During the next ten years, more than 20 percent of dentists will retire. The number of dental graduates by 2015, however, will not be enough to replace retirees. The issue is appearing today just as health professionals are recognizing the mouth as a mirror of health and disease.
Dentists can detect early signs of disorders, including leukemia, heart disease, and anemia.
Unfortunately, many poor, aged, disadvantaged, and rural-based people have little access to oral health care. Access for all is important since dental visits have become as vital as physicals. An estimated 25 million people live in areas lacking adequate dental care services, as defined by federal Health Professional Shortage Area criteria. Eleven percent of the nation's rural population has never been to the dentist. Children below the poverty line are 20 times less likely to receive dental care than are more wealthy children.