job market is great

[poetikfuzion]

Yo the job market is better than ever for dentists and will only continue to increase atleast within the next 20 years. The babyboomers are decaying more rapidly than ever...and you know that means...money in our pockets While specialization may make you more, general dentistry allows a more broad spectrum to work with, and flexibility at times. All in all, general dentistry is a field expected to continue booming, much faster than many other medical fields, and is in an increasingly high demand.

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[blankguy]

What do you think will affect the demand for dentists within the next 20 yrs negatively or positively, aside from aging babyboomers?

 

[Supernumerary]

All in all, general dentistry is a field expected to continue booming, much faster than many other medical fields, and is in an increasingly high demand.

I hate to be the pessimist on this board, but the all-knowing feds predict that the demand for dentists is expected to grow more slowly than other fields. The need for physicians, however, is expected to skyrocket.

This doesn't mean that dentistry is a poor choice; dentistry is a field with tons of potential even in a bad economy. I just didn't want to let that misinformation stand there and people take it as fact. I'm guessing that was just Poetikfuzion's surmise. (no offense, big P )

One thing that I think could really affect the demand for dentists in the future is a solidification of the link between periodontal disease and heart disease. If heart disease (one of the major U.S. killers) proves to be preventable in part through increased periodontal maintenace we stand to be busier than we could ever hope for. Perios are gonna be sitting pretty if the research pans out.

 

[Supernumerary]

One thing that I think could affect dentistry negatively is fewer dentists retiriing. Everyone has been banking on the boomers starting to retire in droves, but many have lost a good deal of their retirement plans in the market downturn of the last few years. Some just can't afford to retire the way they had planned.

Add to this the fact that the boomers are expected to live longer and healthier than any generation yet. They may just decide to keep practicing another decade or so beyond the magical boundary of 62. The market could easily become oversaturated for a time.

Just a possibility.

 

[PashaJ]

baby boomers have 4 years to retire or else...that's when I get out and I want to be able to pay back my loans.



It's a joke.

 

[Supernumerary]

Oh... it's no joke, Pasha. They had better get out of there. We'll have to start up the ASDM - American Student Dental Mafia. Supernumerary and Pasha J - cofounders.

 

[PashaJ]

just break their hands...they're too old for them to heal properly=early retirement.

 

[FMLizard]

Yeah...go read what they said about computer programmers and engineers, and look where they are now and where they are headed (India).

Take the BLS with a grain of salt. If you look back at their projections for the 90s, you will see that they were way off.

Dentistry is growing slowly, but this tends to happen when more leave than enter. The ratio of demand to dentist supply is stable or growing, to be sure. Dentistry isn't like IT where anyone can go take a programming class at the community college and flood into the job market. It is a major career choice that the flow into is highly regulated.

 

[ehop24]

the changing demographics of dentistry

(Click link above)
you may have to register to see the article...fear not, it's free.

this article is from feb 2003 dental economics. not all of it is pertinent to this thread, but:

"The ADA's recent report, "The Future of Dentistry," asserts that the United States population is outdistancing the number of dentists that serve it. The number of dentists per 100,000 persons declined from 60 to 59 between 1995 and 2000, and is expected to decline more dramatically ? from 59 percent to 54 percent between 2000 and 2020. This decline could result in a shortfall of 16,046 dentists by 2020"

math time: year 2000, each dentist theortically has 1695 patients (59 dentists per 100,000). year 2020, after 59% decline in dentists per capita, leaves 4166 patients per dentist.

i didnt make this up, the ADA did. and they spent alot of money doing it.

i too have read that dentistry is only expected to grow at a moderate pace. those occupational outlook ratings were not done by the ADA. I just feel more confident trusting our governing body with a question about the future of the career. who knows dentistry better?

i've heard people say "don't go into dentistry, there are already too many dentists." guess what, too many people are not getting the care they need because there arent enough of us to go around. and it's only getting worse. thats an occupational outlook.

 

[larryt]

it is true... for example, my dentist has 2 of his offices in low income area outside of Houston and he is seeing around 35-40 patients per day. As long as you are willing to serve people no matter where they're from, there are plenty of opportunities around. By the way, I know for sure that I will go for Dental Public Health specialty if I can get in any dental school.