Underrepresented Minority Dentists: Quantifying Their Numbers And Characterizing The Communities They Serve

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Disparities
• Dental Public Health

Background:

• Underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native individuals in the dental profession is a significant concern.
• This disparity impacts dental workforce diversity, access to care, oral health outcomes, and social justice.
• Existing data highlights the need to quantify this shortage and understand practice patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the shortage of underrepresented minority (URM) dentists in the United States.
• To examine the practice patterns of URM dentists in relation to the communities they serve.
• To inform policy for improving dental workforce diversity and health equity.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative analysis of URM dentist workforce data.
• Examination of practice patterns and community demographics.
• Comparison of counties with and without URM dentists.

Main Results:

• The URM dentist workforce is disproportionately smaller and unevenly distributed compared to minority populations.
• URM dentists serve larger proportions of minority patients than are present in their surrounding communities.
• Counties with URM dentists are more diverse and affluent but exhibit greater socioeconomic inequality.

Conclusions:

• Current policies are a necessary first step but insufficient to achieve dental workforce diversity.
• Enhanced strategies are required to address the systemic issues contributing to underrepresentation.
• Improving URM dentist representation is critical for achieving dental health equity and social justice.