2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Louisville, by the numbers
How many dentists the 1,394,234 people of the Louisville 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
31st of 50
79.3 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
27th of 50
16.2 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
1,106
Registered dentists
831
Practice addresses
20.3%
Specialists
12
Counties
Key findings
- Louisville has 1,106 registered dentists for 1,394,234 residents: 79.3 per 100,000 people, in line with the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 31st of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Jefferson County, KY has 101.4 dentists per 100,000 residents; Bullitt County, KY has 35. That is a 2.9x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 6,166 children here (16.2 per 100,000 kids, 9% above the national rate).
- 92 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.6 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 39% of Louisville's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 32.5% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $317,000 in total. For most it was small: 72% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $50 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 92% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, KY | 793,881 | 805 | 101.4 | 18.7 |
| Clark County, IN | 127,479 | 51 | 40 | 10.9 |
| Bullitt County, KY | 85,802 | 30 | 35 | 16.9 |
| Floyd County, IN | 81,931 | 76 | 92.8 | 16.6 |
| Oldham County, KY | 70,525 | 48 | 68.1 | 35.6 |
| Shelby County, KY | 50,124 | 21 | 41.9 | 18.3 |
| Nelson County, KY | 48,706 | 33 | 67.8 | 0 |
| Harrison County, IN | 39,978 | 14 | 35 | 0 |
| Meade County, KY | 30,442 | 13 | 42.7 | 0 |
| Washington County, IN | 28,345 | 6 | 21.2 | 0 |
| Spencer County, KY | 20,823 | 4 | 19.2 | 0 |
| Henry County, KY | 16,198 | 5 | 30.9 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Louisville rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 50 | 16.2 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 68 | 4.9 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 43 | 3.1 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 24 | 1.7 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 26 | 1.9 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 13 | 0.9 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
39%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
92
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 Louisville ranks 28th 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, 360 Louisville dentists (32.5%) received at least one payment, $316,960 in all. 72% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 92% 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 Louisville dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $167,835 |
| J. Morita Usa | $37,206 |
| Straumann USA | $23,525 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $14,327 |
| Ultradent Products | $11,750 |
Where Louisville's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Louisville, KY792 dentists
- New Albany, IN57 dentists
- Bardstown, KY31 dentists
- Jeffersonville, IN29 dentists
- Shelbyville, KY20 dentists
- Crestwood, KY16 dentists
- Prospect, KY15 dentists
- Floyds Knobs, IN14 dentists
- Shepherdsville, KY14 dentists
- Clarksville, IN14 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Louisville area?
The Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN metro area has 1,106 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 79.3 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,261 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Louisville has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Bullitt County, KY has the fewest: 35 dentists per 100,000 people. Jefferson County, KY has the most, at 101.4.
How many pediatric dentists does Louisville have?
50 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 6,166 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Louisville get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 32.5% of Louisville's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $317,000 in total. 72% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 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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