State Medicaid programs are facing an uncertain future. The ADA Health Policy Institute offers an in-depth assessment of the present landscape of dental benefits under Medicaid.
This sweeping update of the U.S. dental care system in Medicaid includes the latest data available as of December 2025 as well as historic data to analyze to what extent dental benefits expanisons correlate with trends in dentist Medicaid/CHIP participation and beneficiary dental care utilization.
Review the reports:
- Dental Care in Medicaid Programs: Update based on the latest available data from multiple sources as of November 2025 (XLSX) – data tables.
- Dental Care in Medicaid (PDF) – results and key messages.
In these reports, HPI outlines:
- Medicaid adult dental benefit levels by state
- dentist participation in Medicaid/CHIP
- dental care utilization by age group (children vs. adults) and insurance type (Medicaid vs. private)
- fee for-service reimbursement for Medicaid dental services compared to dentist charges and private insurance reimbursement
Results from HPI's analysis indicate that while dental benefit offerings under Medicaid have expanded in most states, dentist participation in Medicaid and dental care utilization among beneficiaries has remained stagnant.
See the reports above for the full data and methodology.