The structure of the dental workforce in the 21st century

Graham Try (page 9) has suggested that the UK is heading towards dentist shortage. This paper picks up the story from there, speculating on how a shortage of dentists might stimulate changes in working methods. The market place will look for workforce configurations which make business sense at practice level and which deliver services in a form which patients find helpful and convenient. Although some dental procedures can be carried out by people with less training than dentists, this may not contribute to economic efficiency and could make the customer service experience less appealing. Changes in the structure of the workforce may therefore be less radical than has sometimes been suggested. Much depends on how decision-making and regulatory processes evolve. It seems likely that local and practice level decision-making will grow at the expense of central planning.