- Dental care utilization among children and adults dashboard in Tableau
- Total economic impact and total number of jobs supported by offices of dentists, 2022 (XLSX) (February 2024)
- National trends in dental care use, dental insurance coverage, and cost barriers (PDF) (November 2023)
The dental care market
Explore ADA Health Policy Institute findings on dental care utilization and expenditures across the U.S.
U.S. dental expenditures down in 2022
National dental spending decreased by 6.3% from 2021 to 2022.
More research and insights
Data reports
Journal articles
- The effect on dental care utilization from transitioning pediatric Medicaid benefits to managed care (March 2022)
- Comparative analysis of dental procedure mix in public and private dental benefits programs (October 2021)
- The effect of the great recession on the demand for general oral health care and orthodontic care (April 2019)
- The relationship between periodontal interventions and health care costs and utilization. Evidence from an integrated dental, medical and pharmacy commercial claims database (PDF) (January 2016)
- Simple indicators for projecting short-term dental market fluctuations (December 2015)
- Solving dentistry’s ‘busyness’ problem (August 2015)
- Where have all the dental care visits gone? (June 2015)
- Of lawyers, lattes and dentists (March 2015)
Infographics
- Economic impact of dental offices in the United States (PDF) (February 2024)
- National dental expenditures, 2022 (December 2023)
- Dental care utilization among the U.S. population, by race and ethnicity (PDF) (April 2021)
- How competitive are dental insurance markets? (PDF) (November 2019)
Research briefs
- Demand for restorative dental care varies by patient age (PDF) (February 2022)
- Recent trends in the market for oral surgeons, endodontists, orthodontists, periodontists, and pediatric dentists (PDF) (February 2017)
- Trends in fees and reimbursement rates for the most common procedures in endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, and oral surgery (PDF) (February 2017)
- U.S. dental spending up in 2015 (PDF) (December 2016)
- Recent trends in the market for endodontics (PDF) (September 2016)
- Dental care utilization steady among working-age adults and children, up slightly among the elderly (PDF) (October 2016)
- An analysis of dental spending among adults with private dental benefits (PDF) (May 2016)
- An analysis of dental spending among children with private dental benefits (PDF) (April 2016)
- The per-patient cost of dental care, 2013: a look under the hood (PDF) (March 2016)
Dental market FAQs
As of 2021, 43.3% of the U.S. population had a dental visit in the past 12 months. Among children ages 0-18 and seniors age 65 and older, 50.0% had a dental visit. For working-age adults ages 19-64, 38.7% had a dental visit.
Among children, disparities in dental care use have been narrowing over time among income and racial/ethnic groups and between the privately and publicly insured. Among adults and seniors, disparities remain.
Sources:
Top reasons adults cite for avoiding the dentist include cost, fear of the dentist, and inability to find a convenient location or appointment time.
However, when adults are categorized by age, household income, and health insurance status, the top three reasons for not visiting a dentist vary.
Source: Oral health and well-being in the United States (HPI State Fact Sheets).
In 2022, national dental care expenditures amounted to $165 billion, down 6.3% from 2021 (adjusted for inflation). Private health insurance spending accounted for most of the expenditures in 2022, followed by out-of-pocket spending.
Source: National dental expenditures, 2022 (HPI Infographic).
The ADA cannot quote fees for dental procedures and is forbidden by federal law to set or recommend fees. The Council on Dental Practice elected to discontinue the Survey of Dental Fees in 2023 and it has been removed for download, due to a change in law eliminating safe harbor disclosure. Posting such information, therefore, is now legally problematic.
For historic trends on dental utilization by procedure type, see HPI's annual dental industry report, which is available for purchase.