Report: CA has most dentists, but still too many shortages

May 27, 2009

California has the most dentists of any U.S. state, but shortages still exist in certain areas of the state, according to a new University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Health Policy Research fact sheet, "Distribution and Characteristics of Dentists Licensed to Practice in California, 2008."

For example, while San Francisco County has 6.1 licensed dentists for every 5,000 residents, and neighboring Placer County and Marin County have 5.2 and 5.0 per 5,000, respectively, San Benito and Inyo counties have only one dentist for every 5,000 residents, according to the center.

"If you don't live in a city or a major urban area, you may have a long drive to treat a toothache," said Nadereh Pourat, Ph.D., director of research planning at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, in a press release. "There's a lot of demand and not a lot of dentists. And if you have to travel an hour to see a dentist, that's a serious obstacle to care."

The fact sheet quantifies the number of dentists statewide and in each county, as well as the proportion of dentists to residents and the number of areas where shortages of dentists exist.

Other findings include:

California has nearly 32,000 licensed dentists, or approximately 14% of the total number of dentists nationwide -- the most of any state.
The state has 233 dental health professional shortage areas.
Los Angeles County has the largest total number of licensed dentists, with 7,854, but also the largest number of dental health professional shortage areas, with 37.
Dentists in rural counties more often divide their time between multiple locations, which may mean longer wait times to see the dentist in some areas.
Many rural areas do not have access to dental care provided in publicly funded community clinics. In those areas, free or low-cost dental care may not be available.