The number of graduates from accredited dental hygiene and dental assisting programs have both decreased since 2019, according to data from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
In 2019, there were 7,311 dental hygiene graduates and 7,132 graduates in 2023, a decrease of 2.4%.
The decrease in dental assisting graduates has seen a much larger drop, with a decrease of 17.6% between the 4,517 graduates in 2019 compared to the 3,721 graduates in 2023.
This downturn in graduates has had a negative impact on the dental workforce. According to a recent survey from the ADA, nearly 90% of respondents said it was "extremely" or "very" challenging to recruit dental hygienists, and over three-quarters responded the same for dental assistants.
Here is the number graduates from dental hygiene and dental assisting programs from 2019 to 2023:
Dental hygiene
2019: 7,311
2020: 7,002
2021: 7,325
2022: 6,857
2023: 7,132
Dental assisting
2019: 4,517
2020: 4,003
2021: 3,943
2022: 3,720
2023: 3,721