Last updated June 2026
Dental care is the medical expense Americans skip most often — not because they don't need it, but because they can't afford it. About 72 million adults have no dental insurance, roughly 1 in 5 put off care because of cost, and the people who fall through the gap end up in the ER for problems a dentist could have fixed for a fraction of the price. Below is every key statistic on US dental cost and access we could tie to a live, authoritative source — CDC, the ADA Health Policy Institute, KFF, and the CareQuest Institute. Each figure links to its original source so you can verify it or cite it yourself.
Dental insurance is far less universal than health insurance — and the gap is widest exactly where people need care most.
About 27% of adults — nearly three times the share who lack health insurance (9.5%).
Roughly 37 million older Americans. Traditional Medicare does not cover routine dental care.
In 2022, 56.4% of adults 65+ without dental coverage saw a dentist, versus 69.6% with coverage.
Compared with 53% of working-age adults who have private dental insurance.
When dental care isn't covered, the cost lands directly on households — and on the health system when small problems become emergencies.
In 2023 — far higher than for medical care (8%), prescriptions (8%), or mental health care (7%). Dental is the care Americans forgo most over money.
Among Medicare beneficiaries who used any dental services; nearly 1 in 5 (19%) spent more than $1,000 out of pocket.
In 2022 there were 1.6 million emergency-department visits for non-traumatic dental conditions — care an ER usually can't actually fix.
Plus an estimated 34 million school hours lost annually to unplanned (emergency) dental care.
Seniors, low-income adults, and people on Medicaid see the dentist at a fraction of the rate of privately insured Americans.
Roughly 1 in 5 working-age adults has untreated tooth decay right now.
Only 18% of adults on Medicaid saw a dentist in 2022, versus 57% of privately insured adults.
Among adults 65+ below the poverty line, 35.3% had a dental visit in 2022; above 400% of poverty, 80.5% did.
About 28 million older Americans went a full year without seeing a dentist.
National averages without insurance, from our full dental procedure price index.
Typical range $800–$2,500 depending on material and location.
And that usually doesn't include the crown most molars need afterward.
Post, abutment, and crown combined; ranges $3,000–$6,000.
Even routine restorative work adds up fast without coverage.
The numbers above are the whole reason dental savings plans (also called discount plans) caught on. They aren't insurance: you pay a flat annual fee — usually around $100–$150 — and get a discounted fee schedule at participating dentists, typically 20–60% off, with no annual maximum and no waiting periods. For the 72 million adults with no coverage, that's often the difference between getting a crown done and putting it off another year.
They're not right for everyone, and we say so plainly in our reviews. But if cost is the thing standing between you and the dentist, they're worth understanding.
About 72 million US adults — roughly 27% — have no dental insurance, according to the CareQuest Institute's 2024 State of Oral Health Equity in America survey. That's nearly three times the share of adults who lack health insurance (about 9.5%).
In 2023, about 21% of US adults delayed or went without dental care because of cost, per the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. That's much higher than for medical care (8%), prescription drugs (8%), or mental health care (7%) — dental is the type of care Americans skip most often over money.
Traditional Medicare does not cover routine dental care, and KFF found that about 65% of Medicare beneficiaries — nearly 37 million people — have no dental coverage at all. Among those who do use dental services, average out-of-pocket spending was $922 a year, and roughly 1 in 5 spent more than $1,000.
National averages without insurance run about $200 for a filling, $1,250 for a molar root canal, $1,300 for a crown, and $4,500 for a single implant. See our full sourced price index at /cost-of-dental-care for every common procedure.
Yes. Every figure on this page links to its original source (CDC, ADA Health Policy Institute, KFF, NADP, CareQuest Institute). You're welcome to cite or reproduce them with attribution and a link back to this page.
Every statistic above is drawn directly from one of these published sources. Years reflect the data period, not the publication date. Where a source reported a data year different from 2026, it's the most recent figure that organization has released.
Cite this page: "Dental Savings Guide, Dental Costs & Access in America: 2026 Statistics," dentalsavingsguide.com/dental-cost-statistics. Figures may be reproduced with attribution and a link. For procedure-level pricing, see our 2026 dental cost index.