2021 Dentist Workforce Report Based on 2020-2021 Licensure Renewal Data Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce Published Spring 2022 1 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 2 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. 5 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" 6 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). 7 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" 8 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%). 9 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%. 10 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 11 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 13 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. 14 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. 15 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 16