2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Philadelphia, by the numbers
How many dentists the 6,330,422 people of the Philadelphia 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
20th of 50
88.1 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
4th of 50
24.9 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
5,574
Registered dentists
4,040
Practice addresses
22.7%
Specialists
11
Counties
Key findings
- Philadelphia has 5,574 registered dentists for 6,330,422 residents: 88.1 per 100,000 people, 10% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 20th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Montgomery County, PA has 102.4 dentists per 100,000 residents; Salem County, NJ has 27.3. That is a 3.8x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 4,019 children here (24.9 per 100,000 kids, 67% above the national rate).
- 440 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 7 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 37.6% of Philadelphia's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 30.4% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.6 million in total. For most it was small: 60% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $72 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 90% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County, PA | 1,573,916 | 1,572 | 99.9 | 40.1 |
| Montgomery County, PA | 879,190 | 900 | 102.4 | 25.1 |
| Bucks County, PA | 650,131 | 602 | 92.6 | 22 |
| New Castle County, DE | 588,093 | 391 | 66.5 | 17.1 |
| Delaware County, PA | 584,882 | 535 | 91.5 | 18 |
| Chester County, PA | 560,745 | 497 | 88.6 | 23.4 |
| Camden County, NJ | 533,988 | 455 | 85.2 | 20.9 |
| Burlington County, NJ | 475,515 | 395 | 83.1 | 12.5 |
| Gloucester County, NJ | 311,783 | 159 | 51 | 18.4 |
| Cecil County, MD | 106,305 | 50 | 47 | 17.2 |
| Salem County, NJ | 65,874 | 18 | 27.3 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Philadelphia rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 330 | 24.9 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 312 | 4.9 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 214 | 3.4 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 176 | 2.8 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 166 | 2.6 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 69 | 1.1 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
37.6%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
440
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
7.9%
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 Philadelphia ranks 19th 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, 1,697 Philadelphia dentists (30.4%) received at least one payment, $1,612,221 in all. 60% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 90% 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 Philadelphia dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $657,099 |
| Straumann USA | $143,679 |
| Envista Holdings | $121,900 |
| GC America | $82,658 |
| Hiossen | $82,090 |
Where Philadelphia's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Philadelphia, PA1,521 dentists
- Wilmington, DE247 dentists
- Cherry Hill, NJ125 dentists
- West Chester, PA111 dentists
- Marlton, NJ79 dentists
- Newark, DE79 dentists
- Lansdale, PA74 dentists
- Doylestown, PA65 dentists
- Voorhees, NJ64 dentists
- Newtown, PA60 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Philadelphia area?
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area has 5,574 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 88.1 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,136 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Philadelphia has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Salem County, NJ has the fewest: 27.3 dentists per 100,000 people. Montgomery County, PA has the most, at 102.4.
How many pediatric dentists does Philadelphia have?
330 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 4,019 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Philadelphia get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 30.4% of Philadelphia's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.6 million in total. 60% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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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