2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Memphis, by the numbers
How many dentists the 1,339,345 people of the Memphis 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
46th of 50
66.7 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
37th of 50
13.4 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
893
Registered dentists
687
Practice addresses
18.7%
Specialists
9
Counties
Key findings
- Memphis has 893 registered dentists for 1,339,345 residents: 66.7 per 100,000 people, 17% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 46th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Shelby County, TN has 77 dentists per 100,000 residents; Tipton County, TN has 32.2. That is a 2.4x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 7,489 children here (13.4 per 100,000 kids, 10% below the national rate).
- 60 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 4.5 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 33.4% of Memphis's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 40.3% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $147,000 in total. For most it was small: 65% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $79 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 73% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby County, TN | 910,530 | 701 | 77 | 14.8 |
| DeSoto County, MS | 195,871 | 104 | 53.1 | 18.9 |
| Tipton County, TN | 62,187 | 20 | 32.2 | 0 |
| Crittenden County, AR | 46,633 | 33 | 70.8 | 8.1 |
| Fayette County, TN | 44,476 | 16 | 36 | 0 |
| Marshall County, MS | 34,374 | 6 | 17.5 | 0 |
| Tate County, MS | 28,551 | 11 | 38.5 | 0 |
| Tunica County, MS | 9,157 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Benton County, MS | 7,566 | 2 | 26.4 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Memphis rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 44 | 13.4 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 40 | 3 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 28 | 2.1 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 18 | 1.3 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 18 | 1.3 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 19 | 1.4 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
33.4%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
60
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
6.7%
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 Memphis ranks 47th 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 Memphis dentists (40.3%) received at least one payment, $147,127 in all. 65% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 73% 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 Memphis dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Straumann USA | $33,654 |
| Align Technology | $17,722 |
| ZimVie | $17,638 |
| Southern Implants North America | $16,016 |
| Sonendo | $12,822 |
Where Memphis's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Memphis, TN450 dentists
- Germantown, TN65 dentists
- Bartlett, TN60 dentists
- Cordova, TN55 dentists
- Southaven, MS46 dentists
- Collierville, TN34 dentists
- Olive Branch, MS31 dentists
- West Memphis, AR23 dentists
- Horn Lake, MS16 dentists
- Millington, TN15 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Memphis area?
The Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area has 893 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 66.7 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,500 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Memphis has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Tipton County, TN has the fewest: 32.2 dentists per 100,000 people. Shelby County, TN has the most, at 77.
How many pediatric dentists does Memphis have?
44 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 7,489 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Memphis get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 40.3% of Memphis's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $147,000 in total. 65% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Memphis, TN-MS-AR 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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