2021 Dentist workforce report / Georgia Board for Physician Workforce.

2021 Dentist Workforce Report
Based on 2020-2021 Licensure Renewal Data
Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce
Published Spring 2022
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Contents
Characteristics of Licensed Dentists Practicing in Georgia, 2021 ........................ 3 Distribution of Dentists by Age Group .................................................................... 4 Distribution of Dentists by Gender .......................................................................... 6 Distribution of Work Hours per Week ...................................................................... 8 Distribution of Dentists by Specialty ....................................................................... 9 Distribution of Practicing Dentists in Georgia, 2015-2021 ................................... 10 Counties with no Dentists, 2021............................................................................. 14 Rate of Dentists per 100,000 Population, 2021...................................................... 15 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 16
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Characteristics of Licensed Dentists Practicing in Georgia, 2021
In 2021, there were 5,212 actively practicing in the state of Georgia. Between 2019 and 2021, there has been an increase of 96 dentists practicing in Georgia, or a growth of 1.3% since 2019. The rate of dentists per 100,000 people is 48.7 in 2021 (using the Census 2020 population of 10,711,908)1. This represents an increase of 0.3 dentists per 100,000 population from the 2019 report. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), the rate of dentists to 100,000 population in the entire United States was 61.0 in 20202, which places Georgia's rate among the lowest 20% of states. There were 22 counties with no dentists, which represents a population of 196,988. This is an increase of 17,303 Georgians who do not have a dentist practicing in their county from 2019.
1 U.S. Census "2020 Georgia Census-State Profile" 2 American Dental Association "The Dentist Workforce-Key Facts"
3

Distribution of Dentists by Age Group

Distribution by Age Group

>65 16.5%

<35 14.7%

60-64 9.9%

35-39 12.1%

55-59 8.5%
50-54 12.9%

45-49 12.3%

40-44 13.2%

The 2021 Dental Census indicates the average age of licensed dentists actively practicing in Georgia is 49.6 years old, which is slightly older than the ADA's nationwide average age of 49.4 years old3. The largest age group consists of those 65 or older, constituting 16.5% of the total. The smallest age group is those aged 55-59, which is 8.5% of the total. The smallest and largest age groups in Georgia are the same in 2021 as they were in 2019.

3 American Dental Association "The Dentist Workforce-Key Facts"
4

Distribution by Age Group, 2015-2021
18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

<35

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

>65

2015 2017 2019 2021

Since 2015, the percentage of dentists in the <35 and 50-54 age groups has increased, while the percentage of dentists in the 40-44, 45-49, 55-59, and 60-64 age groups have decreased. As has been the case since 2015, the >65 age group constitutes the largest percentage of dentists, with 407 dentists (7.8% of the total practicing in Georgia) being over 70 years old.

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Distribution of Dentists by Gender
Gender Distribution
Female 34.5%
Male 65.5%
Of the 5,212 dentists practicing in Georgia in 2021, 3,266 (65.5%) are male and 1,721 (34.5%) are female. This represents a small increase in the percentage of female dentists since 2019, when 32.3% of dentists identified as female. In 2020, the ADA stated that 34.5% of dentists nationally were female4. This indicates that Georgia's percentage of female dentists is approaching the national average.
4 American Dental Association "The Dentist Workforce-Key Facts"
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Gender Distribution, 2015-2021

80.0

70.0

71.0

69.0

68.0

65.5

60.0

50.0

40.0

34.5

29.0

31.0

32.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0 Female

Male

2015 2017 2019 2021

Since 2015, the percentage of dentists who identify as female has increased, while the percentage male has decreased. The number of female dentists has increased by 32.1% since 2015 (from 1,303 in 2015 to 1,721 in 2021) and 7.6% since the last report in 2019 (from 1,600 in 2019 to 1,721 in 2021).

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Distribution of Work Hours per Week

Distribution of Work Hours per Week
Less than 30
20.6%

Distribution of Work Hours by Gender
100%

90%

399

625

80%

70%

60% 50% 40% 30%

1,317

2,637

Less than 30 30 hours or more

20%

30 hours or

10%

more 79.4%

0% Female

Male

In 2021, 79.4% of dentists reported working 30 hours or more per week, which is the same as reported in 2019. In 2021, male dentists are more likely to report working 30 hours or more per week than female dentists. This is in keeping with the ADA's nationwide data, which shows that female dentists tend to work fewer hours than male dentists.5

5 American Dental Association "The Dentist Workforce-Key Facts"
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Distribution of Dentists by Specialty

Distribution of Dental Specialties

2.8%

1.1% 1.5% 0.2%
2.7%

General Dentistry

4.1% 5.8%

Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
Pediatric Dentistry

Oral and Maxilofacial Surgery
6.2%
Periodontics

Endodontics

Prosthodontics

75.7%

Dental Public Health

Other

The vast majority of dentists (75.7%) practice in general dentistry in 2021. The remaining 24.3% of dentists practice in other specialties, namely orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics (6.2%), pediatric dentistry (5.8%), oral and maxillofacial surgery (4.1%), periodontics (2.8%) and endodontics (2.7%).

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Distribution of Practicing Dentists in Georgia, 2015-2021

Total Dentists Practicing in Georgia, 2015-2021
5,400

5,200

5,143

5,212

5,000

4,800 4,600 4,400

4,454

4,693

4,200

4,000

2015

2017

2019

2021

GBHCW began reporting on the dentist supply and distribution in Georgia in 2015. Between 2015 and 2017, the percentage growth in total dentists was 5.4%. Between 2017 and 2019, the percentage growth in total dentists was 9.6%. Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage growth in total dentists is 1.3%.

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Distribution of Practicing Dentists by Georgia County, 2021

COUNTY
STATE OF GEORGIA APPLING ATKINSON BACON BAKER BALDWIN BANKS BARROW BARTOW BEN HILL BERRIEN BIBB BLECKLEY BRANTLEY BROOKS BRYAN BULLOCH BURKE BUTTS CALHOUN CAMDEN CANDLER CARROLL CATOOSA CHARLTON CHATHAM CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAY CLAYTON CLINCH COBB COFFEE COLQUITT COLUMBIA COOK COWETA CRAWFORD CRISP DADE DAWSON DECATUR DEKALB DODGE DOOLY DOUGHERTY DOUGLAS EARLY ECHOLS EFFINGHAM ELBERT EMANUEL

2020 POPULATION

GENERAL DENTISTS

GENERAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

TOTAL DENTISTS

TOTAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

OTHER PRACTICE
TYPE

10,711,908 18,444 8,286 11,140 2,876 43,799 18,035 83,505
108,901 17,194 18,160
157,346 12,583 18,021 16,301 44,738 81,099 24,596 25,434 5,573 54,768 10,981
119,148 67,872 12,518
295,291 9,565
24,965 266,620 128,671
2,848 297,595
6,749 766,149
43,092 45,898 156,010 17,229 146,158 12,130 20,128 16,251 26,798 29,367 764,382 19,925 11,208 85,790 144,237 10,854
3,697 64,769 19,637 22,768

3,894 2 0 1 0 11 0 21 30 6 2 73 2 1 0 14 22 0 4 3 18 2 39 15 1
126 0 6 96 52 0 35 1
378 12 11 74 5 44 0 8 2 11 5 326 10 0 36 36 4 0 12 3 7

36.4 10.8 0.0 9.0 0.0 25.1 0.0 25.1 27.5 34.9 11.0 46.4 15.9 5.5 0.0 31.3 27.1 0.0 15.7 53.8 32.9 18.2 32.7 22.1 8.0 42.7 0.0 24.0 36.0 40.4 0.0 11.8 14.8 49.3 27.8 24.0 47.4 29.0 30.1 0.0 39.7 12.3 41.0 17.0 42.6 50.2 0.0 42.0 25.0 36.9 0.0 18.5 15.3 30.7

5,212

48.7

2

10.8

0

0.0

1

9.0

0

0.0

13

29.7

0

0.0

23

27.5

37

34.0

6

34.9

2

11.0

97

61.6

2

15.9

1

5.5

0

0.0

23

51.4

31

38.2

0

0.0

4

15.7

3

53.8

21

38.3

2

18.2

47

39.4

20

29.5

1

8.0

178

60.3

0

0.0

6

24.0

144

54.0

66

51.3

0

0.0

41

13.8

1

14.8

523

68.3

15

34.8

13

28.3

108

69.2

6

34.8

58

39.7

1

8.2

8

39.7

3

18.5

15

56.0

6

20.4

434

56.8

10

50.2

0

0.0

49

57.1

52

36.1

4

36.9

0

0.0

14

21.6

5

25.5

7

30.7

1,318 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 7 0 0 24 0 0 0 9 9 0 0 0 3 0 8 5 0 52 0 0 48 14 0 6 0
145 3 2 34 1 14 1 0 1 4 1
108 0 0 13 16 0 0 2 2 0

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COUNTY
EVANS FANNIN FAYETTE FLOYD FORSYTH FRANKLIN FULTON GILMER GLASCOCK GLYNN GORDON GRADY GREENE GWINNETT HABERSHAM HALL HANCOCK HARALSON HARRIS HART HEARD HENRY HOUSTON IRWIN JACKSON JASPER JEFF DAVIS JEFFERSON JENKINS JOHNSON JONES LAMAR LANIER LAURENS LEE LIBERTY LINCOLN LONG LOWNDES LUMPKIN MACON MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE MCINTOSH MERIWETHER MILLER MITCHELL MONROE MONTGOMERY MORGAN MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING

2020 POPULATION

GENERAL DENTISTS

GENERAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

TOTAL DENTISTS

TOTAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

OTHER PRACTICE
TYPE

10,774

2

18.6

2

18.6

0

25,319

10

39.5

10

39.5

0

119,194

79

66.3

120

100.7

41

98,584

27

27.4

41

41.6

14

251,283

81

32.2

108

43.0

27

23,424

4

17.1

4

17.1

0

1,066,710

640

60.0

894

83.8

254

31,353

10

31.9

11

35.1

1

2,884

1

34.7

1

34.7

0

84,499

36

42.6

47

55.6

11

57,544

12

20.9

13

22.6

1

26,236

6

22.9

6

22.9

0

18,915

12

63.4

17

89.9

5

957,062

395

41.3

540

56.4

145

46,031

17

36.9

20

43.4

3

203,136

73

35.9

102

50.2

29

8,735

1

11.4

1

11.4

0

29,919

5

16.7

5

16.7

0

34,668

6

17.3

6

17.3

0

25,828

5

19.4

5

19.4

0

11,412

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

240,712

74

30.7

97

40.3

23

163,633

46

28.1

61

37.3

15

9,666

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

75,907

31

40.8

37

48.7

6

14,588

2

13.7

2

13.7

0

14,779

1

6.8

2

13.5

1

15,709

3

19.1

3

19.1

0

8,674

1

11.5

1

11.5

0

9,189

2

21.8

2

21.8

0

28,347

5

17.6

5

17.6

0

18,500

1

5.4

1

5.4

0

9,877

1

10.1

1

10.1

0

49,570

16

32.3

19

38.3

3

33,163

12

36.2

12

36.2

0

65,256

15

23.0

21

32.2

6

7,690

3

39.0

3

39.0

0

16,168

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

118,251

36

30.4

47

39.7

11

33,488

8

23.9

9

26.9

1

12,082

3

24.8

4

33.1

1

30,120

1

3.3

3

10.0

2

7,498

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

21,632

7

32.4

7

32.4

0

10,975

2

18.2

2

18.2

0

20,613

3

14.6

3

14.6

0

6,000

1

16.7

1

16.7

0

21,755

3

13.8

3

13.8

0

27,957

4

14.3

4

14.3

0

8,610

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

20,097

8

39.8

9

44.8

1

39,973

2

5.0

2

5.0

0

206,922

86

41.6

120

58.0

34

112,483

22

19.6

27

24.0

5

41,799

25

59.8

33

78.9

8

14,825

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

168,661

29

17.2

34

20.2

5

12

COUNTY
PEACH PICKENS PIERCE PIKE POLK PULASKI PUTNAM QUITMAN RABUN RANDOLPH RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY SCREVEN SEMINOLE SPALDING STEPHENS STEWART SUMTER TALBOT TALIAFERRO TATTNALL TAYLOR TELFAIR TERRELL THOMAS TIFT TOOMBS TOWNS TREUTLEN TROUP TURNER TWIGGS UNION UPSON WALKER WALTON WARE WARREN WASHINGTON WAYNE WEBSTER WHEELER WHITE WHITFIELD WILCOX WILKES WILKINSON WORTH

2020 POPULATION

GENERAL DENTISTS

GENERAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

TOTAL DENTISTS

TOTAL DENTISTS RATE PER
100,000

OTHER PRACTICE
TYPE

27,981

10

35.7

10

35.7

0

33,216

10

30.1

12

36.1

2

19,716

5

25.4

5

25.4

0

18,889

4

21.2

4

21.2

0

42,853

7

16.3

8

18.7

1

9,855

1

10.1

1

10.1

0

22,047

6

27.2

7

31.8

1

2,235

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

16,883

7

41.5

7

41.5

0

6,425

1

15.6

1

15.6

0

206,607

111

53.7

170

82.3

59

93,570

45

48.1

67

71.6

22

4,547

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

14,067

2

14.2

2

14.2

0

9,147

4

43.7

4

43.7

0

67,306

17

25.3

22

32.7

5

26,784

8

29.9

11

41.1

3

5,314

3

56.5

3

56.5

0

29,616

9

30.4

9

30.4

0

5,733

1

17.4

1

17.4

0

1,559

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

22,842

6

26.3

6

26.3

0

7,816

1

12.8

1

12.8

0

12,477

2

16.0

2

16.0

0

9,185

1

10.9

1

10.9

0

45,798

14

30.6

17

37.1

3

41,344

10

24.2

13

31.4

3

27,030

9

33.3

10

37.0

1

12,493

5

40.0

5

40.0

0

6,406

1

15.6

1

15.6

0

69,426

20

28.8

25

36.0

5

9,006

4

44.4

4

44.4

0

8,022

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

24,632

9

36.5

11

44.7

2

27,700

4

14.4

5

18.1

1

67,654

10

14.8

10

14.8

0

96,673

42

43.4

46

47.6

4

36,251

15

41.4

17

46.9

2

5,215

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

19,988

3

15.0

4

20.0

1

30,144

3

10.0

4

13.3

1

2,348

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

7,471

0

0.0

0

0.0

0

28,003

5

17.9

6

21.4

1

102,864

31

30.1

43

41.8

12

8,766

2

22.8

2

22.8

0

9,565

2

20.9

2

20.9

0

8,877

1

11.3

1

11.3

0

20,784

1

4.8

1

4.8

0

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Counties with no Dentists, 2021

In the 2019 Dentist Workforce Report, 21 counties had no dentists practicing there. This year,

22 counties have no dentists practicing there. Since 2019, the two counties of Talbot and

Crawford have gained a dentist. The three counties of Burke, Dooly, and Montgomery have lost a dentist since 2019.

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Rate of Dentists per 100,000 Population, 2021
The map above shows the rate of dentists per 100,000 county residents, with darker colors indicating higher rates. In general, the metro areas of Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Macon, and Savannah have higher rates of dentists than more rural areas.
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Acknowledgements
This report was produced under the direction of Freeman Montaque, MA, Interim Executive Director; Leanna Greenwood, MA, Senior Data Analyst; G.E.Alan Dever, MD, PhD; and Jocelyn Hart, Data Analyst. The Board would like to thank the Georgia Board of Dentistry for providing dentist renewal survey data. The Dentist Workforce Report can be viewed and downloaded on the internet at https://healthcareworkforce.georgia.gov/dentistry-workforce-reports. The Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce welcomes comments and suggestions for future editions of this report. Please send comments to leanna.greenwood@dch.ga.gov. Please follow us on Twitter: @GABoardHCW
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