Based on March 31, 2025, data available from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), over 59.7 million Americans lived in settings or communities designated as dental health professional shortage areas (HPSA). The dental health HPSA designation means that the residents of a population group, geographic unit, or facility have substandard access to dental care because not enough dentists serve the area given the size of the HPSA's population. In order to rectify the dental care shortfall in these communities and settings, the HRSA estimates that HPSAs throughout the country would need over 10,100 more dentists.
Here is a summary look at the U.S. dental care shortfall by region (for state-level details, follow the "region" link):
The U.S. Dental Care Shortfall by Region
Region | (1) HPSAs | (2) Population | (3) Shortfall |
Far Western U.S. | 1,294 | 7,083,237 | 1,025 |
Great Lakes | 916 | 7,278,467 | 1,323 |
Great Plains | 1,053 | 4,017,861 | 675 |
MidEast | 411 | 6,927,660 | 1,256 |
New England | 222 | 1,074,377 | 158 |
Rocky Mountain | 402 | 1,812,491 | 207 |
Southeast | 1,868 | 22,743,034 | 4,018 |
Southwestern U.S. | 764 | 6,046,418 | 1,099 |
U.S. Territories | 124 | 2,734,629 | 382 |
U.S. | 7,054 | 59,718,174 | 10,143 |