Trends in the dental health work force

The dental workforce is changing in number and composition, and these changes may influence the future of dental practice. In this article, we will provide trends in and projections for the U.S. dental work force. However, simply focusing on the total change in numbers will not tell the whole story. Since the 1970s, different trends in the dental work force have occurred. Therefore, we will look at trends in dental school enrollments, graduates, women's participation in dentistry, full-time vs, part-time status, employment status and dentists' age distribution. We also will present projections for the dental work force as derived from the American Dental Association's Dental Workforce Model.(1).