2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Boston, by the numbers
How many dentists the 5,025,517 people of the Boston metro have, where they cluster, which specialties run thin, and who is joining the workforce.
Part of the Metro Dental Reports 2026 by Pete Johnson, founder of dentalist.ai. Sources: federal NPPES registry, CMS Open Payments and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Dentist access
1st of 50
136.2 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
1st of 50
32 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
6,846
Registered dentists
4,222
Practice addresses
26%
Specialists
7
Counties
Key findings
- Boston has 6,846 registered dentists for 5,025,517 residents: 136.2 per 100,000 people, 70% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 1st of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Suffolk County, MA has 294.5 dentists per 100,000 residents; Plymouth County, MA has 77.5. That is a 3.8x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 3,126 children here (32 per 100,000 kids, 115% above the national rate).
- 785 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 15.6 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 45.4% of Boston's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 32.2% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.5 million in total. For most it was small: 63% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $100 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 83% of the money.
Dentists per person, county by county
Every county in the metro, largest first. Rates for counties under 50,000 people swing on a handful of dentists, so read those loosely.
| County | Population | Dentists | Per 100k | Pediatric per 100k kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County, MA | 1,668,956 | 1,857 | 111.3 | 27.5 |
| Essex County, MA | 823,938 | 825 | 100.1 | 15.9 |
| Suffolk County, MA | 793,144 | 2,336 | 294.5 | 66.3 |
| Norfolk County, MA | 740,754 | 1,006 | 135.8 | 42.5 |
| Plymouth County, MA | 542,090 | 420 | 77.5 | 16.4 |
| Rockingham County, NH | 322,433 | 293 | 90.9 | 39.9 |
| Strafford County, NH | 134,202 | 109 | 81.2 | 13.2 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Boston rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 305 | 32 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 350 | 7 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 256 | 5.1 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 353 | 7 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 235 | 4.7 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 284 | 5.7 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
45.4%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
785
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
11.5%
Share of all dentists (U.S.: 7.5%)
A dentist keeps one NPI for life, so most new NPIs belong to dentists early in their careers. By that measure Boston ranks 1st of the 50 largest metros for new dentists per resident.
Industry payments to dentists
Drug, device and dental supply companies must report what they pay dentists to CMS Open Payments. In 2025, 2,205 Boston dentists (32.2%) received at least one payment, $1,546,786 in all. 63% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 83% of the dollars. A payment does not mean anything improper, and you can look up your own dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
| Company | Paid to Boston dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Straumann USA | $460,493 |
| Align Technology | $185,040 |
| Hiossen | $143,462 |
| Geistlich Pharma, North America | $127,030 |
| ZimVie | $109,139 |
Where Boston's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Boston, MA1,840 dentists
- Brookline, MA186 dentists
- Cambridge, MA171 dentists
- Quincy, MA155 dentists
- Brockton, MA109 dentists
- Lynn, MA104 dentists
- Framingham, MA102 dentists
- Peabody, MA91 dentists
- Lowell, MA89 dentists
- Waltham, MA88 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Boston area?
The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area has 6,846 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 136.2 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 734 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Boston has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Plymouth County, MA has the fewest: 77.5 dentists per 100,000 people. Suffolk County, MA has the most, at 294.5.
How many pediatric dentists does Boston have?
305 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 3,126 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Boston get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 32.2% of Boston's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.5 million in total. 63% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan statistical area (OMB 2023 delineation). Dentists are individual NPI registrations with a dental taxonomy in the NPPES registry (October 2026), with deactivated NPIs removed; counts are registry-based, not licensure-based, and can include dentists who have retired. Practices are placed in a county by ZIP code. Population: Census Vintage 2024 estimates. Industry payments: CMS Open Payments, general payments, program year 2025. Full methodology on the report index.
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