A survey of dental hygiene program directors: summary findings and conclusions.

To assist the ADEA Council of Allied Dental Program Directors in focusing future goals and actions, an online survey was developed and administered to the directors of the 300 Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-accredited U.S. dental hygiene programs in November 2008. The survey solicited directors' opinions about certain contemporary dental hygiene issues such as entry-level education, the use of articulation agreements, the advanced dental hygiene practitioner (ADHP) model proposed by the American Dental Hygienists' Association, and accreditation. Over three-quarters of survey respondents indicated it is "important" or "somewhat important" to advance the entry-level educational requirements for dental hygiene practice to the baccalaureate level. Educational setting (four-year versus two-year) was a significant determinant in whether a respondent thought a baccalaureate degree should result from a dental hygiene educational program. Fifty-six percent of respondents' programs either have or are in the process of developing articulation agreements with other institutions. Seventy percent of all respondents felt it was important to support advancing the ADHP model. Over 60 percent of respondents noted the importance of developing competencies for degree completion and graduate programs, and 42 percent of respondents indicated that it was important to have a separate accreditation process for graduate-level programs. Conclusions suggest advancing entry-level education for dental hygiene is desired if it can maintain a role for both four-year and two-year institutions.

U.S. dental school applicants and enrollees, 2006 and 2007 entering classes.

The number of applicants to dental schools in the United States continues to rise at a double-digit rate, 12 percent from 2005 to 2006 and 14 percent from 2006 to 2007. The number of applicants to the 2006 and 2007 years' entering classes of U.S. dental schools was 12,500 and 13,700, respectively. The number of first-time enrollees (4,600) in 2007 was the highest recorded since 1989. Men continue to comprise the majority of all applicants, 55 percent in 2006 and 53 percent in 2007. However, the percentage of women applicants to each school ranged from a third to more than half. Underrepresented minority (URM) applicants comprised 12 percent of the applicant pools in both 2006 and 2007. For the 2007 entering class, URM enrollees comprised 13 percent of enrollees. As in previous years, in 2007, the largest number of applicants and enrollees came from states that are among the largest in population in the United States: California, Texas, New York, and Florida. Grade point average and Dental Admission Test scores were the highest in more than a decade. More than three out of four of the 2007 first-time, first-year enrollees earned a baccalaureate degree either in biological/life or physical sciences or in health. Regardless of major field of study, the percent rates of enrollment generally exceeded 30 percent, though there were exceptions (e.g., engineering and education). The majority of enrollees to the 2007 entering classes were twenty-two or twenty-three years of age.