Justin Hinkley: So I know that we are at least 400 dentists short, according to the states latest oral health plan, and that is statewide. Most of that shortage is in the rural parts of the state, so especially up north and some other spots in Western Michigan, but 400 statewide are needed.
David Nicholas: There have been studies in the past in different healthcare fields and other professions as well about attrition due to a cycle of projected retirements and so forth. Is there a projection that that will get substantially worse if we’re looking at, again, a number who may be leaving the profession at some point in the near future.
JH: Yes. So I don’t have that number for the state specifically, but I know that nationally right now we’re 3400 dentists short. This is according to federal data, but they projected by 2037 we’ll be 12,000 dentists short, so we are graduating about 7000 dentists a year, a little bit less than that, but it’s not keeping up with the attrition. That you mentioned.
DN: Justin, can there be an option at all to put any incentives or contracts in place. I know that we’ve tried this in other areas of medical care to try to make sure that these areas do get served and that folks that come from an area, perhaps return to that area or agree to serve in an area, can anything like that potentially be an answer to this problem?
Source: State data says Michigan needs about 400 more dentists to meet demand / Radio WCMU