Friday, January 7, 2022

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

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)

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