Dental Student Enrollment and Graduation: a Report by State, Census Division, and Region

The purpose of this study is to provide descriptive data on the presence of dental schools, dental school graduates, instate enrollment, and interstate dental education agreements for U.S. states, districts, and regions. This information may be helpful in deciding to open or maintain a dental school. Data from the American Dental Association (ADA), American Dental Education Association (ADEA), and U.S. Census Bureau were used to conduct cross-sectional comparisons for states, census divisions, and regions for 2000. In 2000, there were fifty-four dental schools in thirty-two states and the District of Columbia. Total graduation across 1990-2000 was 43,289 dentists. Over half (56 percent) of the graduates were from public schools. The distribution of schools and graduates differed by geographic region. Alaska, Utah, Hawaii, and Nebraska were outliers with respect to high and low numbers of dental schools in states, in-state enrollment, and dentists to population. U.S. states, districts, and regions vary widely on the number of dental schools, dentists to population, first-year dental school enrollees, and dental school graduates. Further assessment on additional factors such as dental health provider shortage areas, state oral health status, and attractiveness of locations to dentists is needed to more fully understand the impact of these factors.