Dental public health education programs have seen a 17% decline in enrollment since 2021, according to new data from the American Dental Association.
The ADA recently released new data showing enrollment trends for dental education programs in the U.S., including changes in total enrollment for various specialty programs over the last five years.
Here are the percentage changes for total enrollment at 14 advanced dental education programs in the U.S. between 2021 and 2025:
Advanced Education in General Dentistry: 0.6%
Dental Anesthesiology: 8.8%
Dental Public Health: -17%
Endodontics: 5.5%
General Practice Residency: -10.2%
Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology: 4.2%
Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology: 20.8%
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: 5.1%
Oral Medicine: -2.8%
Orofacial Pain: 30.0%
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics: 6.2%
Pediatric Dentistry: 6.4%
Periodontics: 1%
Prosthodontics/Maxillofacial Prosthetics: 5.8%
