A Dentist Isn’t Always a Man

It used to be fairly common for many people to think of dentists as being exclusively male, and in some respects rightfully so - statistics have shown that dentistry in the United States has been dominated by men for many years. That said, that isn’t necessarily the case any longer.

Say you’ve moved to a new city and are going to visit a new dentist for the first time. This person was recommended by a friend and you have no idea who they are, just that you are going to visit “Dr. Smith.”

If you were asked to predict whether Dr. Smith was a man or a woman, chances are you would say he was a man, and you wouldn’t be alone in the United States. Statistics compiled over the years have shown that the vast majority of U.S. dentists are male and that many people associate the profession of being a dentist as one that is typically held by men.

In today’s world, however, more and more females are becoming dentists. While the number of women still does not equal the number of men, it is trending in that direction and may reach at or near an even split in the not-so-distant future.

So how thoroughly did men dominate the profession in years past? Various studies estimate that between 95 and 97 percent of all U.S. dentists in the late 1970s and early 1980s were men. Prior than that, nearly 100 percent were males prior to 1970. That number rose to females making up roughly 13 percent of the profession in the mid-1990s and within the last five years they have come to make up anywhere between 25 and 30 percent.

Those aren’t the only figures that support the theory that more women are embracing the idea of becoming a dentist. In the 1980s, it was estimated that less than 25 percent of all dental school students were female. Now, within the last decade it is reported that upwards of 40 percent of such students are now female.

So what can be expected when it comes to these trends? Most notably, it is expected that the ratio between male and female dentists will approach a 60-40 split in the near future and could progress further to being close to even beyond that.

What can these rapidly changing statistics be credited to? For one, past stereotypes of professions such as that of being a dentist being solely a man’s job have long since gone by the wayside. Women are not rightfully viewed as being capable of practicing in such a profession and are taking advantage of the resulting opportunities they have long-since deserved.

At the same time, the Baby Boomer generation that has dominated many of America’s most common professions for several decades has reached retirement age. This means that the face of dentistry is bound to change one way or another, opening the door for more women to take advantage of new opportunities.

So now if you find yourself in a new city and are recommended to a dentist you have never met before, “Dr. Smith” might not be a man after all.