2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Providence, by the numbers
How many dentists the 1,700,901 people of the Providence 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
38th of 50
72.8 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
36th of 50
13.6 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
1,238
Registered dentists
877
Practice addresses
19.9%
Specialists
6
Counties
Key findings
- Providence has 1,238 registered dentists for 1,700,901 residents: 72.8 per 100,000 people, 9% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 38th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Newport County, RI has 106.6 dentists per 100,000 residents; Bristol County, RI has 35.9. That is a 3x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 7,332 children here (13.6 per 100,000 kids, 9% below the national rate).
- 114 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.7 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 35.7% of Providence's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 33.4% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $93,000 in total. For most it was small: 66% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $108 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 48% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence County, RI | 675,912 | 440 | 65.1 | 13.4 |
| Bristol County, MA | 588,593 | 452 | 76.8 | 10.2 |
| Kent County, RI | 172,450 | 152 | 88.1 | 19.9 |
| Washington County, RI | 130,333 | 87 | 66.8 | 26 |
| Newport County, RI | 83,468 | 89 | 106.6 | 23.6 |
| Bristol County, RI | 50,145 | 18 | 35.9 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Providence rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 44 | 13.6 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 69 | 4.1 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 49 | 2.9 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 39 | 2.3 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 31 | 1.8 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 14 | 0.8 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
35.7%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
114
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
9.2%
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 Providence ranks 25th 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, 413 Providence dentists (33.4%) received at least one payment, $92,938 in all. 66% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 48% 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 Providence dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| ZimVie | $22,313 |
| Align Technology | $16,426 |
| Straumann USA | $10,283 |
| Ultradent Products | $9,950 |
| A-dec | $6,540 |
Where Providence's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Providence, RI145 dentists
- Warwick, RI87 dentists
- Fall River, MA83 dentists
- Cranston, RI75 dentists
- New Bedford, MA65 dentists
- Newport, RI46 dentists
- Attleboro, MA41 dentists
- Taunton, MA41 dentists
- Johnston, RI32 dentists
- Pawtucket, RI31 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Providence area?
The Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area has 1,238 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 72.8 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,374 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Providence has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Bristol County, RI has the fewest: 35.9 dentists per 100,000 people. Newport County, RI has the most, at 106.6.
How many pediatric dentists does Providence have?
44 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 7,332 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Providence get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 33.4% of Providence's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $93,000 in total. 66% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA 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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