Specifically, as compared to the developed countries, the number of registered dentists per 100,000 population

in Japan is not extremely high (77.9/100,000 as of December 31, 2008). Yet dental practitioners and the Japan Dental Association feel strongly that dental schools should decrease their student enrollments, with concerns there are already too many dental clinics. In the 1960s and 70s, dental clinics receiving more than 50 patients a day were common, mainly for basic treatments covered by the national health insurance. According to the data of 2005, a dental clinic in Japan accepted an average of 19.1 patients per day (the total number of patients divided by the total number of dental clinics). With the changing epidemiological structure and GSI-IX nmr higher patients’ expectations, dentists whose skills are just good enough for treatment covered by the national health insurance have difficulties, while some dentists enjoy good business by only treating the patients who pay out of their

pocket. Naturally the Japanese Government has tried to control the costs of the dental treatment covered by the national health insurance to prevent further expansion of total government-reimbursed medical expenses. As a result, the fees paid to the dentists for dental treatments, including root canal treatments, are much lower than in many other developed countries such as the United States. On the positive side, these lower fee structures

mean that Japanese patients are less inclined to have their teeth extracted for financial reasons, and more inclined to preserve their Cilengitide mw natural teeth. However, from the dentists’ perspective, adjusting the level of treatment to the remuneration could lead to a lower quality of treatment and a lack of interest in improving their skills. Decreased income of dentists can be an ideal topic for tabloid magazines in Japan. In Japan some dentists can be called “working poor,” which means people who are poor even though they work very hard. While this publicity is often exaggerated, this type of negative image may discourage promising young people to pursue a dental profession. In reality, Sulfite dehydrogenase some private dental schools have already found it very difficult to recruit enough students. However in the US, despite this very promising environment for the current and future dental private practitioner, and the increase in numbers and quality of applicants to dental schools, the actual education of new dentists in both public and private dental schools faces some major challenges if it is to continue in its present form. Foremost among these in the United States is the major shortfall in new educators in dentistry, particularly full-time academicians who can both educate and continue the research necessary to advance the field of dentistry [1].