2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Tampa, by the numbers
How many dentists the 3,424,560 people of the Tampa 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
40th of 50
71.7 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
26th of 50
16.3 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
2,457
Registered dentists
1,880
Practice addresses
19.2%
Specialists
4
Counties
Key findings
- Tampa has 2,457 registered dentists for 3,424,560 residents: 71.7 per 100,000 people, 11% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 40th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Pinellas County has 93.8 dentists per 100,000 residents; Pasco County has 41.4. That is a 2.3x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 6,141 children here (16.3 per 100,000 kids, 9% above the national rate).
- 234 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.8 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 41.8% of Tampa's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 41.9% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $564,000 in total. For most it was small: 71% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $75 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 81% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough County | 1,581,426 | 1,181 | 74.7 | 17.6 |
| Pinellas County | 965,870 | 906 | 93.8 | 18.1 |
| Pasco County | 659,114 | 273 | 41.4 | 12.8 |
| Hernando County | 218,150 | 97 | 44.5 | 10 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Tampa rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 106 | 16.3 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 112 | 3.3 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 77 | 2.2 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 65 | 1.9 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 84 | 2.5 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 27 | 0.8 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
41.8%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
234
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
9.5%
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 Tampa ranks 21st 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, 1,029 Tampa dentists (41.9%) received at least one payment, $564,291 in all. 71% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 81% 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 Tampa dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Envista Holdings | $103,702 |
| Align Technology | $97,611 |
| BioHorizons | $56,064 |
| Convergent Dental | $47,021 |
| Straumann USA | $30,780 |
Where Tampa's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Tampa736 dentists
- Clearwater202 dentists
- St Petersburg180 dentists
- Brandon146 dentists
- Largo104 dentists
- Seminole103 dentists
- Palm Harbor89 dentists
- Wesley Chapel72 dentists
- New Port Richey72 dentists
- Spring Hill70 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Tampa area?
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area has 2,457 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 71.7 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,394 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Tampa has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Pasco County has the fewest: 41.4 dentists per 100,000 people. Pinellas County has the most, at 93.8.
How many pediatric dentists does Tampa have?
106 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 6,141 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Tampa get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 41.9% of Tampa's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $564,000 in total. 71% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 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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