Which states have the most dentists per capita and the highest and lowest percentage of adults who have not visited a dentist in the past year? An August 6 report from a personal finance website has the answers.
WalletHub compared 40 key indicators of overall healthcare across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia for cost, accessibility, and outcome. The report included dental data, including which states had the most and fewest dentists per capita:
| U.S. states with the fewest & most dentists per capita | |
| Fewest | Most |
| Mississippi | Hawaii |
| Tennessee | Massachusetts |
| Alabama | Montana |
| Idaho | California |
| Louisiana | District of Columbia |
Hawaii had three times as many dentists per capita than Louisiana, WalletHub reported. Exact percentages were not released.
The report researchers also tabulated which states had the most and fewest adults who had not seen a dentist in the past year:
| U.S. states with the fewest & most adults who had not seen a dentist in the previous 12 months | |
| Fewest | Most |
| Connecticut | West Virginia |
| District of Columbia | Oklahoma |
| Rhode Island | Arkansas |
| Minnesota | Mississippi |
| Massachusetts | Louisiana |
The percentage of adults in Louisiana who had not visited a dentist in the previous 12 months was twice as high as the percentage of adults in Connecticut who had not done so, the report authors noted. Exact percentages were not released.
Overall, three New England states -- Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire -- and West Virginia ranked the highest among the U.S. states with the best healthcare systems, while Alaska, Mississippi, and Louisiana were the lowest.
WalletHub researchers used data from various sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more information, the full report is available on the WalletHub website.
