The Mid-Eastern U.S. Dental Care Shortage

Based on December 31, 2021, data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), almost 64.2 million Americans lived in settings or areas designated as a dental health professional shortage area (HPSA).  A dental health HPSA is a population group, geographic area, or facility where access to dental care is subpar because it has an inadequate number of dentists relative to the size of the HPSA population.  In the Mid-Eastern region of the U.S., which encompasses five states and the District of Columbia, HPSAs accounted for about 11% of all Americans who lived in a dental care shortage area.  The HRSA estimates that HPSAs in the Mid-Eastern region would need 1,321 more dentists to eliminate the dental care shortage in the region.  This deficit represented about 11.8% of the national dental care shortage.  Here is a summary look at the Mid-Eastern U.S. dental care shortage:

The Mid-Eastern U.S. Dental Care Shortage

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortage
DC	12	82,914	21
DE	13	381,534	97
MD	49	1,568,874	226
NJ	35	40,876	18
NY	133	3,135,955	650
PA	158	1,880,868	309
Region	400	7,091,021	1,321
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)