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Dentist shortage?
- Thread starter coolslugs
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coolslugs said:
There are many rural areas that suffer from dental, as well as medical, shortages.
Yes there will be a shortage in the coming years. But this doesnt mean that schools can or will accept more students. Just because there will be a shortage doesnt change the capacities of dental classes.
classes for us began july 6. in dental history class, the prof said that 7,000 dentists retire each year and schools can only crank out 4,000 new dentists. so we picked the right time for this career. cheers 🙂
p.s. gross anatomy is bitchin' and stressful 😉
p.s. gross anatomy is bitchin' and stressful 😉
Currently on the national level there is a shortage for all types of medical personell: medical, dental, pharmacist, nurses, dental hygienists, pharm techs etc. Last month American Medical Association issued a letter to med schools asking them to increase their class size by about some percentage. I cant remember the percentage, but it would translate to about 2000-3000 more graduating MD's per year so in 30 years it would balance out. They should really do the same for Dental schools.
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some dental schools have a higher capacities but they can't bring more students. for example vcu, back in the 70s and 80s use to have 115 class size. but now only 90. the only way for them to increase that is through some state approvel. and the state dental licensing board doesn't want to increase the number of students so the shortage kinda continues to exists.
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Well, you also have to factor in that lots of dental school faculty are going to retiring in the coming years as well, so increasing class sizes might not be an option for many schools.
In any case, from a business standpoint, we stand to gain from this dilemma 🙄
In any case, from a business standpoint, we stand to gain from this dilemma 🙄
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Any place that's reasonably desirable will not have a shortage. It's those rural areas who will suffer. Basically if there isn't a shortage in the city you're looking to practice in right now, then there never will be.
Geezer99 said:
The Phoenix metro area, the 5th largest city in the US, has a huge shortage of dentists.
We have roughly 300 families moving to Maricopa county each week. Somebody has to provide their dental care.
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coolslugs said:
Not true. There IS a shortage (not "will soon be a shortage").
ItsGavinC said:
Gavin, did you receive my pm?
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NO NO.. there is NO shortage in dentistry! don't do dentistry! theres enough as it is!!
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Comet208 said:
They did increase the #'s of graduating dentists back in the 70's when they were faced with a similar shortage. Some schools almost doubled enrollment. However, most graduating dentists stayed in urban areas while the underserved, rural populations had very limited access to care. The problem isn't that # of dentists but the distibution.
kato999 said:
The fact that there are more dentists retiring, and thus leaving the field, than those that are graduating each year from dental school does create a problem of numbers and it is compounded by most dentists' preference for metropolitian versus less urban or rual areas.
