# What is the dental retirement cohort? The dental retirement cohort is the owner-dentists aged 60 and older in a defined geography, published only as a county or state count. It is not the ADA Health Policy Institute’s age bands, which show 18.6% of U.S. dentists aged 55 to 64 and 15.2% aged 65 or older in 2025 across all dentists, owners or not. By DDSIntel Editorial. Source: DDSIntel, https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/dental-retirement-cohort. Published 2026-10-26; data as of 2026-10-25. ## Key numbers - **18.6%** of U.S. dentists were 55 to 64 (all dentists, not only owners) (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce) - **15.2%** were 65 or older (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce) - **205,088** professionally active U.S. dentists in 2025 (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2025; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce) - **68.7** average retirement age (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2024; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce) ## How is the retirement cohort different from the ADA age bands? The [dental retirement cohort](https://ddsintel.com/glossary/retirement-cohort) counts owner-dentists aged 60 and older in a defined geography, while the ADA Health Policy Institute reports age bands for all professionally active dentists. The groups use different people and different cut-offs, so one cannot stand in for the other, and neither shows how many owners plan to sell. See the [practice lifecycle](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle). ## Why does DDSIntel count owners aged 60 and older? Owners, rather than employed dentists, decide whether a practice is sold, and age 60 sits some years before the 68.7 average retirement age reported by the ADA Health Policy Institute. Age here is only a population statistic: individual ages are never shown or used in member scores. ## Where is cohort data published? Cohorts are published only as county or state counts, with small cells suppressed, in aggregate by state and region once each release is signed off. DDSIntel does not claim national coverage of its own records. Until then, the national age profile is on [dentist age distribution](https://ddsintel.com/data/dentist-age-distribution). ## Does being in the cohort mean an owner will sell? No. Cohort membership is a population count and says nothing about any owner’s intent. Many owners in their 60s keep practicing, and the [dental exit window](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/dental-exit-window) describes when sales are most likely, not when a given owner will act. Intent is shown only through consented signals that an owner chooses to share. Related guides: [what public records show about a practice](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/what-public-records-show), [how owners control their record](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/claim-your-practice-record), [how long a dental practice sale takes](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/dental-practice-sale-timeline). More on timing in [lifecycle signals](https://ddsintel.com/signals/lifecycle-signals). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the dental retirement cohort? Owner-dentists aged 60 and older in a defined geography, published only as a county or state count. ### Is it the same as dentists aged 65 and older? No. The ADA’s 65-and-older band covers all dentists; the cohort covers owners aged 60 and older. ### Does DDSIntel publish individual dentists’ ages? No. Ages are never shown for individuals, and small cells are suppressed; see the [methodology](https://ddsintel.com/methodology). ### How many U.S. dentists are 55 or older? In 2025, 18.6% were 55 to 64 and 15.2% were 65 or older, per the ADA Health Policy Institute. ## Sources 1. ADA Health Policy Institute. The dentist workforce. https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce --- DDSIntel is a dental transition intelligence platform that detects pre-market dental practice transition signals for brokers, DSOs, lenders and the firms that serve them.