20 September 2023

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Dental schools and the future supply of dentists: ADA News

By Kimber Solana

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Dental schools are an integral — if not obvious — factor in filling the shortage of dentists in the United States.

Several recently opened dental schools have cited the insufficient supply of dentists as a key reason why more dental school graduates are needed, according to an ADA Health Policy Institute research brief, “Projected Supply of Dentists in the United States, 2020-2040.”


The HPI report found a large cohort of dentists who graduated from U.S. dental schools between 1974 and 1988. “When they started to retire, this dramatically increased the outflows from the workforce from 2015 through 2020 and we projected their retirements will also account for much of the outflows through 2030,” said the HPI. 

The retirements have largely kept the ratio of dentists per population nearly unchanged in recent years, even as the number of dental schools increased and expanded enrollment.

According to HPI, it recognizes that the future number of dental school graduates is subject to intense debate and speculation. Yes, new dental schools continue to open, but the flattening of dentist earnings in recent years, the increases in dental education debt and the reduction in demand for restorative dental care could ultimately impact the number of dental school applicants.

In a by-the-numbers infographic, the ADA News seeks to help visualize the future supply of dentists in the U.S. and dental schools’ role in bridging the shortage gap.

Stats included in the infographic include:

• Current shortage of dentists in the U.S.: 10,877
• Total dentists in the U.S. in 2022: 202,536
• Number of dentists per 100,000 population in the U.S.: 60.8
• Projected number of dentists by 2040: 67
• Dental school graduates in 2022, up 7% from 2018: 6,745
• Dental school first-year enrollment in 2022-23, up 4.2% from 2018-19
• Dental school openings vs. closings in the last 50 years: 22 v. 7
• Year of most recent dental school closure: 2001, Northwestern University Dental School. 

See more figures in the infographic on the ADA's news site.