Dental Workforce Trends and Emerging Workforce Challenges: Perspectives from a 15-Year Longitudinal Analysis of the Israeli Experience (2008–2023)

Background/Objectives: An effective dental workforce is essential to ensure timely, high-quality oral healthcare across health systems worldwide. Many countries are currently facing challenges related to workforce supply, professional mobility, and the alignment between training capacity and population needs. Using Israel as an empirical case, this study examines long-term trends in the national dental workforce and explores their relevance for international workforce planning. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal analysis was conducted using Israel’s National Health Professions Database (“Oskim”), supplemented by data on dental education and specialty training. Descriptive longitudinal analyses were performed to evaluate workforce trends over time, and inferential statistical analyses were used to assess differences in demographic and geographic workforce distributions. Workforce indicators were analyzed using internationally standardized metrics to enable comparison with OECD healthcare systems. Results: The number of licensed dentists increased substantially, while the number of actively practicing dentists grew more moderately, reflecting a widening gap between licensure and workforce participation. Between 2008 and 2023, the number of licensed dentists increased by 49.9%, compared with a 40.4% increase in the actively practicing workforce. Accordingly, the practicing dentist-to-population ratio increased only slightly, from 0.80 to 0.84 per 1000 population. Israel reported 0.84 practicing dentists per 1000 population in 2023, exceeding the OECD average of 0.70. However, despite exceeding the OECD average, the relatively modest increase in the practicing workforce suggests that higher dentist-to-population ratios may overestimate actual workforce capacity when workforce participation patterns are not taken into account. Internationally trained dentists accounted for approximately 75% of new licensees, highlighting the role of professional mobility in shaping workforce supply. The proportion of dental specialists remained relatively stable at approximately 10%. In addition, the number of licensed dental hygienists increased by 96.1% (from 1468 to 2879), while the number of newly licensed hygienists declined by approximately 43% (from 174 to 100 annually). Conclusions: Despite substantial growth in the number of licensed dentists, the practicing workforce and specialist capacity expanded only modestly, and geographic disparities persisted. The difference between growth in licensed dentists and the actively practicing workforce highlights the importance of incorporating participation measures into national monitoring and oral health planning policies. The Israeli experience illustrates how workforce expansion driven by internationally trained dentists may coexist with structural challenges in participation, specialization, and distribution. These findings highlight broader considerations for oral health workforce planning and may provide insights for other health systems facing similar demographic and staffing dynamics. Because indicators of oral health need, service utilization, disease burden, and workforce productivity were unavailable, the study could not determine whether the observed workforce supply was adequate to meet population oral health needs.