The U.S. dental-access data study
Original research from the SmilesAtlas dataset on dental license status, board disciplinary actions, and corporate ownership, the public data the booking directories leave out.
- 133,839 dental providers are on record across 4 states.
- 842 detailed profiles carry a disciplinary-action flag in the board data available to us.
- 3.8% of operating practices show a DSO or corporate-affiliation signal in public business records.
- 91% of license-matched dentists hold an active license.
By state
| State | Dentists | Active license | Practices flagged | DSO-affiliated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 32,103 | 90% | 519 | 4.8% |
| California | 54,744 | 92% | 2 | 3.1% |
| Florida | 23,582 | 90% | 320 | 5.4% |
| New York | 23,410 | n/a | 1 | 2.4% |
Active-license rate is among dentists matched to the state board (TX, CA, FL publish a roster; NY does not). “Practices flagged” counts practice profiles with a board-published disciplinary action or enforcement status for a dentist at the practice, from the Texas and Florida files (the CA roster carries no discipline field and NY publishes no roster, so a practice there is flagged only when one of its dentists holds a Texas or Florida license). DSO share is among operating (review-bearing) practices, matched against a maintained list of major dental service organizations.
Method
We join the federal NPPES NPI registry to state dental board license files and to public Google business data, then flag corporate ownership from public business records. License status and disciplinary actions come straight from the boards; we never fabricate a status, and where a state (NY) publishes no roster we say so. Updated each refresh cycle.