Nigel Jones offers his views on the recent announcement of 50 new dental school places to be divided between the Universities of East Anglia and Portsmouth and whether they will solve the workforce issue in UK dentistry.
Despite having more than 40,000 on the register, we do not have enough dentists in the UK. This can be attributed to the fact that dentists, in many cases, are working fewer hours on average resulting in the full-time (or whole time) equivalent reducing. Although it may settle down, there appear to be no signs of a prospect of meaningful change to this trend. So, it seems that the part-time working dentist is here to stay.
This is probably due in part to the demographics of the profession. Dentistry is a supremely flexible profession. This flexibility appeals to people who want to combine a career with caring for a family which may account, in part for the reason that there are more female than male dentists on the register, currently roughly 53% versus 47%.
As well as this, the pandemic prompted everyone, both men and women, to consider stepping back and working part time to avoid burnout. This has also contributed to a reduction in clinical hours. Being able to work part time is likely to ensure that the appeal of dentistry as a profession will endure but will we get to the point where we have enough dentists?
The productivity challenge
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