UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

California has about 14% of the total number of dentists nationwide–the largest percentage of any state. This fact sheet provides county-by-county estimates of the distribution and characteristics of California's more than 31,000 licensed dentists, spotlighting dental health professional shortage areas and noting key demographic trends. This fact sheet presents a snapshot of licensed and actively practicing dentists in California in the third quarter of 2008. However, changes in licensure, practice status, and reported practice location of dentists continuously occur, leading to discrepancies with data obtained in other time periods.