Dental Care Providers in United States

United States

Despite projections of steady growth in the number of working dentists, the Health Resources and Services Administration has identified many areas and populations in the United States that have an inadequate supply of dentists to meet current or future needs. 

Poor oral health can negatively impact quality of life, causing pain or tooth loss, and contributing to other health conditions like eating disorders, diabetes and immune disorders. More than 40% of adults reported feeling mouth pain in the past year, and 80% of people have had at least one cavity by age 34.

Some of the most significant oral health disparities are in rural communities, which report lower access to and use of dental services and have higher rates of dental problems. Contributing factors to these disparities include:

• An inadequate supply of dentists.
• Higher uninsurance rates and fewer dentists accepting Medicaid patients.
• Patient difficulty in traveling to a dentist.
• Poverty.
• Lack of a fluoridated community water supply.
• A growing population of older adults.

Strategies to increase the size of the dental workforce, particularly in rural communities, include: 

• Expanding the roles of dental therapists, hygienists and assistants.
• Training general/family practice physicians and primary care providers to conduct oral health exams and place fluoride varnish/sealants on children.
• Establishing dental mobile units for outreach services.
• Implementing teledentistry services where possible.
• Offering educational loan repayment and other incentives for dentists who choose to work in rural areas.
• Expanding dental school and residency programs in rural areas and targeting in-state students for recruitment.
• Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental care services.

Healthy People 2030 has multiple objectives related to oral health, including:

• Increasing use of the oral health care system.
• Reducing the proportion of people who cannot get the dental care they need when they need it.
• Reducing the proportion of adults with active or untreated tooth decay. 

Bersell, Catherine H. “Access to Oral Health Care: A National Crisis and Call for Reform.” Journal of Dental Hygiene 91, no. 1 (February 2017): 6–14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29118145/.

Hannan, Casey J., Timothy L. Ricks, Lorena Espinoza, and Jane A. Weintraub. “Addressing Oral Health Inequities, Access to Care, Knowledge, and Behaviors.” Preventing Chronic Disease 18 (2021). https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.210060.

Henderson-Frost, Jo, and Mark Deutchman. “Eight Ways to Mitigate US Rural Health Inequity.” AMA Journal of Ethics 24, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): E73-79. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2022.73.

Langelier, Margaret. “The Impact of Changing Workforce Models on Access to Oral Health Care Services.” Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, October 23, 2018. https://www.oralhealthworkforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/OHWRC_Harvard_10_2018.pdf.

Munson, Bradley, and Marko Vujicic. “Projected Supply of Dentists in the United States, 2020 – 2040.” American Dental Association, May 2021. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/hpibrief_0521_1.pdf.

National Institutes of Health. “Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges.” Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, 2021. https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/Oral-Health-in-America-Advances-and-Challenges.pdf.

Potter, Wendell B. “Expanding the Dental Workforce to Improve Access and Reduce Disparities in Oral Health.” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. S1 (May 2017): S26–27. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303832.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General.” Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000. https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2017-10/hck1ocv.%40www.surgeon.fullrpt.pdf.