An analytical method for regional dental manpower training

This paper presents an analytical method for dental manpower planning for use by Health Systems Agencies. The planning methods discard geopolitical boundaries in favor of Dental Service Areas (DSA). A method for defining DSAs by aggregating Minor Civil Divisions based on current population mobility and current distribution of dentists is presented. The Dental Manpower Balance Model (DMBM) is presented to calculate shortages (or surpluses) of dentists. This model uses sociodemographic data to calculate the demand for dental services and age adjusted productivity measures to calculate the effective supply of dentists. A case study for the HSA region in Northeastern New York is presented. The case study demonstrates that, although the planning methods are quite simple, they are more flexible and produce more sensitive results than the normative ratio method of manpower planning.