There appears to be a growing shift toward greater representation of women in predoctoral dental programs in the U.S., particularly at private institutions, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
More women joining dentistry may improve access to oral healthcare, the authors wrote.
"A higher proportion of females among dentists could contribute to improving access to care for some racial and ethnic minoritized and underserved populations,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Linda Sangalli, PhD, of the Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Illinois (JADA, July 10, 2026).
The study examined the distribution of men and women among applicants, first-year students, and graduates in U.S. predoctoral dental programs from the 2011-2012 through 2024-2025 academic years and compared the trends with the U.S. adult population. Researchers analyzed publicly available data from the ADA Survey of Dental Education, which covered 75 U.S. dental schools, and used the American Community Survey as a reference to reflect changes in the general adult population over time, they wrote.
Dental schools were categorized using ADA Health Policy Institute data as public, private for-profit, private nonprofit, or private state-related institutions. Also, the study compared sex distributions between public and private dental programs. Although ADA data were available beginning in 2006-2007, the analysis focused on 2011-2012 onward because sex distribution patterns remained relatively stable during the earlier years.
Over the 14-year study period, the representation of women in U.S. predoctoral dental programs increased significantly. In 2011-2012, women were slightly underrepresented among applicants (prevalence ratio [PR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86 to 0.87), first-year students (PR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.88 to 0.93), and graduates (PR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.92), they wrote.
By 2024-2025, women were slightly overrepresented in all three groups, with PRs of 1.15 for applicants (95% CI, 1.14 to 1.16), 1.15 for first-year students (95% CI, 1.13 to 1.17), and 1.1 for graduates (95% CI, 1.08 to 1.13). The increase occurred in both public and private dental schools but was more pronounced at private institutions, which saw larger gains in female applicants (34.6% vs. 26%) and first-year students (33.3% vs. 23.5%) than public schools. However, public schools experienced a greater increase in female graduates over the study period than private schools (24.1% vs. 20.2%).
Nevertheless, the study had limitations. This study was descriptive, so it did not examine the factors that may have contributed to changes in the sex distribution of dental programs, the authors added.
“A more representative dental workforce may enhance access to equitable oral health care across diverse populations,” Sangalli and colleagues concluded.
