Dental education in Mexico

The aim of this article is to provide information about dental education in Mexico, including its history, the dental school system, curriculum and dental licensure. In 1977, there were only 59 Mexican dental schools; however, there were 83 schools registered in the last official national count in 2007. Forty-one dental schools are public, and the other 42 are private. Every year the number of private dental schools increases. Admission to dental schools in Mexico requires a high school diploma. All classes are conducted in Spanish. To obtain licensure in Mexico, dental students must complete a 3 to 5-year program plus a year of community service. No formal nationwide standard clinical/didactic curriculum exists in Mexico. There are approximately 153,000 dentists in Mexico, a number that increases each year. The dentist-patient ratio is approximately 1:700. However, the high percentage of inactive licensed dentists in Mexico points to a serious problem.