- State of U.S. Dental Economy: Q3 2025 update
- Economic impact of dental offices State fact sheets
- Total economic impact and total number of jobs supported by offices of dentists, 2022 (XLSX) (February 2024)
- National trends in dental care use, dental insurance coverage, and cost barriers (PDF) (September 2024)
- National dental expenditures, 2023
The dental care market
Explore 福利姬视频Health Policy Institute findings on dental care utilization and expenditures across the U.S.
State of the U.S. Dental Economy: Q3 2025 update
HPI combines economic data with dentist perspectives to explore the dental economy.
More research and insights
Data reports and dashboards
Journal articles
- (December 2025)
- (March 2025)
- 聽(March 2022)
- 聽(October 2021)
- 聽(April 2019)
- 聽(PDF)聽(January 2016)
- 聽(December 2015)
- 聽(August 2015)
- 聽(June 2015)
- 聽(March 2015)
Infographics
- Economic impact of dental offices in the United States (PDF) (February 2024)
- Dental care utilization among the U.S. population, by race and ethnicity (PDF) (April 2021)
- How competitive are dental insurance markets? (PDF) (November 2019)
Research briefs
- Barriers to dental care among adult Medicaid beneficiaries: a comprehensive analysis in eight states (PDF) (November 2024)
- Dentist perceptions of adult Medicaid beneficiaries’ attitudes toward oral health (PDF) (November 2024)
- Demand for restorative dental care varies by patient age (PDF) (February 2022)
- Recent trends in the market for oral surgeons, endodontists, orthodontists, periodontists, and pediatric dentists (PDF) (February 2017)
- Trends in fees and reimbursement rates for the most common procedures in endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, and oral surgery (PDF) (February 2017)
- U.S. dental spending up in 2015 (PDF) (December 2016)
- Recent trends in the market for endodontics (PDF) (September 2016)
- Dental care utilization steady among working-age adults and children, up slightly among the elderly (PDF) (October 2016)
- An analysis of dental spending among adults with private dental benefits (PDF) (May 2016)
- An analysis of dental spending among children with private dental benefits (PDF) (April 2016)
- The per-patient cost of dental care, 2013: a look under the hood (PDF) (March 2016)
Webinars
- Understanding the gaps between adult Medicaid beneficiaries and dentists (December 2024)
- State of the dental economy: Q3 update (October 2022)
Dental market FAQs
In 2022, 45% of the U.S. population had a dental visit in the past 12 months. Among children ages 0-18 and seniors ages 65 and older, 52% had a dental visit. For working-age adults ages 19-64, 40% had a dental visit.
In addition to age group, there are disparities by dental benefits type (Medicaid vs. private insurance). Less than half of children covered by Medicaid/CHIP saw a dentist in 2024 compared to two-thirds of children with private insurance. Among Medicaid adults, 18% saw a dentist in 2022 compared to 57% with private insurance.
Sources:
Top reasons adults cite for avoiding the dentist include affordability issues, fear of the dentist, and inability to find a convenient location or appointment time.
However, when adults are categorized by age, household income, and health insurance status, the top three reasons for not visiting a dentist vary.
Sources:
- Barriers to dental care among adult Medicaid beneficiaries: a comprehensive analysis in eight states (PDF) (HPI research brief)
- Oral health and well-being in the United States聽(HPI State Fact Sheets)
Consumer dental spending is up 4% as of August 2025 compared to the beginning of 2025. Dental spending is behind health care spending.
In 2023, national dental care expenditures amounted to $174 billion, up 2.5% from 2022 (adjusted for inflation). Private health insurance spending accounted for most of the expenditures in 2023, followed by out-of-pocket spending.
Sources:
The 福利姬视频cannot quote fees for dental procedures and is forbidden by federal law to set or recommend fees. The Council on Dental Practice elected to discontinue the Survey of Dental Fees in 2023 and it has been removed for download, due to a change in law eliminating safe harbor disclosure. Posting such information, therefore, is now legally problematic.