Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Dentistry: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

That area of dentistry concerned with the supervision, guidance and correction of the growing or mature dentofacial structures, including those conditions that require movement of teeth or correction of malrelationships and malformations of their related structures and the adjustment of relationships between and among teeth and facial bones by the application of forces and/or the stimulation and redirection of functional forces within the craniofacial complex. Major responsibilities of orthodontic practice include the diagnosis, prevention, interception and treatment of all forms of malocclusion of the teeth and associated alterations in their surrounding structures; the design, application and control of functional and corrective appliances; and the guidance of the dentition and its supporting structures to attain and maintain optimum occlusal relations in physiologic and esthetic harm

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For this specialty, 5,526 records, or 27.8%, carry the sole-proprietor flag, which can help describe how records are classified but should not be read as the share of orthodontists in private practice. The flag is a self-reported NPPES field and may not capture ownership, employment arrangements, group practices, or other ways an orthodontic practice is organized.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• Active NPI records are administrative records and may not equal distinct practicing orthodontists or the number of practices.
• The primary taxonomy reflects the classification recorded in NPPES; providers may have additional taxonomies, and records can change over time.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

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