$189 billion on dental care in 2024, 3.6% of health spending: HPI's national dental expenditure numbers

What it says#

HPI's page, updated after CMS released its 2024 national health expenditure data in January 2026, reports that national dental expenditure was $189 billion in 2024, 3.6% of total health expenditure, the same share as the previous year. After adjusting for inflation, dental spending grew by $7 billion, a 4% increase from 2023; inflation-adjusted overall health care spending grew 4.6%.

By source of financing, from 2023 to 2024, private dental insurance spending increased 2.3%, out-of-pocket spending 3.3%, and government program spending 9%, largely due to Medicare. HPI's chart of spending by source, in constant 2024 dollars, puts 2024 at $78 billion from private health insurance, $73 billion out of pocket, $34 billion from government programs and $4 billion from other sources. The government line has gone from $19 billion in 2019 and $18 billion in 2020 to $24, $26, $32 and $34 billion in the four years since, while private insurance ($78 billion in 2019 and 2021, $70 billion in 2020, then $75, $76 and $78 billion) and out of pocket ($75 billion in 2019, $67 billion in 2020, then $77, $72, $70 and $73 billion) are roughly where they were before the pandemic.

The total series, also in constant 2024 dollars, ran from $107 billion in 2000 to $174 billion in 2019, dipped to $167 billion in 2020, rebounded to $189 billion in 2021, fell to $177 billion in 2022, and rose to $182 billion in 2023 and $189 billion in 2024. Real dental spending in 2024, in other words, matched the 2021 rebound peak. HPI's note explains that expenditures are adjusted with the GDP implicit price deflator, that "Other" includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Provider Relief Fund but not the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and that the whole trend reflects the comprehensive revision CMS performs every five years.

For scale, CMS's fact sheet puts total national health expenditure at $5.3 trillion in 2024, up 7.2%, or $15,474 per person and 18.0% of GDP; Medicare spending grew 7.8% to $1,118.0 billion, Medicaid 6.6% to $931.7 billion, private health insurance 8.8% to $1,644.6 billion and out-of-pocket spending 5.9% to $556.6 billion. Those are nominal figures for all of health care; HPI's 4.6% for overall health spending is the inflation-adjusted version.

Who it applies to#

The data describe all spending on dental services in the U.S. in the national health expenditure accounts, whoever paid: private insurers, patients out of pocket, government programs (Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs), and other sources. There is no split by procedure, region, specialty or practice type; it is the size of the market and who funds it.

For a practice, the useful reading is the mix. Private insurance and out-of-pocket dollars, the two lines a private practice actually collects, were $78 billion and $73 billion of the $189 billion in 2024, and both grew more slowly than the government line. The 9% growth in government program spending, which HPI attributes largely to Medicare, is where the new money went in 2024.

What changed#

Real dental spending grew 4% in 2024 after rising from $177 billion to $182 billion in 2023, and the 2024 total returned to the 2021 level of $189 billion. The dental share of health spending held at 3.6% for a second year. The payer shift HPI calls out is continuing: government programs went from $19 billion in 2019 to $34 billion in 2024 in constant dollars, up 9% in the latest year, while private insurance and out-of-pocket spending grew 2.3% and 3.3%. The series itself changed too: CMS revised the entire history in its five-year comprehensive revision, so figures from earlier versions of this page will not match.

Where the source is#

HPI's National Dental Expenditures page, on ada.org, is a short analysis with two charts (total spending 2000-2024 and spending by source of financing, both in constant 2024 dollars) and a methods note; the dollar figures by year on this page are read from those charts as labeled. The underlying data are CMS's National Health Expenditure Accounts: the CMS fact sheet summarizes 2024 and the historical data page carries the tables. HPI's Dental Care Market hub links to its related economic outlook work. All are free.