# Professionally active dentist

**Professionally active dentist:** A professionally active dentist is the unit the ADA Health Policy Institute uses to count the working U.S. dentist workforce, as opposed to all licensed dentists.

A professionally active dentist is the unit the ADA Health Policy Institute uses to count the working U.S. dentist workforce, as opposed to all licensed dentists.

The count is not the same as license or registry counts: provider registries include hygienists and specialists, and licensing boards include licensees who do not practice in the state. Always label the year when citing a dentist count.

Source: DDSIntel glossary, https://ddsintel.com/glossary/professionally-active-dentist

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