General dental practice, hospital and salaried dental services, and academia are some of the many career choices available for dentists to pursue in the UK across primary and secondary care (and even, on occasion, in tertiary care). The plethora of pathways available makes dentistry a desirable career choice; however, the presence of multiple options, in addition to navigating the varied systems and recruitment processes, can create a source of uncertainty. With a limited number of positions in certain aspects of dentistry and greater diversification in healthcare careers, this creates a further layer of complexity.Over the years, there has been an evolution in the workforce demographic. The most recent registration reports from the General Dental Council (GDC) show that over 50% of the dental workforce is now female and the number of dentists joining the register every year is on average 1,600.1 This can be attributed in part to the increase in overseas qualifying dental care professionals.1,2 Career decisions can be daunting at any stage of a dentist’s working life. This can be particularly true for the many young dentists who have concerns regarding career pathways, the availability ofjobs and ongoing changes to health services, all against a backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.The national recruitment process for dental core training (DCT) had 1,548 applicants in 2021 compared with 1,185 in 2020.3 This suggests that a growing proportion of dentists are entering hospital posts following the completion of dental foundation training (DFT), possibly indicating increased interest in career development in secondary care and/or a reduced number of associate posts available to recent graduates. In this article, we explore the range of evolving public sector and career options available to both dentists and dental care professionals, and signpost to sources of further information and guidance.
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