DENTAL MANPOWER - MANY QUESTIONS, WEAK DATA AND INADEQUATE ANSWERS

The 1980s saw much discussion about manpower needs in many spheres of British life, including dentistry. There have been several manpower re views since then, culminating in the closure of two UK undergraduate d ental schools in the past decade. However, since then the number of va cancies in general dental practice appears to have doubled and there h as been increasing difficulty obtaining dental associates, There appea r therefore to be some manpower problems in general practice. Some of the available manpower data to the;end of 1995 are examined and possib le factors underlying these trends are considered, raising more questi ons than answers but suggesting the time has come to seriously review the situation.