Population and Patient Health, King's College London Dental Institute, London, UK.
Int Dent J. 2018 Jun;68(3):183-189. doi: 10.1111/idj.12349. Epub 2018 Jan 3.
Oral diseases affect most of the global population. The aim of this paper was to provide a contemporary analysis of 'human resources for oral health' (HROH) by examining the size and distribution of the dental workforce according to World Health Organization (WHO) region and in the most populous countries.
Publically available data on HROH and population size were sourced from the WHO, Central Intelligence Agency, United Nations, World Bank and the UK registration body. Population-to-dentist and dental-workforce ratios were calculated according to WHO region and for the 25 most populous countries globally. Workforce trends over time were examined for one high-income country, the UK.
The majority of the world's 1.6 million dentists are based in Europe and the Americas, such that 69% of the world's dentists serve 27% of the global population. Africa has only 1% of the global workforce and thus there are marked inequalities in access to dental personnel, as demonstrated by population to dental-workforce ratios. Gaps exist in dental-workforce data, most notably relating to mid-level clinical providers, such as dental hygienists and therapists, and HROH data are not regularly updated. Workforce expansion and migration may result in rapid changes in dentist numbers.
Marked inequalities in the distribution of global HROH exist between regions and countries, with inequalities most apparent in areas of high population growth. Detailed contemporary data on all groups of HROH are required to inform global workforce reform in support of addressing population oral health needs.
口腔疾病影响着全球大部分人口。本文旨在通过考察世界卫生组织（WHO）各区域以及人口最多的国家的牙科劳动力规模和分布，对“口腔健康人力资源”（HROH）进行当代分析。
从 WHO、中央情报局、联合国、世界银行和英国注册机构获取有关 HROH 和人口规模的公开可用数据。根据 WHO 区域和全球 25 个人口最多的国家计算人口与牙医比例和牙科劳动力比例。还针对一个高收入国家——英国，考察了劳动力随时间的变化趋势。
世界上 160 万牙医中的大多数分布在欧洲和美洲，因此，全球 69%的牙医服务于全球 27%的人口。非洲仅占全球劳动力的 1%，因此在获得牙科人员方面存在明显的不平等，这一点可以通过人口与牙科劳动力的比例来证明。牙科劳动力数据存在差距，特别是在中级临床服务提供者（如牙科保健员和治疗师）方面，而且 HROH 数据并未定期更新。劳动力的扩大和迁移可能会导致牙医人数的快速变化。
全球 HROH 在区域和国家之间的分布存在明显的不平等，在人口增长较快的地区这种不平等最为明显。需要详细的当代 HROH 所有群体的数据，以支持全球劳动力改革，从而满足人口口腔健康需求。
