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Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), 2012
HPSAs can be designated based on geographic areas, population groups, or facilities. For a geographic region to be deemed a dental HPSA, population to dental professional ratio must exceed 5,000:1 (4,000:1 in areas with unusually high need). Since 1990, the number of dentists in the United States has been roughly flat, about 150,000 to 160,000, while the population has risen about 22 percent.
The Numbers
Total Dental HPSA Designations:
4,438
Population Living in
a Dental HPSA:
47,692,297
Practitioners Needed
to Remove HPSA Designation:
6,777
US Dental school graduates/year:
4,443 (2003)
Retiring US dentists/year:
5,100 (2010)
