Trends in dental hygiene applicant pool size and characteristics of students upon entry over three decades

A survey was conducted to determine trends that have occurred in the dental hygiene applicant pool and characteristics of entering dental hygiene students between 1957 and 1987. A two page, 46-item questionnaire with a cover letter and stamped pre-addressed envelope was mailed to each dental hygiene program director in the United States. A second mailing was sent one month later to directors who had not responded to the first mailing. A total of 106 usable questionnaires were returned, for a 54 percent response rate for 1987 programs. Response rates for programs existing in 1977, 1967, and 1957 were 51 percent, 45 percent, and 45 percent, respectively. For associate degree/certificate and baccalaureate degree programs, results suggest trends toward (1) a dramatic decline in dental hygiene applicants over the past ten years, (2) a decrease in dental hygiene class size, (3) an increase in age of applicants and length of education prior to acceptance into dental hygiene programs, and (4) a slight decrease in applicants' overall grade point average and science grade point average in the past decade. In addition, findings indicate that dental hygiene remains predominantly a Caucasian woman's profession. Implications of these findings for recruitment efforts and the numbers of dental hygienists for the future are discussed.