2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Grand Rapids, by the numbers
How many dentists the 1,178,826 people of the Grand Rapids 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
41st of 50
71.3 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
45th of 50
10.2 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
841
Registered dentists
629
Practice addresses
16.9%
Specialists
5
Counties
Key findings
- Grand Rapids has 841 registered dentists for 1,178,826 residents: 71.3 per 100,000 people, 11% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 41st of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Kent County has 85.7 dentists per 100,000 residents; Barry County has 21.9. That is a 3.9x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 9,776 children here (10.2 per 100,000 kids, 32% below the national rate).
- 51 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 4.3 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 28.1% of Grand Rapids's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 40% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $90,000 in total. For most it was small: 64% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $60 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 67% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent County | 673,002 | 577 | 85.7 | 12.3 |
| Ottawa County | 306,235 | 188 | 61.4 | 11.7 |
| Montcalm County | 69,314 | 31 | 44.7 | 0 |
| Ionia County | 66,250 | 31 | 46.8 | 0 |
| Barry County | 64,025 | 14 | 21.9 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Grand Rapids rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 27 | 10.2 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 52 | 4.4 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 28 | 2.4 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 9 | 0.8 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 20 | 1.7 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 6 | 0.5 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
28.1%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
51
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
6.1%
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 Grand Rapids ranks 50th 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, 336 Grand Rapids dentists (40%) received at least one payment, $89,991 in all. 64% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 67% 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 Grand Rapids dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $17,610 |
| A-dec | $12,225 |
| Straumann USA | $6,769 |
| Garrison Dental Solutions | $6,753 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $5,281 |
Where Grand Rapids's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Grand Rapids365 dentists
- Holland54 dentists
- Grandville49 dentists
- Wyoming45 dentists
- Grand Haven35 dentists
- Jenison31 dentists
- Rockford25 dentists
- Kentwood24 dentists
- Hudsonville20 dentists
- Caledonia18 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Grand Rapids area?
The Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI metro area has 841 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 71.3 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,402 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Grand Rapids has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Barry County has the fewest: 21.9 dentists per 100,000 people. Kent County has the most, at 85.7.
How many pediatric dentists does Grand Rapids have?
27 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 9,776 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Grand Rapids get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 40% of Grand Rapids's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $90,000 in total. 64% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI 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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