Bulletin of Dental Education Article

At the end of 2023-24 academic year, a new generation of dentists graduated from 66 accredited U.S. dental schools. Continuing the upward trend of the past decade, this graduating class was comprised of 6,869 of predoctoral dental students from accredited U.S. dental schools. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) surveyed them before graduation to capture their perceptions, motivations and plans that influenced their experience before, during and after dental school.

In December 2024, ADEA released the analysis of the journey of U.S. dental schools’ predoctoral senior class of 2024, from influences on and their motivations to pursue careers in dentistry, aspects of their dental school experiences, to plans upon graduation and the investment in their careers. This research reports findings from data collected through the ADEA Survey of U.S. Dental School Seniors, Class of 2024 (henceforth called “the ADEA 2024 Predoc Survey”) and for comparison reasons, the ADEA Survey of U.S. Dental School Seniors, Class of 2019.

As in the previous two editions, the Dentists of Tomorrow analysis conducted a comparison of the response distribution of the overall response sample with the response distribution of historically underrepresented race and ethnicity (HURE) in dentistry predoctoral senior students. This allows a better understanding of the HURE student journey and difference with the overall respondents.

For the first time, this annual analysis examines the students’ perception of their wellbeing during dental school and how these opinions changed from those stated by the graduating class of 2019. In addition, it examines the extent to which predoctoral students got involved in intra- and interprofessional education activities, with what other health professions, and to what degree these experiences improved their understanding of the roles of other professions in caring for patients. The report also assesses changes in the stated level of intra- and interprofessional education involvement, as mentioned by the 2019 and 2024 respondents to the ADEA Predoc Survey.

ADEA members can access the summary report on the ADEA website at ADEA.org/Seniors2024. The summary report is available for download and print, but also as an online storyboard with the charts available in interactive format. Beyond the interactive visual charts, members can download the data behind the interactive graphs.

Interprofessional Activities During Dental School, Percent of Predoctoral Respondents Stating Being Involved in Any Interprofessional Activities With Other Health Profession Students, 2019 and 2024

Notes: The number of respondents to this question was 2,448 in 2019 and 2,421 in 2024.

Source: Istrate EC, Ph.D., M.A.I.S., Asmita Samanta, M.S.; Carolyn L. Booker, PhD.; Karen P. West, D.M.D., M.P.H. Dentists of Tomorrow 2024: An Analysis of the Results from the ADEA 2024 Survey of U.S. Dental School Seniors. American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Education Research Series. Issue 7, December 2024.

For any questions/comments about this project, contact Emilia Istrate, Ph.D., ADEA Senior Vice President of Policy and Education Research at istratee@adea.org.

Published on February 12, 2025