As I sit here today writing the regional newsletter, I am impressed with the resolve of dentists. With the economy seeming to be in trouble, gas prices still higher than we like, food prices going up and I am sure all of us have seen the price of materials increase, we as a group will do what is necessary to delivery the best dental care in the world to our patients. The AGD is known for being CE junkies and with that training we will do our best each day. I live in an area with a ratio of about 1 dentist per 800 patients, which is about half what the ratio should be. We have had about 4 new dentists last year and we will probably get some this coming year. There have been a few dentists retired and some that have moved from the area. About one week ago in the mail I received Utah’s Dental Workforce, 2006 study. The Utah Medical Education Council produced the report and some of the findings were interesting to me. It stated that all 29 counties in Utah have been designated as a dental Health Profession Shortage Area (HPSA) but in 2006 the ratio was 1 dentist per 1760 patients. Utah attracts one dental school graduate for every 36,851 Utah residents, compared to the national average of one graduate to every 67,158 U.S. residents. An estimated 41.2 dentists will retire in the year 2003, while Utah continues to attract a five-year average of 71.6 new dentists. The dentist workforce in Utah is younger than its national counterpart. The average age of a Utah dentist is 46.5 years compared to 48.0 years in the mountain region and 49.1 years in the nation. According to the report Utah will have a shortage of dentists after 2009. Like I say it is interesting reading as I do not see a shortage of dentists in my area. I would like to know as a region, do you feel there is a shortage of dentists in your area? Please comment so we can see how you feel