The U.S. is now in need of 10,046 dental practitioners to fill shortage areas across the U.S., according to new data from the Health Resources & Services Administration.
The HRSA updated its Health Workforce Shortage Areas dashboard Sept. 10., listing the number of dental professional shortage areas in each state.
In August, the dashboard showed that the U.S. needed 9,938 dental professionals. Since then, seven states have seen an increase in the number of shortage areas: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia saw the largest increase, from 128 shortage areas in August to 138 in September.
Overall, the U.S. has 6,882 shortage areas total.
Here is a breakdown of dental professional shortage areas by type:
Facility: 4,400
Geographic area: 509
Population area: 1,973