2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Riverside-San Bernardino, by the numbers
How many dentists the 4,744,214 people of the Riverside-San Bernardino 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
36th of 50
74 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
47th of 50
9.6 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
3,509
Registered dentists
3,073
Practice addresses
14.8%
Specialists
2
Counties
Key findings
- Riverside-San Bernardino has 3,509 registered dentists for 4,744,214 residents: 74 per 100,000 people, 8% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 36th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 10,370 children here (9.6 per 100,000 kids, 36% below the national rate).
- 319 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.7 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 38% of Riverside-San Bernardino's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 31.3% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $505,000 in total. For most it was small: 72% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $71 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 80% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County | 2,529,933 | 1,616 | 63.9 | 8.5 |
| San Bernardino County | 2,214,281 | 1,893 | 85.5 | 10.9 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Riverside-San Bernardino rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 110 | 9.6 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 155 | 3.3 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 74 | 1.6 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 66 | 1.4 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 83 | 1.7 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 33 | 0.7 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
38%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
319
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
9.1%
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 Riverside-San Bernardino ranks 23rd 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, 1,097 Riverside-San Bernardino dentists (31.3%) received at least one payment, $505,239 in all. 72% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 80% 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 Riverside-San Bernardino dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Envista Holdings | $135,798 |
| Straumann USA | $42,918 |
| Stryker | $42,365 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $40,223 |
| Kuraray America | $37,985 |
Where Riverside-San Bernardino's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Riverside379 dentists
- Loma Linda227 dentists
- Rancho Cucamonga182 dentists
- San Bernardino178 dentists
- Corona177 dentists
- Redlands165 dentists
- Temecula147 dentists
- Upland132 dentists
- Fontana120 dentists
- Murrieta119 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Riverside-San Bernardino area?
The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area has 3,509 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 74 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,352 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Riverside-San Bernardino has the fewest dentists per person?
Dentist density is fairly even across the metro's large counties. The full county table on this page shows each one.
How many pediatric dentists does Riverside-San Bernardino have?
110 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 10,370 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Riverside-San Bernardino get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 31.3% of Riverside-San Bernardino's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $505,000 in total. 72% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 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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