UCSF

IntroductionMinoritized providers are more likely to serve low income and underserved communities while individuals from rural or underserved areas are more likely to go back and work in these areas after medical and dental training. Currently African American/Black individuals make up only 3% of the current dental workforce though representing 14% of the nation’s population. While the overall dental workforce does not reflect the diversity of the country, pediatric dentistry is on the forefront as the most racially and gender diverse dental specialty. This is in great part due to the increase in African American/Black females pursuing pediatric dentistry. It is important to assess the factors that are leading African American/Black females selecting this career, as an exemplar for other specialties and programs to follow, and as a means to help address the nation’s health disparities in healthcare provider diversity. The purpose of this study was to determine the personal, social, and policy factors influencing African American/Black women’s choice to specialize in pediatric dentistry and serve children insured by Medicaid.

MethodsThis study is an observational mixed methods study using qualitative and quantitative data. This study consists of two components. The first component is analysis of data collected for a previous research study on minoritized dentists, as well publicly available data sources from the American Dental Association. The second component consisted of interviewing African American/Black pediatric dentists regarding their lived experiences and their decision to pursue pediatric dentistry and treat children insured by Medicaid, and analyzing the data thematically.

ResultsDentistry is still a male dominated profession overall, but in pediatric dentistry men make up only 48.7% of the specialty. African American/Blacks make up 3.6% of general dentists without postdoctoral training, 5.5% of the pediatric specialist population and only 3.4% of all other dental specialists combined. Among the African American/Black population of dentists enrolled in advanced dental education programs in the 2021-2022 academic year, 58% are female. Of all African American/Black individuals who graduated from an advanced dental education program in 2021, 70% were female. There are positive factors and negative factors that predict one to pursue pediatric dentistry. Positive predictors include being any race/ethnicity (African American/Black, Asian, Hispanic) besides White and being female. When having white females as the comparison group, African American/Black females are more likely to pursue pediatric dentistry than any other race/gender combination. In interviews, common themes were mentioned by participants regarding their pursuit of pediatric dentistry. The value of mentorship was a common theme that aided in all steps through one’s career. Racial factors and discriminatory events were all common occurrences in dental school and residency, as well as occurring at all stages in one’s career. This has led to a constant fear about “being enough” or how one will be perceived in the workforce.

ConclusionPediatric dentistry tends to bring in more diversity in regards to both race and gender, with African American/Black females more likely to pursue pediatric dentistry more than any other specialty. Factors contributing to this positive environment include attending a HRSA funded program, having a mentor who could aid and support one in the career process, exposure to underserved communities in childhood and in one’s dental education, and being able to relate to one’s patient population and minoritized communities.