The number of required general dentists in Isfahan Province, Iran

Estimation of dental workforce is necessary for planning education and distribution of dental health care providers.  To determine the required number of dental workforce, a cross sectional study was conducted in urban communities of Isfahan   province in order to determine people’s demand and utilization of oral and Dental health services. The results were computed by using formula. In all, 891 subjects were studied. The results revealed that in year 1998, of every 100 samples there has been 77.6 cases demand for dental services due to oral and dental problems. However, only 40.4 cases received these services. These numbers after population weighting go up to 91.9 and 47.88 times, respectively. Each dentist has delivered services to 7377 individuals in Isfahan in 1998.  !fall  the people suffering from dental and oral problems  had  received  these  services,  each dentist  would  have  managed  to cover 3846 individuals. In general, each dental service provider has offered services to 6900 and 12900 in urban and rural papulation, respectively. If oral and dental health services were available for the whole population, each 3600 persons in urban and 7500 persons in rural areas would require one oral and dental health worker to cover them.