2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Sacramento, by the numbers
How many dentists the 2,463,127 people of the Sacramento 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
16th of 50
92.4 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
38th of 50
13.3 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
2,276
Registered dentists
1,742
Practice addresses
15.7%
Specialists
4
Counties
Key findings
- Sacramento has 2,276 registered dentists for 2,463,127 residents: 92.4 per 100,000 people, 15% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 16th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 7,505 children here (13.3 per 100,000 kids, 11% below the national rate).
- 170 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.9 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 36.5% of Sacramento's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 37.7% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $632,000 in total. For most it was small: 67% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $74 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 87% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento County | 1,611,231 | 1,451 | 90.1 | 11.4 |
| Placer County | 433,822 | 488 | 112.5 | 19.5 |
| Yolo County | 225,251 | 169 | 75 | 16.2 |
| El Dorado County | 192,823 | 168 | 87.1 | 13.6 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Sacramento rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 71 | 13.3 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 104 | 4.2 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 57 | 2.3 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 55 | 2.2 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 50 | 2 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 21 | 0.9 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
36.5%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
170
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
7.5%
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 Sacramento ranks 20th 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, 857 Sacramento dentists (37.7%) received at least one payment, $632,030 in all. 67% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 87% 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 Sacramento dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $225,380 |
| Envista Holdings | $80,901 |
| Kuraray America | $42,360 |
| Convergent Dental | $39,746 |
| Straumann USA | $38,238 |
Where Sacramento's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Sacramento845 dentists
- Roseville249 dentists
- Elk Grove169 dentists
- Folsom125 dentists
- Rocklin92 dentists
- Davis67 dentists
- Citrus Heights67 dentists
- Woodland63 dentists
- Auburn62 dentists
- El Dorado Hills59 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Sacramento area?
The Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metro area has 2,276 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 92.4 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,082 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Sacramento 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 Sacramento have?
71 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 7,505 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Sacramento get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 37.7% of Sacramento's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $632,000 in total. 67% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, 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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