Dental marketing statistics for 2026, each with its source
27 US dental marketing statistics for 2026: dentist counts, patient demand, review habits and Google Ads costs, each linked to the source it came from.
The US had 205,088 professionally active dentists in 2025 (ADA Health Policy Institute). In the second quarter of 2026, 26 percent of dentists said they were not busy enough (ADA Health Policy Institute). A dental search click cost $8.00 in the 2026 benchmarks (LocaliQ).
Those three numbers frame the rest of this page. There are 27 statistics below, grouped by the question each one answers. Every figure was opened at its source and carries its year. All of them describe the United States unless the row says otherwise.
The short version
- The ADA Health Policy Institute counted 205,088 professionally active dentists in the US in 2025, which is 60.0 dentists for every 100,000 people.
- National dental care spending was $189 billion in 2024, up 3.6 percent from 2023, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute.
- In 2022, 45 percent of the US population had a dental visit in the past 12 months. For adults aged 19 to 64 the figure was 40 percent.
- In the second quarter of 2026, 26 percent of dentists told the ADA they were not busy enough and could have treated more patients.
- BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults found that 68 percent require a rating of at least four stars before they use a local business.
- Dental search ads cost $8.00 a click and $72.97 a lead in LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks, against $5.42 and $66.69 across all 23 industries.
How big is the US dental industry?
It has about 205,000 active dentists and took in $189 billion in 2024. The table sets out the size of the workforce, the money and who owns the practices.
| Statistic | Figure | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Professionally active dentists in the US | 205,088 | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025 |
| Dentists per 100,000 US population | 60.0 | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025 |
| Active dentists working in an ADA-recognized specialty | 21.2% | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025 |
| Dentist jobs | 161,400 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 |
| Projected growth in dentist employment | 6% | Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 to 2035 |
| Projected openings for dentists each year | About 4,800 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 to 2035 |
| Dental hygienist jobs | 225,300 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 |
| National dental care expenditures | $189 billion | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2024 |
| Dentists who own a private practice | 72.5% | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2023 |
| Dentists affiliated with a dental support organization | 16% | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2024 |
| Average gross billings per general dentist in private practice | $965,660 | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025 |
The ADA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics count different things. The ADA figure is professionally active dentists. The BLS figure is jobs. Quote one or the other, with its name.
The ownership row has a trend behind it. The ADA says 84.7 percent of dentists owned a practice in 2005, against 72.5 percent in 2023 (ADA Health Policy Institute). A dental support organization, or DSO, is a company that runs the business side of a group of practices.
Photo: Cedric Fauntleroy on Pexels.
How many people visit a dentist, and how busy are practices?
Fewer than half of Americans saw a dentist in the most recent year measured. About a quarter of dentists say they have room for more patients.
| Statistic | Figure | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| US population with a dental visit in the past 12 months | 45% | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2022 |
| Adults aged 19 to 64 with a dental visit in the past 12 months | 40% | ADA Health Policy Institute, 2022 |
| Dentists who were not busy enough and could have treated more patients | 26% | ADA Health Policy Institute, Q2 2026 |
| Dentists too busy to treat all patients requesting care | 12% | ADA Health Policy Institute, Q2 2026 |
| Average wait for a new patient appointment | 13.9 days | ADA Health Policy Institute, Q2 2026 |
| Dentists somewhat or very confident in their own practice | 60.6% | ADA Health Policy Institute, Q2 2026 |
The last four rows come from the ADA’s quarterly State of the US Dental Economy report. It is built on a panel of dental practices that the ADA surveys each quarter. The share saying they were not busy enough was 32 percent one quarter earlier, so the figure moves.
The same report asked sceptical dentists why. Among those dentists, 24.6 percent named patients unwilling or unable to prioritize dental care. That is a view from inside practices. It is not a measure of patient behavior.
How do patients find and choose a local business?
They read reviews, and they read recent ones. We could not find a current, openable survey of how patients choose a dentist. These figures are for local businesses in general.
They come from BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, a panel of 1,002 US adults (BrightLocal). The survey does not break results out by industry, so none of these rows is specific to dental.
| Statistic | Figure | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers who read reviews for local businesses | 97% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
| Consumers who use Google to read local business reviews | 71% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
| Consumers who require at least four stars | 68% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
| Consumers who will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews | 47% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
| Consumers who expect the owner to respond to reviews | 89% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
| Consumers who look for reviews written in the last three months | 74% | BrightLocal, 2026 |
The Google share was 83 percent in the 2025 edition of the same survey, so it fell 12 points in a year. Google is still the largest single review source in the survey. The local SEO checklist covers the profile and review basics behind these rows.
Photo: Kaboompics on Pexels.
What do Google Ads cost for dentists?
A dental search click cost $8.00 in the 2026 benchmarks, and a lead cost $72.97. Both figures are for the Dentists and Dental Services category in LocaliQ’s report.
| Statistic | Dentists and Dental Services | All 23 industries | Source and year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $8.00 | $5.42 | LocaliQ, 2026 |
| Click-through rate | 5.66% | 6.64% | LocaliQ, 2026 |
| Conversion rate | 10.67% | 8.18% | LocaliQ, 2026 |
| Cost per lead | $72.97 | $66.69 | LocaliQ, 2026 |
LocaliQ says the report is built on thousands of its customers’ campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. The page we opened does not state the campaign dates. Our post on what Google Ads cost in 2026 records the method note from the WordStream edition.
A lead here is whatever the advertiser’s account records as a conversion, such as a call or a form. It is not a booked patient. The cost per lead benchmarks post goes through that difference row by row.
What does this mean for your marketing?
This section is our reading of the numbers above. It is opinion, and the sources do not say it.
The click price is high and the conversion rate is high. Dental clicks cost about 48 percent more than the all-industry figure, on our arithmetic. They also convert at 10.67 percent against 8.18 percent. So the page a click lands on, and how fast the phone is answered, carry a lot of the cost.
Reviews look like the cheapest place to start. Nearly half of the consumers in the BrightLocal survey skip a business with fewer than 20 reviews. Three in four want reviews from the last three months. A steady habit of asking fits those figures better than a one-time push.
Spare capacity changes the sum. A practice that tells the ADA it is not busy enough has chairs already paid for. You can test what a new patient is worth to you in the lead generation calculator.
Our dental marketing page sets out how we approach a practice. The service pages cover dental SEO, Google Ads for dentists and local SEO for dentists. For budgets, see what local SEO costs in 2026.
What these figures do not tell you
- None of them is a result you should expect. They describe a national workforce, a survey panel or a set of ad accounts.
- The review figures are for local businesses of every kind. No row in that table is about dental patients alone.
- The ad benchmarks cover LocaliQ’s own customers. Your city, your services and your tracking can put you well above or below them.
- The dental visit figures are for 2022. The ADA had not published a newer year on the page we checked.
Last checked against the sources on 2026-10-02.
The bottom line
A statistic is worth quoting when you can say who counted it, when, and what one unit is. The dental numbers that pass that test come from the ADA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one consumer survey and one ad benchmark report. Use them to size the market and to sanity-check a quote. Your own booking data is the number to plan on.
Questions people ask about this
How many dentists are there in the US?
The ADA Health Policy Institute counted 205,088 professionally active dentists in 2025, or 60.0 for every 100,000 people. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a different measure, 161,400 dentist jobs in 2025. The two are counted in different ways, so name the source when you quote either one.
How much do Americans spend on dental care?
National dental care expenditures were $189 billion in 2024, up 3.6 percent from 2023, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute. The ADA says out-of-pocket spending accounted for the largest share in 2024, followed by private insurance.
What percentage of Americans go to the dentist each year?
In 2022, 45 percent of the US population had a dental visit in the past 12 months, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute. The share was 52 percent for children and for adults aged 65 and over, and 40 percent for adults aged 19 to 64.
How much does a Google Ads click cost for a dental practice?
LocaliQ’s 2026 search advertising benchmarks put the Dentists and Dental Services category at $8.00 a click and $72.97 a lead. Those are benchmark figures across LocaliQ’s customers. A single practice can pay more or less depending on its city and the treatments it advertises.
Are dental practices busy in 2026?
It varies. In the ADA’s second quarter 2026 report, 26 percent of dentists said they were not busy enough and 12 percent said they were too busy to treat everyone. The rest said they treated all patients requesting care. The average wait for a new patient appointment was 13.9 days.
How many dentists work for a DSO?
The ADA Health Policy Institute puts it at 16 percent of US dentists as of 2024. Over a longer period, the share of dentists who own a private practice fell from 84.7 percent in 2005 to 72.5 percent in 2023.
Do online reviews matter for a dental practice?
The best current survey we could open is not specific to dentistry. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults found 97 percent read reviews for local businesses and 68 percent require at least four stars. It is reasonable to read that as relevant to a practice, and it is not proof.
Sources for every number on this page
- Dentist workforce, ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025 figures.
- Dental care market, ADA Health Policy Institute, 2022 and 2024 figures.
- Dental practice research, ADA Health Policy Institute, 2023 to 2025 figures.
- The State of the US Dental Economy, 2nd Quarter 2026 Update, ADA Health Policy Institute.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Dentists, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 data.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Dental Hygienists, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 data.
- Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, BrightLocal, 1,002 US adults.
- 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks, LocaliQ with WordStream.
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