title: We're not keeping up with the Joneses: North Carolina has fewer dentists per capita than neighboring (and most other) states.
abstract: This commentary provides a data-driven analysis that shows that North Carolina faces a geographically maldistributed dentist workforce that is inadequate in supply. Not only has North Carolina consistently lagged behind other states in dentists per capita for over 10 years, but projections of future workforce supply do not show improvement.
authors.affiliation: North Carolina Health Professions Data System, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 27599, USA. erin_fraher@unc.edu
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fraher
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: McGee
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hom
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gaul
mesh_terms: D003815:Dentists / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina; D012423:Rural Health; D014504:Urban Health