Several Southern states are facing a shortage of dental practitioners, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Health professional shortage area designations identify areas and population groups experiencing a shortage of health professionals. Dental is one of the health professions categorized under the designation.
For an area to be considered as having a shortage of dental providers, the population-to-provider ratio must be at least 5,000 to 1, or 4,000 to 1 if there are unusually high needs in the community, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
This data was last updated Sept. 30.
Here are the states with the highest number of practitioners needed to remove the health professional shortage area designation from high to low:
1. Florida — 1,268
2. New York — 656
3. North Carolina — 620
4. Illinois — 465
5. Texas — 445
6. Georgia — 432
7. Tennessee — 405
8. Arizona — 399
9. Alabama — 376
10. Missouri — 365