According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as of December 31, 2022, there are 105,267 dentists nationwide. This is a decrease of 2,176 people in two years compared to the last survey in 2020. Although it seems that the number of dentists is still sufficient, looking at the age distribution, 23.1% of dentists are between 60 and 69 years old, and 12.6% are 70 years old and above, and aging is a problem. In addition, as the national examination pass rate decreases, the number of dentists may continue to decline.
The overall pass rate of the 117th National Dental Examination held in 2024 was 66.1%. This means that even after studying in dental school for six years, only about two-thirds of students are able to pass the national examination. In addition, comparing the pass rates of fresh graduates with those of graduates, it was found that the pass rate of fresh graduates was 81.5% and the pass rate of graduates was 39.8%, with a large difference between the two.
Now let’s take a look at the ranking of the national stomatology examination pass rate. Tokyo Dental University, ranked first, is the first dental education institution in Japan. Its predecessor was Takayama Dental School founded in 1890. In recent years, the pass rate of the national dental examination has fluctuated between 60% and 90%, while our pass rate has remained at a high level of around 90%.
Showa University, ranked second, is a comprehensive medical university with four colleges: medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and health medical science. The first year of the Fujiyoshida Campus (Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture) is a boarding system, and students from all four colleges experience four-person accommodation with students from other colleges. Showa University is scheduled to be renamed Showa Medical University in April 2013.
Among private universities, only the above two universities have an admission rate of more than 80%. Among national and public universities, six universities, including Osaka University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Kagoshima University, Nagasaki University, Okayama University, and Niigata University, have an admission rate of more than 80%. In addition, Tokyo Medical and Dental University merged with Tokyo Institute of Technology in October 2012 to become Tokyo University of Science.
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