The dental workforce in Kentucky: current status and future needs

Abstract

These results show present and widening workforce disparities in rural and socioeconomically depressed counties in Kentucky. Understanding the geographic distribution of dentists and the socioeconomic correlates of their practice locations may inform workforce development and reimbursement policies for the goal of improving access to oral health care in these areas.

Association between perception of dentist oversupply and expectations of dentistry: a survey of dental graduates in Japan

“…The perceived oversupply of dentists has been reported in several countries, including North America, Australia, Lebanon, Israel and Bahrain. This perception is expected to undermine the future adequate supply of dentists; further, a reduction in dental faculty class sizes and the closing of several schools in North America in the 1980s might have caused the current disparities in dental care. Of the 10 national health objectives set by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan in 2010 that were attained, five related to oral health.…”

Geographic variation of dental utilization among low income children

“…The most common approach to examine variation in access to dental care is the use of fixed geopolitical boundaries, such as counties (Klauss et al, 2005;Krause et al, 2005;Mayer, 1999;Saman et al, 2010;Chi and Leroux, 2012;Susi and Mascarenhas, 2002). Using geopolitical units to approximate service areas offers several advantages, including ready availability of data.…”

Application of geographic information systems and simulation modelling to dental public health: Where next?

“…There have been many GIS‐based studies in dental public health since the 1960s. These have covered a wide range of topics, including: dentist to patient ratios and payments; service usage and access to services and amenities; spatial variations in oral health outcomes; dental workforce numbers and utilization rates; the spatial patterning of dental services; the effects of interventions; and contextual level influences on oral health …”

“…Such work has allowed researchers and dental public health practitioners to understand the role of spatial variation (or “place”) in: differences in dentist to patient ratios and associated payments; dental service usage by school children; access to dental services; oral cancer; dental trauma; tooth decay; dentist shortages and areas in need of new facilities; dental workforce numbers and potential shortfalls; the clustering of dental services based on location quotients; and the effects of interventions on children's oral health; as well as important contextual level pathways to oral health outcomes and the effects of a number of neighbourhood‐based features …”