Abstract

Objective To describe the gender and ethnic trends of the United Kingdom orthodontic workforce.

Design and setting A cross-sectional survey using a postal questionnaire to specialist orthodontic practitioners in the United Kingdom (2006-2007).

Subjects All those on the Specialist List in Orthodontics held by the General Dental Council in October 2006.

Materials and methods The data collected using the questionnaire included demographic details (gender, ethnicity, current age, place of birth), undergraduate and postgraduate dental schools attended, calendar years in which professional qualifications were achieved, anticipated year of retirement and geographical location of work place.

Results The response rate was 81.5%. There are more male (60.2%) than female (39.8%) orthodontists presently working in the United Kingdom. Minority ethnic groups are better represented amongst the orthodontic workforce than they are in the general population, however their distribution throughout the United Kingdom is uneven. The trends in the results indicate that the gender and ethnic balance of the specialist orthodontic workforce has been changing and the proportion of females and those from non-white ethnic groups has increased. In contrast, the majority of those retiring over the next few years will be white males (60%).

Conclusion This study suggests that there will be greater ethnic diversity and more female orthodontists in the future workforce. Consequently, working patterns should be kept under regular review so that an optimal orthodontic service can be maintained in the United Kingdom.