With dental tourism travelers and Thai citizens all wanting an appointment with Thailand dentists, are there enough to go around? According to a study that looks at the number of dentists practicing in Thailand from 1995 to 2010 and the projections of dentists in Thailand by 2015, the studies authors claim that there are enough dentists to handle the number of patients.

In 1970, Thailand decided that there were not enough dentists in Thailand and actively started to promote the dental profession at the university level and opening more dental schools, this resulted in a sufficient number of dentists entering the profession.

The report by Mahidol University and Khon Kaen University (Thailand) and published by WHO says, “the results show that in the year 2015, the supply of dentists exceeds the requirement.” In other words, everyone who needs to see a Thai dentist will get an appointment. By 2015 there will be 10,100 dentists working in Thailand. That represents a 103% increase in the number of Thai dentists from 1995 to 2015.

One of the arguments you hear from time to time about medical and dental tourism is that there are not sufficient numbers of doctors and dentists to treat the local residents and all the incoming heath travelers, from this report it does not seem the be the case for dental in Thailand, where there are relatively short waits for dental care for everyone.