2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Charlotte, by the numbers
How many dentists the 2,883,370 people of the Charlotte 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
47th of 50
65.5 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
31st of 50
14.3 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
1,888
Registered dentists
1,718
Practice addresses
18.9%
Specialists
11
Counties
Key findings
- Charlotte has 1,888 registered dentists for 2,883,370 residents: 65.5 per 100,000 people, 18% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 47th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Mecklenburg County, NC has 78.6 dentists per 100,000 residents; Union County, NC has 36.4. That is a 2.2x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 7,014 children here (14.3 per 100,000 kids, 4% below the national rate).
- 156 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 5.4 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 38.4% of Charlotte's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 43.9% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.2 million in total. For most it was small: 65% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $65 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 94% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg County, NC | 1,206,285 | 948 | 78.6 | 20.8 |
| York County, SC | 303,001 | 201 | 66.3 | 5.7 |
| Union County, NC | 263,386 | 96 | 36.4 | 3.1 |
| Cabarrus County, NC | 244,925 | 158 | 64.5 | 6.6 |
| Gaston County, NC | 242,010 | 157 | 64.9 | 22.4 |
| Iredell County, NC | 206,361 | 138 | 66.9 | 20.1 |
| Rowan County, NC | 153,384 | 72 | 46.9 | 12 |
| Lancaster County, SC | 111,652 | 53 | 47.5 | 0 |
| Lincoln County, NC | 97,611 | 53 | 54.3 | 10.1 |
| Chester County, SC | 32,323 | 7 | 21.7 | 0 |
| Anson County, NC | 22,432 | 5 | 22.3 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Charlotte rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 93 | 14.3 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 99 | 3.4 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 73 | 2.5 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 31 | 1.1 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 47 | 1.6 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 13 | 0.5 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
38.4%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
156
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
8.3%
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 Charlotte ranks 39th 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, 828 Charlotte dentists (43.9%) received at least one payment, $1,198,601 in all. 65% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 94% 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 Charlotte dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Envista Holdings | $625,332 |
| Straumann USA | $121,138 |
| Sirona Dental Systems Gmbh | $79,955 |
| ZimVie | $72,424 |
| Align Technology | $53,595 |
Where Charlotte's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Charlotte, NC775 dentists
- Rock Hill, SC120 dentists
- Gastonia, NC116 dentists
- Concord, NC103 dentists
- Mooresville, NC84 dentists
- Matthews, NC67 dentists
- Salisbury, NC60 dentists
- Fort Mill, SC57 dentists
- Statesville, NC47 dentists
- Monroe, NC47 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Charlotte area?
The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area has 1,888 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 65.5 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,527 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Charlotte has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Union County, NC has the fewest: 36.4 dentists per 100,000 people. Mecklenburg County, NC has the most, at 78.6.
How many pediatric dentists does Charlotte have?
93 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 7,014 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Charlotte get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 43.9% of Charlotte's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.2 million in total. 65% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 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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