Predoctoral US dental school applicants and first‐time, first‐year enrollees, 2023 Entering Class

There has been a steady increase in first-time, first-year enrollees, reflecting growth in the number of US-trained predoctoral oral health professionals. Applicant numbers have rebounded from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the share of female dental school applicants and first-time, first-year enrollees has brought the gender distribution in predoctoral oral health programs more closely in line with that of postsecondary education. While progress has been made in terms of increased representation of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic (HURE) groups, much work remains to achieve greater representation.