A shortage of dentists

THERE is a national shortage of health care providers in the American oral health industry.

The heads up came from the Eastman Institute for Oral Health at the University of Rochester.

The shortage of dentists and dental assistants is getting worse with the ongoing health pandemic.

In response, the Eastman Institute for Oral Health started a new Dental Assistant Training Program. The program provides paid training and job opportunities for dental students.

There was much interest in the training program, with over 300 applicants for just 15 slots. So much so that the Institute plans to expand the training program, reflecting how much the need is in a sector that was already seeing a decrease in workers.

The United States (US) could be facing a shortage of 4,000 general dentists by 2030, according to the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The HRSA is the primary federal agency for improving health care for people who are geographically isolated and are economically or medically vulnerable.

“The workforce shortages only continued after the pandemic with a lot of people not able to continue to work,” said Holly Barone, chief operating officer of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health. “They have child care issues, children not in school, so it took a hit.”

“Increase the workforce to be able to give those opportunities to people who weren’t able to get into the healthcare industry and to be able to continue to help the community,” she said.

“Oral hygiene has a lot to do with your general health,” said Penelope Perez, a first-year dental student. “It kind of amazes me how many people don’t understand if you don’t keep your mouth clean, you could get sick.”

Perez is one of the lucky 15 students enrolled in the new Dental Assistant Training Program.

The one-year training program will have a mix of classroom and in-person training.

The Eastman Institute for Oral Health is one of the largest safety net providers in New York state, providing over 18,000 emergency visits during the pandemic.

The community dentistry program reaches over 10,000 underserved or underinsured children annually.

The Dental Assistant Training Program will help continue to serve that community.

Established in 1917 in New York, the private University of Rochester is home to the Eastman Institute for Oral Health. It is unique among dental schools in the US because it offers graduate dental programs only.

It receives over 1,200 applications every year for 40 positions.

The Eastman Institute for Oral Health receives over $9 million in research funding as a premier hub for oral health research in North America.

Despite its much smaller size compared to other dental schools, it has consistently ranked in the top 10 research funding of the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; it ranked 7th in 2020.

In 1928, the University of Rochester Medical Center was instrumental in founding the discipline of oral biology in its creation of the first oral biology research center in the US.

In 2016, the Eastman Institute for Oral Health received the Gies Award for Achievement, Academic Dental Institution from the American Dental Education Association./PN