Read this article from 25 years ago:
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/29/u...ollment-dental-schools-close-or-cut-back.html
This was written when Washington University (in STL) and Emory University were closing. Look at their concerns:
-Deficits for their programs (pretty much every school is facing this now)
-Application amount dropping by 2/3 (app number is increasing now)
-Application pool not competitive enough
-Tuition of GASP $15,000 a year! (Yeah.....it'd be nice)
"But the main cause for the declining interest in dental school is a widespread perception that advances in dental care [Fluoride in the water / fewer child births] have diminished the public's need for dentistry."
Look at the stupid things people were worried about back then. Anyone still in dental school then got to work during the prosperous 90's and establish a career before the crap hit the fan. This article could not have been more wrong.
Don't believe dentistry is going away. Ever.