2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Dallas-Fort Worth, by the numbers
How many dentists the 8,344,032 people of the Dallas-Fort Worth 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
33rd of 50
76.6 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
25th of 50
16.5 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
6,394
Registered dentists
6,085
Practice addresses
20.4%
Specialists
11
Counties
Key findings
- Dallas-Fort Worth has 6,394 registered dentists for 8,344,032 residents: 76.6 per 100,000 people, 4% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 33rd of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Dallas County has 100.3 dentists per 100,000 residents; Wise County has 22.1. That is a 4.5x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 6,050 children here (16.5 per 100,000 kids, 11% above the national rate).
- 521 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.2 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 43.1% of Dallas-Fort Worth's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 40.5% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $2.0 million in total. For most it was small: 64% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $79 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 88% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas County | 2,656,028 | 2,664 | 100.3 | 19.2 |
| Tarrant County | 2,230,708 | 1,536 | 68.9 | 15.8 |
| Collin County | 1,254,658 | 1,085 | 86.5 | 22.6 |
| Denton County | 1,045,120 | 591 | 56.5 | 15.3 |
| Ellis County | 232,387 | 92 | 39.6 | 9.9 |
| Johnson County | 210,547 | 103 | 48.9 | 5.6 |
| Kaufman County | 197,829 | 80 | 40.4 | 5.3 |
| Parker County | 179,707 | 88 | 49 | 9.2 |
| Rockwall County | 137,044 | 98 | 71.5 | 14 |
| Hunt County | 118,729 | 39 | 32.8 | 0 |
| Wise County | 81,275 | 18 | 22.1 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Dallas-Fort Worth rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 337 | 16.5 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 384 | 4.6 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 196 | 2.3 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 151 | 1.8 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 149 | 1.8 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 85 | 1 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
43.1%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
521
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
8.1%
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 Dallas-Fort Worth ranks 33rd 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, 2,592 Dallas-Fort Worth dentists (40.5%) received at least one payment, $2,045,127 in all. 64% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 88% 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 Dallas-Fort Worth dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $582,537 |
| Straumann USA | $161,940 |
| Darby Dental Supply | $158,915 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $123,241 |
| BioHorizons | $122,187 |
Where Dallas-Fort Worth's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Dallas1,531 dentists
- Fort Worth544 dentists
- Plano433 dentists
- Arlington293 dentists
- Irving232 dentists
- Frisco231 dentists
- Garland192 dentists
- Richardson172 dentists
- Carrollton162 dentists
- Mckinney149 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?
The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area has 6,394 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 76.6 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,305 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Dallas-Fort Worth has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Wise County has the fewest: 22.1 dentists per 100,000 people. Dallas County has the most, at 100.3.
How many pediatric dentists does Dallas-Fort Worth have?
337 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 6,050 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Dallas-Fort Worth get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 40.5% of Dallas-Fort Worth's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $2.0 million in total. 64% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 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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