Dental SEO Statistics in the United States (2026)

Most U.S. dental plans reset on January 1, so October is when patients start hunting for a dentist to use up their benefits. If you run a practice, these are the numbers behind that rush: how many dentists you are up against, what patients spend, and what a click and a lead cost on Google and Facebook right now.

TL;DR

205,088 dentists are in active practice, or 60.0 for every 100,000 people.
A dental click on Google costs $8.00 on average. Only two industries pay more.
10.67% of dental ad clicks turn into a lead, at $72.97 per lead.
86.72% of U.S. searches happen on Google and 8.68% on Bing.
40% of adults aged 19 to 64 saw a dentist in the past year.

Number of Dentists and Local Competition in the U.S.

205,088 dentists were professionally active in the U.S. in 2025. (ADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce)
60.0 dentists serve every 100,000 people in the U.S. (ADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce)
40.2 dentists per 100,000 people in Arkansas is the lowest ratio of any state. The District of Columbia has the highest at 103.2. (DentistryIQ (ADA HPI data))
64.7 dentists per 100,000 people work in urban areas, against 32.7 in rural areas. (Becker’s Dental Review (ADA HPI data))
80% of U.S. dentists are general practitioners. That is more than 159,000 general dentists. (Becker’s Dental Review (ADA HPI data))
21.2% of active dentists work in an ADA-recognized specialty. (ADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce)
5% of all dentists are orthodontists, the largest specialty. (Becker’s Dental Review (ADA HPI data))
39.4% of working dentists are women. (ADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce)
17.4% of dentists are under 35 and 15.2% are 65 or older. (ADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce)
15 states added dentists per 100,000 people between 2014 and 2024. Most other states lost ground. (ADA HPI, The U.S. Dentist Workforce 2025 Update)

Solo Practices, Group Practices and DSOs

16.1% of U.S. dentists were tied to a dental support organization (DSO) in 2024. The share has more than doubled since 2015. (ADA HPI, The U.S. Dentist Workforce 2025 Update)
1 in 3 dentists works in a solo practice. (DentistryIQ (ADA HPI data))
1 in 4 dentists who graduated in the last 10 years is with a DSO in the states where DSOs are strongest. (ADA HPI, The U.S. Dentist Workforce 2025 Update)

Dental Visits and Patient Spending

$189 billion was spent on dental care in the U.S. in 2024. That is 3.6% of all health spending. (ADA HPI, National Dental Expenditures 2024)
$7 billion more was spent on dental care in 2024 than in 2023, a 4% rise after inflation. (ADA HPI, National Dental Expenditures 2024)
3.3% more came out of patients’ own pockets in 2024, and 2.3% more came from private dental insurance. (ADA HPI, National Dental Expenditures 2024)
9% more dental spending came from government programs in 2024, mostly Medicare. (ADA HPI, National Dental Expenditures 2024)
52% of children and 52% of seniors had a dental visit in the past 12 months. For adults aged 19 to 64 the figure is 40%. (ADA HPI, Dental Care Market)
18% of adults on Medicaid saw a dentist in 2022, compared with 57% of adults with private insurance. (ADA HPI, Dental Care Market)
66.0% of U.S. adults told the CDC’s 2022 survey they had been to a dentist in the past year. (America’s Health Rankings (CDC BRFSS 2022))

86.72% of U.S. searches run through Google (June 2026). (StatCounter Global Stats, United States, June 2026)
8.68% of U.S. searches run through Bing, 2.56% through Yahoo and 1.53% through DuckDuckGo. (StatCounter Global Stats, United States, June 2026)

Google Ads Costs for Dentists

$8.00 is the average cost per click for dental search ads. The average across all industries is $5.42. (LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
5.66% of people who see a dental search ad click on it. The all-industry average is 6.64%. (LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
10.67% of dental ad clicks become a lead. The all-industry average is 8.18%. (LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
$72.97 is the average cost of one dental lead from search ads. The all-industry average is $66.69. (LocaliQ Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
$83.93 was the average dental cost per lead a year earlier, with clicks at $7.85 and a 9.08% conversion rate. (AdManage (WordStream/LocaliQ 2025 benchmark data))

Facebook Ads Costs for Dentists

$61.56 is the average cost per lead for dental lead campaigns on Facebook, the highest of any industry. (LocaliQ Facebook Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
1.62% is the average click-through rate for dental lead campaigns on Facebook, and 6.07% of clicks convert. (LocaliQ Facebook Advertising Benchmarks 2026)
$0.61 is the average cost per click for dental traffic campaigns on Facebook, with a 1.55% click-through rate. (LocaliQ Facebook Advertising Benchmarks 2026)

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a U.S. dental office be fined for replying to an online review?

Yes. In 2019 Elite Dental Associates in Dallas paid $10,000 to the HHS Office for Civil Rights after it named patients and discussed their treatment in Yelp replies. New Vision Dental in California paid $23,000 over the same kind of replies. You can respond to reviews, but never confirm the person is a patient and never mention their care, insurance or bill.

Should every office in a dental group have its own Google Business Profile?

Yes. Google ranks each address separately, so each office needs its own profile, its own phone number and its own page on the website with the dentists, hours and services for that office. One shared page for five offices usually means none of them ranks well.

Which Google Business Profile category should a general dentist pick?

Pick Dentist as the main category. It matches the widest range of searches. Add extra categories such as Cosmetic dentist or Emergency dental service only for work you really do. Orthodontists, pediatric dentists and oral surgeons should put their own specialty first.

When should a practice post its use-it-or-lose-it insurance reminders?

Early in the fall. Most plans reset on January 1, and Google needs a few weeks to pick up a new page. A page that goes live in December is too late, because by then the schedule for hygiene visits and crowns is already full.

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