2026 metro dental report
Dental care in San Antonio, by the numbers
How many dentists the 2,763,006 people of the San Antonio 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
18th of 50
90.4 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
18th of 50
18.5 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
2,498
Registered dentists
1,791
Practice addresses
23.1%
Specialists
8
Counties
Key findings
- San Antonio has 2,498 registered dentists for 2,763,006 residents: 90.4 per 100,000 people, 13% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 18th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Bexar County has 103.6 dentists per 100,000 residents; Medina County has 21.6. That is a 4.8x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 5,392 children here (18.5 per 100,000 kids, 24% above the national rate).
- 234 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 8.5 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 38.2% of San Antonio's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 33.3% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $803,000 in total. For most it was small: 71% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $79 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 91% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexar County | 2,127,737 | 2,205 | 103.6 | 19.9 |
| Comal County | 201,628 | 54 | 26.8 | 6.8 |
| Guadalupe County | 195,166 | 133 | 68.1 | 26 |
| Medina County | 55,619 | 12 | 21.6 | 0 |
| Wilson County | 55,415 | 16 | 28.9 | 7.8 |
| Atascosa County | 52,783 | 24 | 45.5 | 14.4 |
| Kendall County | 51,828 | 46 | 88.8 | 17.9 |
| Bandera County | 22,830 | 8 | 35 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | San Antonio rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 122 | 18.5 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 149 | 5.4 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 93 | 3.4 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 87 | 3.1 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 54 | 2 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 73 | 2.6 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
38.2%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
234
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
9.4%
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 San Antonio ranks 8th 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, 833 San Antonio dentists (33.3%) received at least one payment, $802,583 in all. 71% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 91% 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 San Antonio dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $477,421 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $52,020 |
| Hiossen | $39,434 |
| Zest Holdings | $37,492 |
| Envista Holdings | $32,344 |
Where San Antonio's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- San Antonio1,754 dentists
- Jbsa Lackland126 dentists
- New Braunfels98 dentists
- Fort Sam Houston83 dentists
- Boerne40 dentists
- Seguin34 dentists
- Lackland A F B29 dentists
- Lackland Afb27 dentists
- Schertz27 dentists
- Jbsa Ft Sam Houston22 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the San Antonio area?
The San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX metro area has 2,498 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 90.4 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,106 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of San Antonio has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Medina County has the fewest: 21.6 dentists per 100,000 people. Bexar County has the most, at 103.6.
How many pediatric dentists does San Antonio have?
122 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 5,392 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in San Antonio get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 33.3% of San Antonio's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $803,000 in total. 71% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 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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