title: Educating North Carolina's Oral Health Workforce in an Evolving Environment.
abstract: In 2014, North Carolina had 4,681 actively practicing dentists and ranked 47th among US states in dentist-to-population ratio. The need for dentists is increasing as the population grows, and underserved areas persist. This commentary discusses the impact of the state's 2 dental schools and external factors on dental workforce trends.
authors.affiliation: dean and alumni distinguished professor, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Jane_Weintraub@unc.edu.
authors.forename: Jane A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.affiliation: pediatric dentistry resident, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; PhD candidate, Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow in Health Services Research, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Jacqueline M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burgette
authors.affiliation: dean and distinguished professor of endodontics, School of Dental Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
authors.forename: D Gregory
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Chadwick
mesh_terms: D003815:Dentists / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D009657:North Carolina; D009909:Oral Health / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012575:Schools, Dental