ADA.org: Future of Dentistry Full Report

FUTURE OFDENTISTRY

15.6% of total dental graduates; their percentage
increased to 39.2% in 1994. Since then, the percent
distribution of female graduates leveled off, fluctu-
ating from year-to-year in the high thirty percent
range (ADA, Surveys of Predoctoral Dental
Education).
Even if the trend in percent of female graduates
has stabilized, the number and percent of females
practicing dentistry will continue to increase. The
ADA's Dental Workforce Model forecasts that
29.2% of active private practitioners will be female
by 2020.

Part-Time Practice

Among male private practitioners, the percentage
that worked part-time (defined here as spending less
than 30 hours per week in the office) increased from
10.2% in 1987 to 14.7% in 1999. Among females,
the increase was from 26.3% to 29.9% (see Table
3.3). Overall, the percentage of those working part-
time has increased for both sexes.
Although the percentage distribu-
tion of part-time dentists is higher
among females in all three years,
in 1987 it was 2.6 times that of
their male counterparts – by
1999, it was only two times as
high (ADA,1989; 2001a).
Further analysis of part-time
trends by gender and age revealed
that among the youngest dentists,
those less than 40 years of age,
both males and females exhibited
increases in part-time hours. The
percentage distribution of part-
time female dentists has consis-
tently been 5 to 6 times that of
their male counterparts during the
three survey years (ADA, 1989;
1997; 2001a). Intuitively, higher
part-time distribution among
females less than 40 years of age
can be related to childbearing
and/or child-rearing responsibilities. But it can also
be related to the age distribution of female dentists
within the age category of "less than 40 years old."
Within this age category, female dentists tend to be
younger and, therefore, involved in the starting and
establishing their practices. These processes that can
account for the higher part-time distribution.

Among those 40-59 years of age, the percentage

part-time practice for both women and men

increased slightly between 1987 and 1994 and has

been almost stable between 1994 and 1999. For

this age cohort, the percentage distribution of

part-time female dentists has been about 3

times that of male dentists (ADA, 1989; 1997;

2001a).

About 40-46% of male dentists 60 years of age

or older have consistently been part-time practition-

ers between 1987 and 1999 (ADA, 1989; 1997;

2001a). There were too few female dentists in this

age category to report the percentage working part-

time. However, there have been shifts in the age dis-

tribution of women dentists during this period.

Between 1987 and 1999, the female dentist popula-

tion has aged (e.g., in 1987, 81.4% were less than

40 years of age compared to 46.6% in 1999).

Therefore, it is likely that this shift in age distribu-

tion has resulted in a convergence of the percent of

older male and female dentists working part-time.

As indicated in the section on dentists' produc-

tivity, there is no significant difference between pro-

ductivity of men and women dentists on an hourly

basis (Beazoglou et al, 2001). Also, full-time women

dentists work as many hours as full-time male den-

tists. The same is true for part-time men and

women dentists. Thus, the major impact of women

Clinical Dental Practice and Management

Percentage Distribution of Part-Time Active Private Practitioners,

by Gender and Age Group

* The number of respondents was too low to report data.

Source: ADA, 1989 , 1997 , 2001 a.

Male 10.2%

4. 6

8 .1

4 0. 5

26. 3

25. 4

27. 7

N/A*

13. 6 %

4. 9

8. 7

4 2.1

29. 8

29. 6

29 .0

N/A*

14. 7 %

5. 6

8. 7

46 .2

29. 9

3 1. 3

28. 6

N/A*

1987 1994 1999

T A BLE 3. 3

Less than 40 years old

40 to 59 years old

60 years of age or older

Female

Less than 40 years old

40 to 59 years old

60 years of age or older