Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the number of actually available dentists at the present time and to analyze the effect of currently increasing the number of dental colleges (including dental schools of universities) which are expected to supply more than enough dentists to our society in the future.
The basic data on the number of registered dentists were obtained from “The Research for Physicians, Surgeons, Dentists and Pharmacists” published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1954.
The period being analyzed was divided into three stages.
The first was 1955 to 1980, the second from 1981 to 1986, and the third from 1987 to 2015.
1. The number of dentists actually at work in 1979 was estimated to be 55, 338, whic differed from the number of dentists (50, 821) registered in 1979 by 4, 517, Approximately 8.2% of the dentists who were at work in 1979 were not registered.
2. In 1980, the unmber of dentists is estimated to have been 57, 624 (49 dentists per 100, 000 population).
3. During the 1990's when population growth rate will be stable, the number of dentists will be 138, 417 (99.8 dentists per 100, 000 population).
4. When the availability of dentists is compared to the U.S.A. and European countries, the number of dentists per 100, 000 population was equal to that of the U.S.A. and West Germany in 1980, and will equal that of Norway in 2005, Denmark in 2010, and Sweden in 2015.
