2026 metro dental report
Dental care in St. Louis, by the numbers
How many dentists the 2,811,927 people of the St. Louis 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
30th of 50
80.7 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
44th of 50
10.7 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
2,269
Registered dentists
1,606
Practice addresses
17%
Specialists
15
Counties
Key findings
- St. Louis has 2,269 registered dentists for 2,811,927 residents: 80.7 per 100,000 people, in line with the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 30th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Madison County, IL has 108.4 dentists per 100,000 residents; Lincoln County, MO has 18.2. That is a 6x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 9,353 children here (10.7 per 100,000 kids, 28% below the national rate).
- 199 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 7.1 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 32.4% of St. Louis's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 36.2% 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 $107 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis County, MO | 992,929 | 939 | 94.6 | 14.9 |
| St. Charles County, MO | 423,726 | 312 | 73.6 | 8.6 |
| St. Louis city, MO | 279,695 | 235 | 84 | 10 |
| Madison County, IL | 263,017 | 285 | 108.4 | 12.8 |
| St. Clair County, IL | 251,149 | 190 | 75.7 | 10.7 |
| Jefferson County, MO | 231,888 | 134 | 57.8 | 3.9 |
| Franklin County, MO | 107,256 | 66 | 61.5 | 8.5 |
| Lincoln County, MO | 65,888 | 12 | 18.2 | 6.1 |
| Macoupin County, IL | 43,895 | 22 | 50.1 | 0 |
| Warren County, MO | 38,478 | 12 | 31.2 | 0 |
| Clinton County, IL | 37,087 | 11 | 29.7 | 0 |
| Monroe County, IL | 34,969 | 34 | 97.2 | 13.6 |
| Jersey County, IL | 21,150 | 12 | 56.7 | 0 |
| Bond County, IL | 16,576 | 4 | 24.1 | 0 |
| Calhoun County, IL | 4,224 | 1 | 23.7 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | St. Louis rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 64 | 10.7 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 132 | 4.7 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 68 | 2.4 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 45 | 1.6 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 55 | 2 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 21 | 0.7 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
32.4%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
199
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
8.8%
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 St. Louis ranks 17th 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, 822 St. Louis dentists (36.2%) received at least one payment, $1,207,670 in all. 64% 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 St. Louis dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $893,294 |
| Geistlich Pharma, North America | $27,558 |
| Straumann USA | $27,357 |
| Envista Holdings | $23,679 |
| Patterson Companies | $23,054 |
Where St. Louis's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Saint Louis, MO589 dentists
- Alton, IL110 dentists
- Chesterfield, MO90 dentists
- Saint Peters, MO80 dentists
- St Louis, MO72 dentists
- O Fallon, MO67 dentists
- Florissant, MO63 dentists
- Saint Charles, MO59 dentists
- Belleville, IL44 dentists
- Arnold, MO43 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the St. Louis area?
The St. Louis, MO-IL metro area has 2,269 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 80.7 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,239 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of St. Louis has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Lincoln County, MO has the fewest: 18.2 dentists per 100,000 people. Madison County, IL has the most, at 108.4.
How many pediatric dentists does St. Louis have?
64 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 9,353 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in St. Louis get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 36.2% of St. Louis'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 St. Louis, MO-IL 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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