Workforce model · dental access
Federal projections help compare modeled supply and demand by occupation, geography and scenario. They are not a directory of oral surgery services and do not show whether a local practice accepts a referral.
Read the dashboard as a model
HRSA’s workforce projections dashboard supports state and national views of projected healthcare-worker supply and demand, discipline trends and “What if?” scenarios. The page notes that some model inputs came from the pandemic period and directs readers to dashboard documentation. At verification, the page identified its data as of December 18, 2025.
Every dental-access claim should therefore begin with the selected workforce category. “Dental workforce” can conceal different professional roles. “Oral surgery access” is narrower still: it depends on the relevant specialty, facility or practice, referral rules and current availability. A broad occupational projection cannot substitute for those records.
A three-column interpretation
- Projected supply
- Record the occupation, year, geography and unit. Do not rename the category after export.
- Projected demand
- State the model scenario and assumptions. A modeled difference is not a measured queue of patients.
- Local access
- Verify service scope, referral acceptance, insurance participation and appointment availability with current local evidence.
Do not collapse provider categories
A total across occupations may be useful for broad planning, but it can obscure which professional is modeled and which service the reader is asking about. The safe workflow preserves the dashboard’s original labels, reports categories separately and explains why each category is relevant. If a needed specialty is not represented at the required resolution, the report should say so.
Local verification remains mandatory. A favorable state projection does not prove a procedure is available in one county; an unfavorable projection does not prove that every community lacks access.
For the shared modeling rules behind other surgical occupations, use the surgical workforce and care access hub.