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The American Indian and Alaska Native dentist workforce in the United States
Elizabeth Mertz1, Cynthia Wides1, Paul Gates2
1Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, Healthforce Center, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco.
Objectives:
The purpose of this article is to describe the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) dentist workforce, the general practice patterns of these providers, and their contributions to oral health care for AI/AN and underserved patients.
Methods:
A national sample survey of underrepresented minority dentists was conducted in 2012 and received a 34 percent response rate for self-reported AI/AN dentists. Data were weighted for selection and response bias to be nationally representative. Descriptive and multivariable statistics were computed to provide a workforce profile. Comparisons to Census data and published information on dental students and dentists were used to examine practice patterns.
Results:
The AI/AN dentist workforce (weighted n = 442) is very diverse with 55 reported individual tribal affiliations. Tribal heritage was provided by 95.7 percent of AI/AN dentists (n = 423), and of these, 93.9 percent (n = 400) reported an affiliation with only one tribe. The largest share of AI/AN dentists were born in the United States (98.2 percent, n = 434), married (75.6 percent, n = 333), and had dependent children under age 18 (52.0 percent, n = 222). Only 0.9 percent (n = 4) of AI/AN dentists spoke a traditional AI/AN language in patient care, while 10.6 percent (n = 46) were raised on tribal land or reservation. Initial practice in the Indian Health Service was reported by 15.8 percent of AI/AN dentists while 16.2 percent report currently practicing in a safety-net setting, and 42.0 percent report working in a practice that primarily serves underserved patients.
Conclusions:
AI/AN dentists provide a disproportionate share of care for AI/AN populations, yet the number of AI/AN dentists would need to increase 7.4-fold in order to meet population parity.
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