Is the Dental Field Growing or Shrinking?

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jeezy

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I've been on the DDS bandwagon for only a year, much shorter than many of you, so i have to ask which direction is the dental field going?

I would say shrinking, which increases demand. I say so because:

- in chicago, 2 D-schools were closed in the last 15 years (northwestern, loyola). i heard about midwestern opening a school in AZ, but thats the only one i know of and they are supposedly having complications. This makes it seems like less dents are graduating and would explain why applications are more competative.

- when I looked to shadow/intern there were 5 or 6 offices within a 15 minute walk from my place. hopefully they want to retire by the time i finish.
 
More than two have closed in the last 15 years, but since then 3-4 have been opened and there are some more on the way, ie Pomona, CA.

Overall I think the trend will be declining when the baby boomer generation phases out. Even at the highest peak of dentist:general population, dentistry is still a great field to go into.
 
I read somewhere in an article that about 6000 dentists are reitiring and roughly 4000-4500 are just starting their dental careers.
 
jeezy said:
I've been on the DDS bandwagon for only a year, much shorter than many of you, so i have to ask which direction is the dental field going?

I would say shrinking, which increases demand. I say so because:

- in chicago, 2 D-schools were closed in the last 15 years (northwestern, loyola). i heard about midwestern opening a school in AZ, but thats the only one i know of and they are supposedly having complications. This makes it seems like less dents are graduating and would explain why applications are more competative.

- when I looked to shadow/intern there were 5 or 6 offices within a 15 minute walk from my place. hopefully they want to retire by the time i finish.
Click to expand...


What type of problems is Midwestern supposedly having and where did you hear that?
 
i'll be real hazy because i dont remember details. something about accreditation and maybe doing hygeine? or starting next yr instead of this one?
 
1992Corolla said:
More than two have closed in the last 15 years, but since then 3-4 have been opened and there are some more on the way, ie Pomona, CA.
Click to expand...

i didnt mean to imply that chicago had the only 2 d-schools to close. or that it was a trend and that 2 more will close in every city.

it seems to me that more d-schools are closing than opening.. probably because the schools are expensive to operate.

do you think there are more schools now or 15 yrs ago?
 
supposedly when the dean spoke at my school, he said that the baby boom generation is aging. Meaning that older dentists are retiring at a faster rate than dental schools are graduating and the population is aging as well (which raises political issues with social security and health care etc).

i wouldn't say it's increasing or decreasing. Just the demand is increasing.
 
jeezy said:
i'll be real hazy because i dont remember details. something about accreditation and maybe doing hygeine? or starting next yr instead of this one?
Click to expand...

How can they be having trouble getting accreditation when their web site says that they don't even go up for initial accreditation until Jan 2008? Could you please clarify what you mean by "maybe even doing hygeine"? I'm not doubting you, just trying to get all the info I can.
 
Are you referring to some states allowing hygeniests to perform cleanings without a dentists supervision?

Dentistry certainly shouldn't be declining as a field. There is an ever increasing shortage of dentists in the country and society is becoming more aesthetically inclined. I would think the field is going to grow. As new treatments come out, dentistry will certainly evolve though. Dentists are doctors, specializing in the mouth...and mouths are important...
 
I would say the need is growing, and our current capacity is not keeping up with that need. There are growing numbers of people who want to work in dentistry, and a growing need of new dentists. The lack of sufficient seats and dental schools is the bottleneck...
 
armorshell said:
Sounds like a really credible source. Let's everyone spread it all over SDN as the gospel truth.
Click to expand...

i say 'dont hold me to this' and you act like i'm trying to spread rumors. the original post is trying to gauge the changing dent: population. thank you for adding nothing valuable.

but to elaborate on what i said, a friend at midwestern pharm said that there may have been a hiccup the school is on track to open this year. its a DMD degree (i dont know what the difference between DDS / DMD is). the worst case scenario would be closing after a year like the hawaiian school- but thats extremely unlikely considering how much money midwestern can pour into the school.
 
jeezy said:
i say 'dont hold me to this' and you act like i'm trying to spread rumors. the original post is trying to gauge the changing dent: population. thank you for adding nothing valuable.

but to elaborate on what i said, a friend at midwestern pharm said that there may have been a hiccup the school is on track to open this year. its a DMD degree (i dont know what the difference between DDS / DMD is). the worst case scenario would be closing after a year like the hawaiian school- but thats extremely unlikely considering how much money midwestern can pour into the school.
Click to expand...

Talking about rumors online = spreading rumors. And not only that, you said you can't even precisely remember what your friend told you. Hooray for 3rd hand information.

As for the content you want, a simple google search would have sufficed. But don't worry, I took care of that for you:
http://www.dentalcompare.com/featuredarticle.asp?articleid=19
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/07/art2full.pdf
http://www.write101.com/teeth.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_9_24/ai_89669186

These will all tell you how the aging baby boomer population is about to change dentistry big time.

The fact that 2 schools in the past 20 years have closed shouldn't really worry you, since 5 more have opened to replace them.
 
armorshell said:
Talking about rumors online = spreading rumors. And not only that, you said you can't even precisely remember what your friend told you. Hooray for 3rd hand information.

As for the content you want, a simple google search would have sufficed. But don't worry, I took care of that for you:
http://www.dentalcompare.com/featuredarticle.asp?articleid=19
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/07/art2full.pdf
http://www.write101.com/teeth.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_9_24/ai_89669186

These will all tell you how the aging baby boomer population is about to change dentistry big time.

The fact that 2 schools in the past 20 years have closed shouldn't really worry you, since 5 more have opened to replace them.
Click to expand...

im not even focusing on the baby boomers, again you focus on a particular point and shift the discussion. that was a raised by someone as a response. this forum is for exchanging ideas, not your personal arena to act like a jagbag.

so are those actal stats, 5 - 2 = 3 net new schools?
 
looks like it is more like 3 - 7 = 4 less schools. i thought you would be more careful with your statements since you are the rumor police

adea.org said:
Presently there are 56 U.S. dental schools.

Growing demand for dental care in certain areas of the country precipitated the opening of three new dental schools:
Arizona School of Health Sciences in Mesa in 2003
University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2002
Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1997.

Between 1986-2001, seven dental schools closed:
Northwestern University in Chicago closed in 2001, Loyola University, 1993; Washington University St. Louis, 1991; Georgetown University and Farleigh Dickerson University, 1990; Emory University, 1988; Oral Roberts University, 1986.
Click to expand...
 
jeezy said:
im not even focusing on the baby boomers, again you focus on a particular point and shift the discussion. that was a raised by someone as a response. this forum is for exchanging ideas, not your personal arena to act like a jagbag.

so are those actal stats, 5 - 2 = 3 net new schools?
Click to expand...

Read the articles bumblegrunt, baby boomers are one of the largest age groups in the population. The fact that baby boomers are retiring means a giant group of dentists are leaving, and a giant portion of the population is moving into a high need age group for oral hygiene. That equals an incredible demand for dentists.

Not to mention that the US population is already underserved (http://www.futurehealth.ucsf.edu/press_releases/HAOralHealth.htm). For a nice presentation that explains everything, see: www.nga.org/cda/files/VALACHOVIC.ppt

No idea why you're arguing with me when I'm providing you with the information you asked for. Just because you decided you don't like me doesn't mean you have to disagree with me. :laugh:
 
jeezy said:
looks like it is more like 3 - 7 = 4 less schools. i thought you would be more careful with your statements since you are the rumor police

​
Click to expand...

And of course conveniently forget about the 2 schools opening this year (ECU, Midwestern) and the school opening next year (Western) when it suits you more. Apparently I wasn't as well informed as I thought I was. Oh well.

Why not actually read some of the articles I graciously googled for you and tell me what the general consensus about the dental fields growth is?

Or even look at those numbers. Sure, 7 have closed in the past 21 years, but 6 will have opened in 12 years. .33 schools closing per year and .5 opening per year. There's your net of positive .17 schools per year. :laugh:
 
armorshell said:
And of course conveniently forget about the 2 schools opening this year (ECU, Midwestern) and the school opening next year (Western) when it suits you more. Apparently I wasn't as well informed as I thought I was. Oh well.

Why not actually read some of the articles I graciously googled for you and tell me what the general consensus about the dental fields growth is?

Or even look at those numbers. Sure, 7 have closed in the past 21 years, but 6 will have opened in 12 years. .33 schools closing per year and .5 opening per year. There's your net of positive .17 schools per year. :laugh:
Click to expand...

Actually, ECU's not taking a class until 2010.
 
the dental field is now shrinking, if one subscribes to Einstein's most rudimentary theories of time and space.
 
I know it's early on Sunday morning & I haven't had my coffee yet, but don't you find it funny that "Oral" Roberts University closed it's dental school?? 😛
 
I'm wondering if those dental hygiene practitioners are going to take anything away from general dentists. I'm sure there has been a post about that maybe, but I'm not sure if it is anything to be concerned about, professionally.
 
hygienists taking away from general dentistry? are they going to open up their own hygiene practice? heh. hell, i'll be glad to delegate all of my prophys to the hygienists!
 
lol, I love this thread. Go, Armor 👍
 
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