U.S. Dentist Supply Estimates By State

Data from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute details the supply of active dentists across U.S. states. It provides estimates categorized by subtopic, subgroup, and time period. The dataset is hosted by data.cdc.gov and was last updated in January 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze dentist-to-population ratios by STATE_FIPS and TIME_PERIOD to identify underserved regions.
• Model trends in dental workforce supply using ESTIMATE and TIME_PERIOD_ID for longitudinal studies.
• Compare dentist availability across different SUBGROUP categories like age or specialty.
• Assess estimate reliability by examining STANDARD_ERROR values alongside ESTIMATE figures.

Strengths

• Contains granular state-level (STATE_FIPS) breakdowns.
• Includes statistical quality indicators like STANDARD_ERROR and FLAG columns.
• Covers multiple TIME_PERIODs for trend analysis.

Limitations

• Exact row count and sample size are unknown.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the United States.
• Potential for missing data in specific SUBGROUP or STATE_FIPS combinations.

Provenance

Source

American Dental Association, Health Policy Institute via data.cdc.gov.

Collection Method

Collected and compiled by the ADA's Health Policy Institute.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Updated January 2026.

Geography

United States, by state.