Twelve Arkansas counties had no actively practicing full-time dentists in 2024, according to a dashboard published Oct. 12 by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
The nonprofit health policy center created the dashboard with a Strategic Initiative Grant from the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation. It cites the Health Resources and Services Administration’s projection of a 46% shortage of dentists in nonmetropolitan areas by 2038.
The center built the data from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative All-Payer Claims Database and licensure records from the Arkansas State Board of Dental Examiners. Activity is claims-based, so it does not measure full-time-equivalent workload and excludes work without claims, such as Veterans Health Administration care.
Here are eight things to know about Arkansas’ dentist workforce in 2024:
- Arkansas had 1,160 active dentists, or 3.7 per 10,000 residents. To be counted, a dentist needed a valid state license, a National Provider Identifier and at least one active day in 2024, defined as delivering services to at least two patients on the same day.
- Only 676 dentists practiced full time, defined as 150 or more active days in the year. About 42% of active dentists practiced fewer than 150 days.
- Twelve counties in the state had no actively practicing full-time dentists.
- Most full-time dentists were not near retirement age. Eighty-one percent of full-time dentists were younger than 60.
- Early-career dentists were slightly more likely to practice full time. In 2024, 61% of dentists younger than 45 practiced full time, compared with 56% of those 45 or older.
- About three-quarters of Arkansas dentists were male and 26% were female, while the split among early-career dentists was 62% male and 38% female.
- Black and Hispanic dentists made up small shares of the workforce relative to the state’s population. Black dentists were 3% of the workforce, compared with 15% of the state population, and Hispanic dentists were 1%, compared with 9% of the population.
- Lyon College School of Dental Medicine, the state’s first dental school, welcomed its inaugural class in July 2025.
