Overview of dental education system and gender distribution of undergraduate dental students in Taiwan

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The gender distribution of dentists in Taiwan has been dominated by male dentists for a long time. This study analyzed preliminarily the appearance of the current dental education system and the gender distribution of undergraduate dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used documentary analysis and secondary data analysis to survey mainly the current dental education system and the gender distribution of undergraduate dental students in Taiwan. RESULTS: There were a total of 2474 dental students and 394 dental graduates in Taiwan in 2021. The numbers of male students (1435, 58.00%) and male graduates (207, 52.54%) were higher than those of female students (1039, 42.00%) and female graduates (187, 47.46%). The numbers of male dental students in the northern (629), central (428), and southern (378) regions were all higher than those of female dental students (423, 373, and 243, respectively). The chi-square test indicated the significantly higher proportion of male dental students in the northern and southern regions (P < 0.01). Besides, there were a total of 15,857 registered dentists. The number of male dentists (10,997, 69.35%) was higher than that of female dentists (4,860, 30.65%). Compared with population, the chi-square test showed the significantly higher proportion of male dental students and male registered dentists (all P-values < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In Taiwan, the dental education system must promote female students’ interest in dentistry and elevate the proportion of female dental supervisors to increase the proportion of female dental students and female dentists in the future.