We wanted to see how often people go to the dentist across the US, and found a pretty wide divide depending on what state you live in. Below you will find numbers that show the percentage breakdown by state of how many people go to the dentist at least once a year.
Here are the states with the highest percentage of people going to at least one dental appointment ever year:
• Connecticut (74.9%)
• Massachusetts (74.5%)
• Rhode Island (73.8%)
• Alaska (72.6%)
• Wisconsin (72.4%)
• Minnesota (71.9%)
• North Dakota (71.4%)
• Utah (71.4%)
• Delaware (70.9%)
• South Dakota (70.7%).
Here are the states with the lowest annual dentist appointments:
• Mississippi (53.0%)
• Oklahoma (55.2%)
• Louisiana (55.2%)
• Arkansas (56.1%)
• Texas (56.3%)
• West Virginia (56.6%)
• Tennessee (56.9%)
• Kentucky (58.6%)
• Missouri (59.0%)
• Arizona (59.3%)
This data was pulled from Gallup, who surveyed US adults in each state who self-reported their dental attendance numbers. Where is your state on the list? Are you surprised at all by what states are in the top 10 and bottom 10?
Most dentists will recommend that you go to at least one teeth cleaning a year, but insurance will typically cover two cleanings a year. With that in mind, we recommend finding a dentist that takes your insurance and make those appointments for two cleanings a year.
One dentist commented to us that it’s important to regularly attend these two annual appointments as a preventative measure. In other words the more attention you pay to your teeth now, the better off you will be in the long run. The less expensive work, like bi-annual cleanings, are far cheaper than neglecting your teeth and only taking care of things in emergency situations.
If you’re looking to find a reliable dentist near you, use our handy search dentist by zip code tool. Once you find a dentist you like, make sure to routinely make those appointments!