Ontario’s Oral Health Workforce: A Comparison of Internationally Educated Dentists and Dental Hygienists

The new Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) has expanded dental coverage for millions of uninsured residents, raising questions about whether Ontario’s oral health workforce can absorb the increased demand. This descriptive study uses 2022 Ontario regulatory data to characterize dentists and dental hygienists as a pre-CDCP baseline. Internationally educated practitioners constitute nearly half of Ontario’s dentist workforce but fewer than 4% of dental hygienists, indicating profession-specific differences in composition. Among dentists, age, sex, work status, and country of training were each associated with weekly hours worked after multivariable adjustment. Exit patterns from 2019 to 2022 suggest that losses among younger, active practitioners warrant monitoring. The two professions differ substantially in composition, work intensity, and practice setting, requiring distinct planning approaches. Future regulatory data should track hours, exits, and geographic distribution to assess whether expanded coverage is matched by sufficient workforce capacity.