Abstract
Highlights
•A sociology of dental education is missing from the canon.
•Dental programmes produce and reproduce social advantage and inequalities.
•More theoretically-informed and qualitative research is needed on dental education.
•A sociology of dental education is missing from the canon.
•Dental programmes produce and reproduce social advantage and inequalities.
•More theoretically-informed and qualitative research is needed on dental education.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100336 |
| Journal | SSM - Qualitative Research in Health |
| Volume | 4 |
| Early online date | 10 Sept 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The financial implication of studying dentistry is a significant contributing factor in how dentistry upholds and maintains its privilege. Dental education is provided in either publicly funded or privately funded institutions. In the UK dental education is publicly funded costing £9000 in fees per annum or £45,000 for a 5 year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) qualification. This excludes the cost of accommodation, books and other study materials and the cost of subsistence. One blogger estimated the total cost of attending dental school in the UK at £90,000 (https://www.quora.com/I%E2%80%99m-a-dental-student-Is-it-worth-it-to-do-a-prosthetics-or-periodontology-specialty-in-the-UK-Will-I-find-a-job-to-pay-back-my-loans). US tuition fees range between $11,400 to $84,630 (collegedunia, 2022), with the average dental school graduate owing $293,000 in student loan debt (Hanson, 2022). Even with student loan facilities this is still a sizable personal debt to acquire at the beginning of ones working life and has been found to negatively contribute to the well-being of young dentists (British Dental Association Benevolent Fund, 2022). The economic burden of studying dentistry is more acutely felt in low to middle income countries. For instance, it has been reported that the estimated adjusted cost of becoming a dentist in Thailand is THB 1,265,027 (36,143.63 USD) for students living at home and THB 1,823,027 (52,086.49 USD) for those in rental accommodation (Tussanapirom et al., 2023). In a country where the average monthly household income is THB 27,352 (809.95USD) (National Statistics Office Thailand, 2023) (http://www.nso.go.th/sites/2014en/), it is clear that studying dentistry is the exclusive preserve of the social elite.