
- 39.4%of dentists are female, more than double the 16% share in 2001.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2025
- 21.2%of dentists work in an ADA-recognized specialty; orthodontics is the largest, at about 5% of all dentists.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2025
- 15.2%of dentists are 65 or older, and 17.4% are under 35.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2025
- 68.7is the average retirement age for dentists, up from 64.7 in 2001.ADA HPI, dentist workforce2024
- 40.2dentists per 100,000 people in Arkansas, the lowest ratio, against 103.2 in the District of Columbia.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 121%growth in the number of pediatric dentists since 2001, the fastest of eight specialties tracked.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 75dental schools operate in the US, after 21 new schools opened since 2001.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2025
- 13,742people applied to US dental schools in 2024, the most since 2007 and up 11.5% in a year.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 161,400dentist jobs in the US, with employment projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook2025
- $176,110median annual pay for dentists in May 2025.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook2025
- 225,300dental hygienist jobs, at a median pay of $98,100, with 8% growth projected to 2035.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook2025
- 388,600dental assistant jobs, at a median pay of $48,070, with 7% growth projected to 2035.BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook2025
Practices and DSOs
Solo practice and ownership are shrinking while dental support organizations (DSOs) and large groups grow, led by early career dentists.
- 16.1%of US dentists are affiliated with a DSO, more than double the 7.2% share in 2015.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 31%of dentists less than 5 years out of dental school are affiliated with a DSO, and around half in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 17.6%of female dentists are DSO affiliated, against 14.8% of male dentists.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 34%of dentists practice alone in a single location (solo practice).ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 39%of dentists work in a single-location practice with at least one other dentist.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 11%of dentists work in practices with 100 or more locations.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 72.5%of dentists in private practice own their practice, down from 84.7% in 2005.ADA HPI, practice ownership2023
- 59.9%of female dentists in private practice are owners, against 79.9% of male dentists.ADA HPI, practice ownership2023
- 135,665dental practice establishments operate in the US.ADA HPI, citing Census County Business Patterns2023
- 10.7%of dentists in New Hampshire are enrolled as Medicaid providers, against 76.2% in Delaware.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
Revenue and spending
Total dental spending keeps rising in dollars, but it lags the rest of healthcare, and dentist incomes have fallen after inflation.
- $189.2 billionwas spent on dental services in the US, up 6.6% after 6.4% growth in 2023.CMS National Health Expenditure highlights2024
- 80%of dental spending was paid out of pocket or by private insurance, the two largest payers.CMS National Health Expenditure highlights2024
- 3.6%of US health spending went to dental care, the same share as in 2023.ADA HPI, national dental expenditures2024
- 4%real growth in dental spending after inflation, against 4.6% for health spending overall.ADA HPI, national dental expenditures2024
- $209 billionannualized consumer spending on dental care in August 2026, down 2.4% year to date and 0.9% on a year earlier (inflation adjusted).ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental Economy2026
- 20%growth in consumer dental spending over 10 years, against 43% for healthcare and 51% for physician services.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental Economy2016 to 2026
- $215,320average net income for general dentists in private practice, and $346,520 for specialists.ADA HPI, Survey of Dental Practice2025
- $965,660average gross billings per general dentist in private practice, and $1,213,040 per specialist.ADA HPI, Survey of Dental Practice2025
- $207,980average general dentist income in 2024, down from $267,168 in 2010 after inflation (2024 dollars).ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 6.1%rise in revenue per dentist at rural practices between 2015 to 2019 and 2020 to 2024, against a 1.2% fall at urban practices.ADA HPI, U.S. Dentist Workforce report2024
- 19%rise in dental reimbursement rates since January 2021, against 27% inflation over the same period.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental Economy2026
- $478 billionannual economic impact generated by US dental offices, or $2.4 million per dentist.ADA HPI, economic impact of dental offices2024
Patient visits and oral health
How many people see a dentist depends on the survey: NHIS asks adults about exams and cleanings, while the ADA prefers MEPS visit records, which give lower figures.
- 66.7%of US adults had a dental exam or cleaning in the past 12 months.CDC NCHS, NHIS early release2025
- 57%of US adults visited the dentist in 2025, and 89% of those who went had a preventive visit (2,000 adults and parents).Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 59%of urban adults visited the dentist in 2025, against 44% of rural adults.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 45%of the US population had a dental visit in the year, by MEPS records.ADA HPI, national trends report2022
- 40%of working-age adults (19 to 64) saw a dentist, against 52% of children and 51% of seniors.ADA HPI, national trends report2022
- 18%of adults on Medicaid saw a dentist, against 57% of adults with private insurance.ADA HPI, dental care use2022
- 21%of adults aged 20 to 64 have at least one untreated cavity.CDC oral health facts2024
- 50%of children have had a cavity in a primary or permanent tooth by age 9.CDC oral health facts2024
- 13.2%of adults 65 and older have lost all their teeth.CDC NCHS FastStats2017 to 2020
- 2.1 millionhospital emergency department visits were for dental conditions, about one every 15 seconds, costing $2.7 billion.ADA HPI, emergency department snapshot2017
- $45 billion+in US productivity is lost each year to untreated dental disease.CDC oral health facts2018 study
Costs and insurance
Cost is the biggest barrier to dental care, larger than for any other kind of care. Coverage helps: insured adults are twice as likely to get a preventive visit.
- 13%of Americans did not get needed dental care because of cost, against 4% to 5% for medical, prescription and mental health care.ADA HPI, national trends report2023
- 65%of adults with dental insurance made a preventive dental visit in 2025, against 32% without it.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- $350estimated median annual savings from dental insurance for an individual, and $1,000 for a family of four.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 33%of uninsured adults plan to get dental coverage in the coming year, up from 28% in 2025.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 62%of US adults had private dental insurance.ADA HPI, national trends report2022
- 42%of seniors had no dental benefits of any kind; 24% had a Medicare Advantage dental benefit.ADA HPI, national trends report2022
- 8%of children had no dental insurance, the lowest rate since 2002; 38% had Medicaid or CHIP dental coverage.ADA HPI, national trends report2022
- 47%of Medicare beneficiaries, about 24 million people, had no dental coverage.KFF2019
- $874average out-of-pocket dental spending among Medicare beneficiaries who used dental services.KFF2018
The dental practice economy in 2026
The ADA HPI polls a panel of dentists every quarter. In Q3 2026, 750 dentists responded, 704 of them in private practice; 839 responded in Q4 2025.
- 38%of dentists said they were not busy enough and could have treated more patients, up from 26% in Q2 2026; only 8% were too busy.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
- 12 daysis the average wait for a new patient's first appointment, a record low, down from 14.3 days in Q3 2024.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
- 26.4%of dentists are confident in the US economy, the lowest in several years; 40.9% are confident in the dental sector.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
- 95.7%of practice owners are accepting new patients.ADA HPI, Economic Outlook pollQ4 2025
- 31.8%of dentists named keeping patient volume up among their top 3 challenges for 2026, behind insurance (55.3%) and staffing (54.2%).ADA HPI, Economic Outlook pollQ4 2025
- 29.3%of practice owners dropped out of some dental insurance networks in 2025; those networks covered 24.9% of their patients on average.ADA HPI, Economic Outlook pollQ4 2025
- 88.3%of dentists recruiting hygienists say it is very or extremely challenging.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
- 1 in 5dentists report hygienist positions stayed open more than six months before being filled.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
- 40.7%of practice owners had added staff by Q3 2026, and 25.3% had dropped some insurance networks.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ3 2026
How patients choose a dentist
Cost, fear and convenience decide whether people book at all; reviews and ratings decide where. Dental-specific review studies are rare, so the review figures below cover healthcare or all local businesses and are labelled that way. See our online review statistics and the Google reviews guide.
- 20%of adults have some dental anxiety, and 35% of them say shorter wait times would make visits more comfortable.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 50%of adults with dental anxiety expect a visit to be painful or uncomfortable, down from 59% in 2025.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 90%of adults say preventive dental exams are as important as an annual physical, up from 87% in 2025.Delta Dental, State of America's Oral Health2026
- 79%of patients read reviews before choosing a healthcare provider (3,964 US adults, all healthcare).Tebra Patient Perspectives2025
- 75%of patients will not book a provider rated below 4.0 stars (992 US adults, all healthcare).rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
- 47%of US consumers won't use a local business with fewer than 20 reviews (1,002 adults, all industries).BrightLocal review survey2026
- 74%of consumers only care about reviews from the last three months (all industries).BrightLocal review survey2026
- 59%of adults who had not seen a dentist in the past year named cost as the reason, the top answer.ADA HPI, oral health and well-being2015
- 22%of those adults said they were afraid of the dentist, 19% cited an inconvenient location or time and 15% had trouble finding a dentist.ADA HPI, oral health and well-being2015
- 77%of adults said they planned to visit the dentist in the next year, while 37% had actually visited in the past year.ADA HPI, oral health and well-being2015
- 23%of adults feel embarrassed by the condition of their mouth and teeth.ADA HPI, oral health and well-being2015
Search ads, AI and dental marketing
Dentists pay more per search click than most local businesses, and the ADA's own polling shows dentists starting to use AI. Our dental SEO guide covers the organic side, and healthcare marketing statistics covers the wider sector.
- $8.00average search ad cost per click for dentists and dental services, against $5.42 across all industries.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
- $72.97average search ad cost per lead for dentists, against $66.69 across all industries.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
- 10.67%average search ad conversion rate for dentists, above the 8.18% all-industry average.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
- 5.66%average search ad click-through rate for dentists, against 6.64% across all industries.LocaliQ search benchmarks2026
- $43.38median search cost per lead for general dentistry, at a $6.42 cost per click (2,838 campaigns).LocaliQ healthcare benchmarks2020 to 2021
- 43.3%of dentists use AI for at least one task in their practice, and 26.4% plan to start (552 dentists).ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ2 2026
- 10.7%of dentists use AI for social media, and 9.2% use it for appointment scheduling.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ2 2026
- 82.6%of dentists do not use AI for treatment recommendations and do not plan to.ADA HPI, State of the U.S. Dental EconomyQ2 2026
- 45%of US consumers used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier (all industries).BrightLocal review survey2026
- 47%of patients have used AI tools to research healthcare providers, up from 31% in 2025 (all healthcare).rater8 Patient Choice Report2026
- 62%of independent medical practices spend 1% to 5% of gross revenue on marketing (106 practices, mostly physicians).Tebra practice survey2024 plans
Rank.ai data: how AI answers name businesses
Rank.ai analyzed 11,726 fresh answers from ChatGPT (gpt-4o-mini), Claude (claude-haiku-4-5) and Gemini (gemini-2.5-flash) with web search on, collected from May 7 to October 16, 2026. The 102 buyer questions were tracked by 15 Rank.ai customer accounts, mostly in B2B software, fintech, SEO and marketing services and local services; cached repeat answers are excluded. Engines were queried through each model's API with Rank.ai's own web search tool. The questions come from other industries, and they show how AI answers treat businesses in general; see our AI search statistics and ChatGPT statistics for more. To see whether ChatGPT names your practice, run the free AI grade.
- 61.0%of ChatGPT answers named no business at all, as did 61.9% of Gemini answers and 63.4% of Claude answers.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
- 39.0%of ChatGPT answers named at least one business, averaging 2.03 businesses per answer.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
- 22.2%of Claude answers named 5 or more businesses (ChatGPT 21.7%, Gemini 20.8%).Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
- 11.0%of Gemini answers named the customer's own brand, against 8.1% for Claude and 6.4% for ChatGPT.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
- 4.01%of all 74,761 citations went to Reddit, the most cited site, and 0.87% to Facebook.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
- 6.5words is the average length of the web searches ChatGPT ran, against 11.7 words for the questions asked.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers2026
What these numbers mean for dental practices
- Demand is the constraint now. With record-short waits and 38% of dentists under capacity, new patient acquisition matters more than adding chairs.
- Make cost easy to see. Cost is the top reason people skip the dentist, so publish what you accept, membership plans and typical prices.
- Earn recent reviews. Patients filter on stars, review count and recency. Ask every patient and reply to every review.
- Measure search and AI together. Search clicks cost $8.00, so organic and map visibility pay off; read the Google Maps for healthcare guide and check whether AI names you with the free AI grade.
- Compare with other local trades. Our local SEO statistics show how dentists' customers search like everyone else's.
FAQ
How many dentists are there in the US?
The ADA Health Policy Institute counts 205,088 professionally active dentists in 2025, or 60.0 per 100,000 people. BLS counts 161,400 dentist jobs, a narrower measure of employment.
What share of dentists work for DSOs?
16.1% of US dentists were affiliated with a dental support organization in 2024, up from 7.2% in 2015. Among dentists less than 5 years out of school the share is 31%.
How much does the US spend on dental care?
CMS puts 2024 spending on dental services at $189.2 billion, up 6.6% on 2023 and 3.6% of all health spending. Out-of-pocket payments and private insurance together cover 80% of it.
How many adults go to the dentist each year?
The 2025 National Health Interview Survey found 66.7% of adults had a dental exam or cleaning in the past 12 months. The ADA prefers MEPS visit records, which show 45% of the population and 40% of working-age adults with a dental visit in 2022.
What does a new dental patient cost from Google Ads?
LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks put dentists' average search ad cost per lead at $72.97, with an $8.00 cost per click and a 10.67% conversion rate. A lead is an inquiry, so the cost per booked new patient is higher.
Are dental practices busy?
Less than they were. In Q3 2026, 38% of dentists told the ADA they were not busy enough, up from 26% the quarter before, and average new-patient waits fell to 12 days.
Sources and method
We used the ADA Health Policy Institute (dentist workforce data, practice modality and ownership data, the national trends report, the Survey of Dental Practice and the quarterly dentist panel), CDC NCHS, CMS National Health Expenditure data and BLS first. Consumer surveys come from Delta Dental (2,000 US adults and parents, 2026) and the ADA's 2015 household survey; review and AI figures from Tebra, rater8 and BrightLocal are labelled as healthcare-wide or all-industry. Search ad costs come from LocaliQ. The Rank.ai figures come from our own analysis of 11,726 AI answers collected from May to October 2026. Every figure and link was checked on 2026-10-16.
