2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Raleigh, by the numbers
How many dentists the 1,562,009 people of the Raleigh 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
45th of 50
70.1 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
32nd of 50
14.2 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
1,095
Registered dentists
1,013
Practice addresses
19.2%
Specialists
3
Counties
Key findings
- Raleigh has 1,095 registered dentists for 1,562,009 residents: 70.1 per 100,000 people, 13% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 45th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Wake County has 81.1 dentists per 100,000 residents; Franklin County has 15. That is a 5.4x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 7,039 children here (14.2 per 100,000 kids, 5% below the national rate).
- 79 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 5.1 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 44.1% of Raleigh's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 38.9% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.2 million in total. For most it was small: 64% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $64 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 97% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County | 1,232,444 | 1,000 | 81.1 | 17.1 |
| Johnston County | 249,794 | 83 | 33.2 | 5 |
| Franklin County | 79,771 | 12 | 15 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Raleigh rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 50 | 14.2 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 70 | 4.5 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 30 | 1.9 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 23 | 1.5 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 24 | 1.5 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 13 | 0.8 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
44.1%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
79
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
7.2%
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 Raleigh ranks 43rd 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, 426 Raleigh dentists (38.9%) received at least one payment, $1,196,649 in all. 64% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 97% 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 Raleigh dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $834,046 |
| Convergent Dental | $97,418 |
| Straumann USA | $73,606 |
| Envista Holdings | $62,623 |
| Neocis | $31,131 |
Where Raleigh's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Raleigh512 dentists
- Cary218 dentists
- Wake Forest64 dentists
- Apex57 dentists
- Garner47 dentists
- Clayton42 dentists
- Holly Springs29 dentists
- Morrisville27 dentists
- Knightdale18 dentists
- Smithfield18 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Raleigh area?
The Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area has 1,095 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 70.1 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,426 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Raleigh has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Franklin County has the fewest: 15 dentists per 100,000 people. Wake County has the most, at 81.1.
How many pediatric dentists does Raleigh have?
50 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 7,039 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Raleigh get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 38.9% of Raleigh's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.2 million in total. 64% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Raleigh-Cary, NC 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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