Dental workforce dynamics and sustainability in Slovenia: Implications for access to oral healthcare

Background

A sustainable dental workforce is critical to ensure equitable access to oral healthcare. Across Europe, aging professionals and changing workforce demographics pose risks to service continuity. This study assesses workforce dynamics in Slovenia to identify structural vulnerabilities affecting future access to oral healthcare.

Methods

A retrospective descriptive study using national administrative data from the Slovenian Register of healthcare providers and workers was conducted within the JA HEROES project. Workforce inflows (active in 2025 only) and outflows (active in 2024 only) were analyzed by age, gender, and professional group. Net changes were calculated to assess workforce sustainability.

Results

In 2025, 296 professionals entered the workforce while 102 exited, indicating short-term growth. Inflows were concentrated among younger professionals (<35 years; N = 120; 41%). Outflows were predominantly age-related. Among dentists (general and specialists), outflows were most frequent in the ≥65 age group (N = 12; 32% of dentist outflows), while among support staff the highest number of outflows occurred in the 55–64 age group (N = 19; 30% of support staff outflows). Women accounted for 62% (N = 184) of all inflows, including all dental assistants (100%) and the majority of dental hygienists (86%). While dentists showed net workforce growth (N = 220 inflows; 74% of total inflows), support professions showed a negative balance (56 inflows vs. 59 outflows; 19% vs. 58% of total flows), indicating emerging structural shortages in key service support capacity.

Conclusions

Despite overall workforce growth, ageing-related outflows and support staff imbalances may threaten the sustainability of dental services and equitable access to care. Public health action should prioritize aligning education and workforce planning with service needs, strengthening retention strategies, and implementing real-time workforce monitoring to prevent shortages and regional disparities.

Key messages

• Aging workforce exits and support staff shortages threaten access to equitable oral healthcare.

• Workforce planning and real-time monitoring are key to sustainable dental service delivery.