2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Washington, DC, by the numbers
How many dentists the 6,436,489 people of the Washington, DC 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
11th of 50
99.2 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
10th of 50
22 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
6,384
Registered dentists
5,042
Practice addresses
21.4%
Specialists
23
Counties
Key findings
- Washington, DC has 6,384 registered dentists for 6,436,489 residents: 99.2 per 100,000 people, 24% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 11th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Montgomery County, MD has 139.7 dentists per 100,000 residents; Jefferson County, WV has 29.4. That is a 4.8x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 4,536 children here (22 per 100,000 kids, 48% above the national rate).
- 407 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.3 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 43.9% of Washington, DC's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 38.2% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.3 million in total. For most it was small: 64% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $92 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 79% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County, VA | 1,160,925 | 1,473 | 126.9 | 25.6 |
| Montgomery County, MD | 1,082,273 | 1,512 | 139.7 | 31.2 |
| Prince George's County, MD | 966,629 | 658 | 68.1 | 14.3 |
| District of Columbia, DC | 702,250 | 857 | 122 | 32.3 |
| Prince William County, VA | 497,003 | 346 | 69.6 | 10.1 |
| Loudoun County, VA | 443,380 | 367 | 82.8 | 24.7 |
| Frederick County, MD | 299,317 | 211 | 70.5 | 20.3 |
| Arlington County, VA | 239,807 | 200 | 83.4 | 23.6 |
| Charles County, MD | 174,478 | 121 | 69.3 | 12.2 |
| Stafford County, VA | 168,919 | 107 | 63.3 | 13.7 |
| Alexandria city, VA | 159,102 | 168 | 105.6 | 28.3 |
| Spotsylvania County, VA | 152,021 | 85 | 55.9 | 0 |
| Fauquier County, VA | 75,865 | 42 | 55.4 | 5.7 |
| Jefferson County, WV | 61,264 | 18 | 29.4 | 0 |
| Culpeper County, VA | 56,125 | 23 | 41 | 0 |
| Manassas city, VA | 43,616 | 58 | 133 | 51.6 |
| Warren County, VA | 42,461 | 15 | 35.3 | 10.9 |
| Fredericksburg city, VA | 29,992 | 57 | 190.1 | 94 |
| Fairfax city, VA | 26,340 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Manassas Park city, VA | 16,611 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clarke County, VA | 15,598 | 5 | 32.1 | 0 |
| Falls Church city, VA | 15,034 | 59 | 392.4 | 112.8 |
| Rappahannock County, VA | 7,479 | 2 | 26.7 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Washington, DC rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 316 | 22 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 312 | 4.8 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 215 | 3.3 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 191 | 3 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 194 | 3 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 136 | 2.1 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
43.9%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
407
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
6.4%
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 Washington, DC ranks 32nd 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, 2,437 Washington, DC dentists (38.2%) received at least one payment, $1,330,589 in all. 64% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 79% 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 Washington, DC dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $517,977 |
| ZimVie | $174,217 |
| Hiossen | $98,460 |
| Straumann USA | $90,122 |
| Sonendo | $45,338 |
Where Washington, DC's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Washington, DC842 dentists
- Bethesda, MD342 dentists
- Silver Spring, MD318 dentists
- Alexandria, VA290 dentists
- Fairfax, VA267 dentists
- Rockville, MD260 dentists
- Falls Church, VA213 dentists
- Arlington, VA189 dentists
- Gaithersburg, MD159 dentists
- Vienna, VA158 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Washington, DC area?
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area has 6,384 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 99.2 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,008 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Washington, DC has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Jefferson County, WV has the fewest: 29.4 dentists per 100,000 people. Montgomery County, MD has the most, at 139.7.
How many pediatric dentists does Washington, DC have?
316 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 4,536 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Washington, DC get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 38.2% of Washington, DC's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.3 million in total. 64% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 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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