- Trends in postgraduate dental training in the United States (September 2022)
- Practice patterns of postgraduate trained dentists in the United States (September 2022)
- The relationship between education debt and career choices in professional programs (November 2017)
- The effect of education debt on dentists’ career decisions (November 2015)
- Where do dental school graduates end up locating? (October 2015)
Dental education
See enrollment and graduate trend data for predoctoral, advanced and allied dental education programs, with breakdowns by student demographics.
CODA Survey of Dental Education Series
National and program-level survey information on accredited programs, admission requirements, financial assistance, instruction methods, patient care, and support personnel at U.S. dental schools. Also features trends in applications, enrollment, and graduates by gender and race/ethnicity.
- 2021-22 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2020-21 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2019-20 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2018-19 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2017-18 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2016-17 report 1 (XLSX)
- 2015-16 report 1 (XLSX)
Program-level and national data on tuition and fees as well as admissions criteria and policies of dental schools, including academic qualifications of first-year students, advanced placement and international dental school graduates, and student attrition and withdrawal information.
- 2021-22 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2020-21 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2019-20 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2018-19 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2017-18 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2016-17 report 2 (XLSX)
- 2015-16 report 2 (XLSX)
Financial information from the previous fiscal year from accredited U.S. dental school, including revenue and expenditures per student and comparisons between public and private schools. School-level data is presented anonymously.
- 2021-22 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2020-21 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2019-20 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2018-19 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2017-18 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2016-17 report 3 (XLSX)
- 2015-16 report 3 (XLSX)
The curriculum survey conducted every other year offers an internal benchmarking tool monitoring compliance to CODA. The report features national-level data on instructional methods, evaluation methods, curriculum format, clock hours of instruction, and data on patient care in dental schools.
- 2021-22 report 4 (PDF)
- 2018-19 report 4 (PDF)
- 2016-17 report 4 (PDF)
- 2015-16 report 4 (PDF)
CODA Survey of Advanced Dental Education
Survey of accredited advanced dental education programs, including advanced education in general dentistry (AEGD), general practice residency (GPR), dental anesthesiology, orofacial pain, oral medicine, dental public health (DPH), endodontics, oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics.
Features data on program directors; student enrollment and graduates by gender, race/ethnicity, and program type; tuition and stipends; instruction methods; international dental school graduates; off-campus training; and non-accredited programs offered by dental schools.
- 2021-22 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2020-21 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2019-20 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2018-19 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2017-18 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2016-17 advanced report (XLSX)
- 2015-16 advanced report (XLSX)
CODA Survey of Allied Dental Education
Survey of accredited dental assisting, dental hygiene, and dental laboratory technology education programs. Includes program-level data on admission requirements, applications, student costs, enrollment and graduate levels, student and faculty characteristics, and curriculum. The report also features trend data on program capacity, applications, enrollment, graduates, and student costs.
- 2021-22 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2020-21 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2019-20 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2018-19 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2017-18 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2016-17 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2015-16 dental hygiene report (XLSX)
- 2021-22 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2020-21 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2019-20 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2018-19 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2017-18 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2016-17 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2015-16 dental assisting report (XLSX)
- 2021-22 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2020-21 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2019-20 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2018-19 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2017-18 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2016-17 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
- 2015-16 dental laboratory technology report (XLSX)
More research and insights
(January 2022):
- General practice residency (PDF)
- Advanced education in general dentistry (PDF)
- Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics (PDF)
- Periodontics (PDF)
- Endodontics (PDF)
- Prosthodontics (PDF)
- Pediatric dentistry (PDF)
- Dental public health (PDF)
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery (PDF)
- Oral and maxillofacial radiology (PDF)
- Oral and maxillofacial pathology (PDF)
- Dental hygiene student characteristics by type of sponsoring institution (PDF) (February 2023)
- Dental assisting student characteristics by type of sponsoring institution (PDF) (February 2023)
- Dental assisting education program characteristics (PDF) (February 2023)
- Dental hygiene education program characteristics (PDF) (February 2023)
- Methods used by dental schools to assess competencies for CODA standards (PDF) (December 2022)
- Distribution of clock hours of instruction in dental schools by class year (PDF) (December 2022)
- Predoctoral dental education programs: curriculum format, content and innovations (PDF) (December 2022)
- Dental school grads and advanced program enrollment by gender, 2021-22 (September 2022)
- Dental student withdrawals and not promoted rates, 1990 to 2020 (PDF) (June 2022)
- International students in U.S. dental schools (PDF) (October 2021)
- Trends in U.S. dental schools (PDF) (August 2021)
- Racial and ethnic mix of dental students in the U.S. (PDF) (April 2021)
- Do dentist practice patterns vary by dental school of graduation? (PDF) (July 2020)
Dental education FAQs
There are 72 accredited dental schools in the U.S. and 10 in Canada.
Some of the most recent predoctoral dental education programs to gain accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) are High Point University Workman School of Dental Medicine, Ponce Health Science University School of Dental Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University College of Dental Medicine, Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine, California Northstate University College of Dental Medicine, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
In August 2019, CODA granted accreditation to the predoctoral dental education program sponsored by King Abdulaziz University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is the first time an international predoctoral dental education program based outside the United States has been accredited by CODA.
Related item: Visit the CODA Search DDS/DMD Programs page.
During the 2022-23 academic year, there were 26,596 students enrolled in predoctoral dental education programs, up from 26,228 the prior year. The class of 2022 had 6,745 graduates, up from 6,665 in 2021.
Source: Dental Education Program Enrollment and Graduates Report: 2022-23 (XLSX).
In 2021-22, 14,211 predoctoral dental students were female (54.2%), and 51.6% (3,436) of graduates of the class of 2021 were female. In comparison, the percentage of graduates who were female was 45.2% in 2011, 37.5% in 2001, 32.5% in 1991, and 13.6% in 1980.
Source: 2021-22 Survey of Dental Education – Report 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment and Graduates (XLSX).
Total predoctoral enrollment is currently at its highest level historically, with 26,228 students enrolled in the 2021-22 academic year compared to 21,278 in 2011-12.
Source: 2021-22 Survey of Dental Education – Report 1: Academic Programs, Enrollment and Graduates (XLSX).
In 2021-22, the average first-year cost of dental school (including tuition and mandatory general fees) was $56,698 for residents and $74,866 for non-residents. Results also vary by institution type. In 2021-22, the average resident first-year cost of public dental school programs was $41,927 while the cost of private dental school programs was $78,581.
Source: 2021-22 Survey of Dental Education – Report 2: Tuition, Admission and Attrition (XLSX).
Visit the American Dental Education Association's (ADEA) page for free data reports on dental graduate debt.
In 2021-22, 704 graduates of international dental schools were admitted to U.S. dental schools with advanced standing, up from 655 the previous year.
In 2021-22, non-resident aliens made up 3.5% of first-year students and 6.4% of graduates.
Source: 2021-22 Survey of Dental Education – Report 2: Tuition, Admission and Attrition (XLSX).