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Texas remained a top draw for dentists in 2025
Everything is bigger in Texas, even the number of dentists. A record 16,761 professionally active dentists called Texas home in 2025, according to data recently released by the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. The Lone Star State’s roster of dentists grew by more than 2,200 since 2016, more than the current total of dentists working in Alaska, Delaware, Maine and North Dakota combined. Only California, with more than 30,000 dentists, topped Texas.
Expanded coverage: Texas A&M’s Plemons named 2026 Texas Dentist of the Year
Sometimes a small act of generosity can make a tremendous impression, especially on a 7-year-old. For Dr. Jacqueline Plemons, it’s what led her to become a dentist. “My mother had a toothache and, as a single mother with two children, had no means of getting help,” she said. “After visiting a few offices with no success, a kind dentist agreed to treat her at no charge. I was incredibly grateful and grew up wanting to be just like him – being able to care for people who sometimes desperately need our help.” Plemons accomplished her goal. Not only is she Texas A&M University College of Dentistry’s new director of external affairs, but she’s also approaching 40 years in dentistry. Plemons also is a full-time clinical professor in periodontics and director of the Stomatology Center, where she helps diagnose and manage complex oral medicine conditions while educating future generations of dental professionals.
Program expands to add protecting senior smiles
When Dr. Amal Noureldin, clinical professor and director of the predoctoral program in public health sciences, at Texas A&M College of Dentistry in Dallas, envisioned the Empowering Smiles Oral Health Initiative, it was to provide long-needed oral healthcare and education to children and teens in a few underserved schools in Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. What she and her dental and dental hygiene students saw was heartbreaking. “We saw second grade-schoolers with decay so bad that the teeth were gone, only gums were left,” she said. “These are preventable conditions that no child should have to experience, which is why what we offer is so important – access to knowledge and care and the hope that early prevention can make a difference.” Supported by more than $330,000 in total funding from partner agency Metrocrest Hospital Authority, the initiative provided oral health education and care to 782 students in 13 elementary schools and middle schools in the last two years. More schools than planned. There’s more work to do.
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Texas remained a top draw for dentists in 2025
Everything is bigger in Texas, even the number of dentists. A record 16,761 professionally active dentists called Texas home in 2025, according to data recently released by the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. The Lone Star State’s roster of dentists grew by more than 2,200 since 2016, more than the current total of dentists working in Alaska, Delaware, Maine and North Dakota combined. Only California, with more than 30,000 dentists, topped Texas.
Expanded coverage: Texas A&M’s Plemons named 2026 Texas Dentist of the Year
Sometimes a small act of generosity can make a tremendous impression, especially on a 7-year-old. For Dr. Jacqueline Plemons, it’s what led her to become a dentist. “My mother had a toothache and, as a single mother with two children, had no means of getting help,” she said. “After visiting a few offices with no success, a kind dentist agreed to treat her at no charge. I was incredibly grateful and grew up wanting to be just like him – being able to care for people who sometimes desperately need our help.” Plemons accomplished her goal. Not only is she Texas A&M University College of Dentistry’s new director of external affairs, but she’s also approaching 40 years in dentistry. Plemons also is a full-time clinical professor in periodontics and director of the Stomatology Center, where she helps diagnose and manage complex oral medicine conditions while educating future generations of dental professionals.
Program expands to add protecting senior smiles
When Dr. Amal Noureldin, clinical professor and director of the predoctoral program in public health sciences, at Texas A&M College of Dentistry in Dallas, envisioned the Empowering Smiles Oral Health Initiative, it was to provide long-needed oral healthcare and education to children and teens in a few underserved schools in Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. What she and her dental and dental hygiene students saw was heartbreaking. “We saw second grade-schoolers with decay so bad that the teeth were gone, only gums were left,” she said. “These are preventable conditions that no child should have to experience, which is why what we offer is so important – access to knowledge and care and the hope that early prevention can make a difference.” Supported by more than $330,000 in total funding from partner agency Metrocrest Hospital Authority, the initiative provided oral health education and care to 782 students in 13 elementary schools and middle schools in the last two years. More schools than planned. There’s more work to do.