December 31, 2022, reports available from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) indicated that over 69.7 million Americans resided in areas designated as dental health professional shortage areas (HPSA).  A dental health HPSA is a population group, geographic area, or facility where residents have poor access to basic dental care because too few dentists serve the area relative to the population of the HPSA.  HPSAs in the six-state Far Western U.S. accounted for 12.5% of the U.S. population who lived in dental care shortage areas.  The HRSA estimates that HPSAs in the Far West would need 1,344 more dentists in order to eliminate the dental care shortage in the region.  This dental care shortfall represented about 11.3% of the nation's dentist shortage.  Here is a summary look at the Far West's dental care shortage:

The Far West's Dental Care Shortage

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortage
AK	318	415,101	60
CA	529	2,557,394	413
HI	33	266,728	41
NV	71	1,051,708	191
OR	157	1,742,101	295
WA	194	2,719,838	344
Region	1,302	8,752,870	1,344
U.S.	7,313	69,766,605	11,909
% of U.S.	17.8%	12.5%	11.3%

(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, 12/31/22 (HRSA)