The Southeast's Dental Care Shortage

December 31, 2021, data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) indicated that more than 64.2 million Americans lived in communities or settings designated as a dental health professional shortage area (HPSA).  A dental health HPSA is a population group, geographic area, or facility with substandard dental care access because too few dentists serve the area relative to the size of the HPSA population.  HPSAs in the twelve-state Southeastern region of the country accounted for just under 39% of the U.S. population who lived in dental care shortage areas.  The HRSA estimates that HPSAs in the Southeast would need 4,457 more dentists in order to eliminate the dental care shortage in the region.  This shortfall represented almost 40% of the nation's dental care shortage.  Here is a summary look at the Southeast's dental care shortage:

The Southeast's Dental Care Shortage

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortage
AL	84	1,828,616	376
AR	99	598,518	106
FL	256	5,704,238	1,270
GA	188	2,165,067	442
KY	162	781,024	166
LA	152	2,123,398	245
MS	149	1,835,119	210
NC	198	3,522,832	626
SC	93	1,870,554	263
TN	144	2,307,701	405
VA	120	1,325,326	204
WV	112	805,922	144
Region	1,757	24,868,315	4,457
U.S.	6,803	64,236,250	11,181

(1) Designated Geographic, Population Group and Facility HPSAs with a dental care shortage

(2) Population of designated HPSAs

(3) Dental Care practitioners needed to remove HPSA Designation

Source:  Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, 12/31/21 (HRSA)