ADA.org: Future of Dentistry Full Report

FUTURE OFDENTISTRY

have continued to decrease (ADA,
2001b). Overall, there has been a
0.91% decline in the ratios.

Women Dentists

Since the mid 1970s, women
have entered dental schools, and
subsequently dental practice, in
increasing numbers. The expan-
sion of the number of women in
dentistry has been one of the
major dental workforce trends
during the last quarter of the last
century and will continue during
the initial decades of this century.
Such a fundamental demographic
shift raises questions regarding
the effect of that shift on work-
force requirements. This section
will describe similarities and dif-
ferences between male and female
dentists in practice characteristics
that could potentially have an
impact on workforce require-
ments.
According to the ADA census of
dentists, Distribution of Dentists,
the total number of active private
practitioners^1 in the United States
increased from 116,208 in 1982
to 152,151 in 1999, a 30.9%
increase. The number of female
active private practitioners
increased from 3,029 to 21,960
during this same period, an
increase of 625%. Figure 3.2
shows the percent distribution of
active private practitioners in the
United States by gender. In the
early 1970s, there were very few
women dentists. By 1982, female
dentists comprised 2.7% of the
dentist workforce; by 1999 they
comprised 14.4%.
The increase in the female dentists resulted from
an increase in female dental school graduates during
the same period. Between 1982 and 1999, female
dental graduates increased 72.6%, from 838 to

1,446, while the overall number of graduates

decreased by 23.8% (from 5,371 to 4,095). The

percent distribution of graduates by gender is

depicted in Figure 3.3. By 1982, women comprised

Clinical Dental Practice and Management

Percentage Distribution of Active Private Practitioners

in the U.S., by Gender

Source: ADA, Distribution of Dentists; and ADA, 2001 b.

12 0

100

80

60

40

20

0

Male Female

97.3

2 .7

1982

FIGURE 3. 2

94

.^2

5

.^8

1987

91

.^2

8.

8

1991

90

.3

9

.7

1993

8 9.

8

10

.^2

1994

88

.^5

11

.^5

1995

8 7. 7

12

.3

1996

8 7.

0

1 3.

0

1997

86

.^1

1 3.9

1998

85

.^6

14

.^4

1999

80

.^6

1 9.

4

2005

77.3

22

.7

2010

73.9

26

.^1

2015

70

.^8

2 9.

2

2020

YEAR

P

ER

C

E

NT

Percentage Distribution of Dental School Graduates, by Gender

Source: ADA, Surveys of Predoctoral Dental Education.

Male Female

84.4

15

.^6

1982

FIGURE 3. 3

75

.^9

2 4.

1

1987

67

.^5

32

.^5

1991

6 4.

7

35

.^3

1993

60

.8

39

.^2

1994

6 4.

0

3

6.

0

1995

63

.^6

36

.4

1996

63

.^1

3

6.

9

1997

61

.^6

3 8.4

1998

6 4.

7

35

.^3

1999

YEAR

P

ER

C

ENT

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

(^1) Active private practitioners are defined as dentists whose primary and/or secondary occupation is private practice (full-or part-time).