Distributions of dental freshmen and practicing dentists and their correlations in different regions of Taiwan in 2020

Julia Yu-Fong Chang; Feng-Chou Cheng; Tsui-Hua Liu; Tzu-Chiang Lin; Yung-Ta Chang; Chun-Pin Chiang

Journal of Dental Sciences (Oct 2021)

Distributions of dental freshmen and practicing dentists and their correlations in different regions of Taiwan in 2020

Julia Yu-Fong Chang,
Feng-Chou Cheng,
Tsui-Hua Liu,
Tzu-Chiang Lin,
Yung-Ta Chang,
Chun-Pin Chiang

Affiliations

Julia Yu-Fong Chang: Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Feng-Chou Cheng: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Tsui-Hua Liu: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Tzu-Chiang Lin: Center for the Liberal Arts, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Yung-Ta Chang: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Corresponding author. School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Ting-Chou Road, Taipei, 11677, Taiwan.
Chun-Pin Chiang: Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, No. 707, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien, 970, Taiwan.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 16, no. 4
pp. 1125 – 1132

Abstract

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Background/purpose: Taiwan is facing the problems of the surplus, the uneven distribution, and the urban-rural gap of dental students and practicing dentists. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the distributions of dental freshmen and practicing dentists in different regions of Taiwan in 2020. Materials and methods: We collected the numbers of dental freshmen and practicing dentists in different regions of Taiwan in 2020 for evaluation of their regional distributions in Taiwan and their relationship by the regression analysis. Results: The numbers of dental freshmen and of practicing dentists per 100,000 people in municipalities were higher than those in non-municipalities (P < 0.01 for practicing dentists only). These corresponding numbers in cities with dental schools were significantly higher than those in cities and counties without dental schools, respectively (all P-values < 0.05). In addition, the coefficients of correlation between the dentist index and the dental student index were R2 = 0.7521 (P < 0.05) for municipalities (n = 6), R2 = 0.6332 (P < 0.001) for non-municipalities (n = 15), R2 = 0.9334 (P < 0.05) for cities with dental schools (n = 4), R2 = 0.4925 (P < 0.01) for cities and counties without dental schools (n = 17), and R2 = 0.5025 (P < 0.001) for nationwide (n = 21). Conclusion: The dental freshmen and practicing dentists are still more concentrated in municipalities than in non-municipalities and in cities with dental schools than in cities and counties without dental schools in Taiwan in 2020.

Published in Journal of Dental Sciences

ISSN: 1991-7902 (Print)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Taiwan, Province of China
LCC subjects: Medicine: Dentistry
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-dental-sciences/

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