Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 19:2022:5321628.
doi: 10.1155/2022/5321628. eCollection 2022.

Analysis of Trends in Demographic Distribution of Dental Workforce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Saad Alqahtani  1 , Nasser Raqe Alqhtani  2 , Khalid Gufran  1 , Ibrahim Saleh Aljulayfi  3 , Abdulaziz M Alateek  4 , Soltan Ibrahim Alotni  4 , Anas J Aljarad  4 , Albatool A Alhamdi  5 , Yasser Khaled Alotaibi  6
Affiliations

Analysis of Trends in Demographic Distribution of Dental Workforce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Saad Alqahtani et al. J Healthc Eng. .

Abstract

Dental professionals are playing an imperative role in the healthcare system. It is important to distribute the dental workforce across the country. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the recent distribution of the dental workforce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and determining the current dentist-to-population ratio in the KSA. This is a cross-sectional study focused on the dental workforces working in the KSA between 2015 and 2020. Complete data of dentists working in the KSA with different professional ranks were obtained. The data were stratified by gender, professional rank (Saudi and non-Saudi), area of working (13 provinces in the KSA), and sector of working (public and private). A complete list of all dental universities was obtained to identify the increasing number of dental institutes at this current moment. In addition, the dentist-to-population ratio was also evaluated based on the current inhabitant in the KSA and the total dental surgeons. There are a total of 27181 dental surgeons and 8022 dental auxiliaries registered in different specialties as of 2020. Saudi citizens are holding the majority of the posts in both dentist and dental auxiliary categories. The percentage of males and female is slightly higher in dentists and dental auxiliaries, respectively. It also indicated that where most of the dental personnel work in the private sector, dental auxiliaries work in the public sector. Moreover, the highest number of dental workforces is identified in the Riyadh region among all the 13 provinces. Based on the databases, the current dentist-to-population ratio is 1 : 1288.16. In conclusion, the number of dental professionals is ample; however, rural areas lack specialists. Saudi dentists are progressively replacing foreign dentists in different professional ranks working in the KSA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of Saudi and non-Saudi dentists in different professional ranks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Public and private universities in the KSA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Organization W. H. Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 . Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2016.
    1. Gallagher J. E., Wilson N. H. F. The future dental workforce? British Dental Journal . 2009;206(4):195–199. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.114. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Association A. D. The oral-systemic connection: an update for the practicing dentist. A special supplement to the Journal of the American Dental Association. The Journal of the American Dental Association . 2006;137:1–40.
    1. Bongaarts J. World health organization: working together for health: the world health report 2006. PopuDev Rev . 2006;32:790–792.
    1. Nash D., Ruotoistenmäki J., Argentieri A., et al. Profile of the oral healthcare team in countries with emerging economies. European Journal of Dental Education . 2008;12(s1):111–119. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2007.00493.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources