More Coloradans Are Going to the Dentist
The percentage of Coloradans visiting the dentist has fluctuated over the past 15 years, but the overall trend has moved upward from 66.4% in 2009 to 72.5% in 2025.
Increases in dental insurance coverage have likely contributed to these improving utilization rates in recent years. The percentage of Coloradans with dental insurance has increased drastically from 63.0% in 2009 to 81.0% in 2025.
In 2025, Coloradans with dental insurance reported seeing the dentist more often (78.2%) and were more likely to report excellent, very good, or good oral health (85.4%) compared with those without dental insurance (50.7% and 76.5% respectively), a trend that has remained consistent since 2017.
Ongoing and Emerging Oral Health Challenges
Having dental insurance is associated with better utilization and oral health status, but improvements in insurance coverage over the past decade haven’t been enough to move the needle on oral health outcomes overall. Despite improvements in oral health insurance and oral health care use, self-reported oral health status has remained unchanged since 2013, with about 83.3% of Coloradans reporting excellent, very good, or good oral health in 2025. This plateau is likely due to persistent barriers to care, systemic dental insurance challenges, and large disparities in oral health status by income, race/ethnicity, disability status, rurality, and age.
Colorado is experiencing an oral health paradox. Insurance coverage has increased significantly but utilization has only slightly increased and oral health isn’t improving, suggesting that insurance alone isn’t enough to improve access and outcomes. Colorado has seen improvements in insurance access across demographic groups, but systemic barriers and inequities remain. Additionally, new CHAS data reveal challenges with oral health insurance cost and coverage. Coloradans are opting to go without dental health coverage because it doesn’t reduce the cost of care enough, it’s too expensive, or it doesn’t cover a comprehensive range of services.
Findings from this report suggest that Colorado’s oral health landscape is improving overall, but more work is needed to address dental health affordability and accessibility for all Coloradans.
This is an abbreviated version of this report. Please click for the full report.
