By: Dr. Eric Mediavilla

And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
– Bob Dylan

While the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s song in 1964 were drawing attention to the rapidly changing culture of the 1960’s, the meaning still holds true—acknowledge and adapt to your changing environment or face the consequences. Everything in the world is in a constant state of flux, and those who understand and modify to the changes find success. Planning for the future, while adjusting to the present, is key for both future and current dentists. Dental education and the dental profession have seen significant changes since we entered the new millennium, and if you haven’t been to a dental school recently, you might be very surprised by what you see.

The number of applicants and the number of dental schools has grown significantly since 2000. According to the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), in 2000, there were 7,770 total applicants to dental school, with 4,637 reported being male and 3,133 reported being female; there were about 50 dental schools to apply to (Singh, 2025). If a student’s metrics were a 3.35 GPA with 18.5 on the DAT, they were the average admitted student (Singh, 2025).

Compare that to 2024, where 12,491 students applied, with 4,977 reported being male and 7,499 reported being female; there are currently more than 75 dental schools (Singh, 2025). An average accepted student’s metrics in 2024 was a 3.67 GPA with a 21 on the DAT (Singh, 2025). The ADA recently changed its DAT scoring system from a two-digit number to a three-digit number, with a top score being 600; a score of 21 equates to a 440 on the new scale. According to the ADA, the three-digit score provides more precision and accuracy.

Most dental classes hold a female majority, which mirrors the trend in higher education. From 2000 to 2024, the percent of females enrolled in higher education has been around 56-57% (US Dept of Education). The greatest increase occurred from 1970 through the 1990’s, and given the most recent statistics, the future of dentistry will be female-driven.

There is no denying that technology has changed the world. Technology creates efficiencies, but it can paralyze us from productive work, if we allow minutes of surfing to drift into hours. Dental education struggles to find the balance. Textbooks are online, patient records are electronic, wax-ups for dental anatomy are graded using a scanner against a digital mesh of the ideal, and radiographs pop up instantaneously when using a sensor. Cone Beam/CBCT use is a routine element of many practices, while less than a decade ago, many practitioners might have balked at the idea of this being a part of routine dental care. We even have AI programs to help read the images, so diagnosing our patients should be a breeze.

The utilization of Haptics units allows students to practice operative dentistry, using virtual reality (VR) simulators. The unit provides tactile feedback, so the operator can feel the change in resistance when the virtual bur touches enamel, dentin and caries. Should the operator decide to start over, they merely press a button, and the tooth resurrects to its original state. This technology has proved itself to be invaluable when patient-based dental licensure exams were required. Students could scan their board patient into the simulator and practice on the tooth they planned to challenge.

The University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine’s newest digital dentistry investment has been the Dental Advanced Simulation Hub (DASH). Students engage with virtual patients, who respond in real time, to questions about their health histories, dental needs and social histories. The DASH is outfitted with Trios 5 scanners, 3D printers and digital crown design software. Students practice patient care and their chairside critical thinking while using digital CAD/CAM technology to simulate same-day crown deliveries, preparing them for private practice.

On the surface, these advancements seem to have made the life of a dental student easier, but the unceasing barrage of technology can be overwhelming. Constant notifications from a student’s cell phone, providing updates from Instagram or Snapchat can be distracting. Knowing that lectures are recorded and can be replayed at 1.5x speed from the comfort of home makes it harder to be present during class; besides, YouTube can fill in any knowledge gaps, right? It might sound like I’m being sarcastic, but I’m not. Dental students’ lives are not restricted to where they are physically located. Many struggle to manage parallel, active identities —who they are online and who they are in the real world. Twenty-five years ago, life went on hold while you were at school. Students couldn’t converse with anyone not in the classroom, and people on the outside had to wait until courses were done. If paying attention was difficult, there were limited escape options: sleep, doodle or daydream. If you missed a lecture, you needed to ask someone for their notes, and you quickly learned to pick wisely. Students today can be in full conversation with someone on the other side of the Earth, without an audible word being exchanged. Students have 24/7 access to the world. The moment a student looks for an escape, they can shop, travel plan, play a game, watch a movie or scroll Reels. An instructor’s challenge becomes how to capture a student’s attention when they know they are competing with Wordle. Dental schools embrace the challenge of combining the use of iPads with lectures, so teachers can flip the classroom, creating a more active learning environment. Students become the teachers and diagnose radiographs by drawing on them, using a shared connection with the lecture screen and their iPad. More active learning exercises include the gamification of dental skills training by holding March Madness-style competitions on the dental haptic simulators. Students can practice digital cavity preparations, which are scored, while competing against peers and students from other dental schools. While these innovations are interesting, some traditional methods are still foundational rights of passage, like experiencing the gentle rain of plastic tooth dust on your head, while savoring the smell of burnt hair, when prepping Ivorine teeth.

It can be challenging to teach analog dentistry techniques when students are so in tune with the digital world. Many think that technology is a substitute for the art of dentistry, rather than an adjunct. Experienced dentists know the truth – the more ideal your crown prep is, the better the technology works for you. There is still no substitute for hand skills development and artistic talent. Both can be developed, but in a culture that seems to be primarily consumerism-driven, the investment of long hours may be less palatable for those accustomed to instant gratification.

Dental education, like the practice of dentistry, is fluid. Teaching methods, materials, techniques, and technology are constantly being researched and tested to improve the outcomes for our learners and patients. While I’ve presented what can only be described as a whisper outlining the future of dentistry, you can rest assured that the evolution of our profession is in a state of “becoming”. What the future looks like for sure, nobody knows, for the times they are a-changin’.

Eric Mediavilla, DDS, FAGD, is the Associate Dean for Admissions, Student and Alumni Affairs at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Mediavilla is a Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and holds membership in the ADA, CDA, MDDS, PFA, and is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry.