About 13% of Americans did not get needed dental care in the past year because of the cost, more than twice the rate for medical care, prescription drugs or mental health care, according to an analysis by the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.
The report, “National Trends in Dental Care Use, Dental Insurance Coverage, and Cost Barriers,” draws on the latest National Health Interview Survey data as of September 2026.
Note: The survey did not collect data on cost barriers to dental services in 2021 or 2024.
Here are seven things to know about cost barriers to care:
- Dental care carried the highest cost barriers of any service category in 2025. The share of people who did not obtain needed care in the past 12 months because of cost was 12.9% for dental care, compared with 5% for medical care, 4.9% for prescription drugs and 4.7% for mental health care.
- Adults reported the highest cost barriers of any age group. Among adults ages 19 to 64, 17% did not obtain needed dental care because of cost, compared with 7.4% for medical care, 6.6% for prescriptions and 6.8% for mental health care.
- Seniors also reported a large dental gap. Among adults 65 and older, 10.9% did not obtain needed dental care because of cost, compared with 2.3% for medical care, 4.3% for prescriptions and 1.2% for mental health care.
- Children had the lowest barriers, but dental still topped the list. Among children ages 0 to 18, 3.8% did not obtain needed dental care because of cost, compared with 1.2% for medical care, 1% for prescriptions and 1.6% for mental health care.
- The report said the gap between dental care and other health services has widened in recent years. The National Health Interview Survey changed its cost-barrier question in 2019, so trends can be analyzed before 2019 and separately for 2019 onward, but not across that year.
- Race and ethnicity matter more for adults and seniors than for children. The report said disparities in cost barriers by race and ethnicity are considerably narrower among children. Among adults and seniors, Hispanic people were the most likely to report cost barriers to care.
- Insurance type made little difference among adults without private coverage. Adults with public insurance and uninsured adults reported cost barriers at nearly the same level, while disparities by insurance type were very narrow among children.
