Dental support workforce shortage across 12 Asia-Pacific and Gulf markets: what the official data shows

More findings

• Malaysia: 7.1% of Ministry of Health dental surgery assistant posts and 8.6% of dental therapist posts were vacant at end-2024.
• Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar: official 'shortage' language refers to a shortage of nationals; no headcount-shortage indicator for dental support staff was found.
• The only cross-country series, WHO 'Dental Assistants and Therapists', is not comparable: Japan's figure counts hygienists only.

TL;DR

• Japan publishes the most direct official shortage signal of the 12 markets. In FY2025 there were 2.78 job openings per applicant for dental hygienists and 2.68 for dental assistants, against 1.10 for all occupations [1][2][3]. Yet only 45.8% of the 326,651 licensed hygienists were working in 2024 [4].
• Australia's 2026 Occupation Shortage List rates dental hygienists, dental therapists and dental technicians "Shortage" for the fifth year in a row. Dental assistants have been "No Shortage" since 2023 [5].
• New Zealand: oral health therapists and dental therapists are on the Green List for straight-to-residence migration; dental hygienists and dental assistants are not [6]. The NZ Dental Association, citing Health NZ's 2023/24 workforce plan, puts the shortfall of oral health therapists at 20% [7].
• South Korea: 32.5% of 96,858 licensed hygienists were inactive in 2023, and 65,409 were active [8].
• Malaysia: at end-2024, 7.1% of the health ministry's dental surgery assistant posts and 8.6% of its dental therapist posts were vacant [9].
• Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar: official "shortage" wording means a shortage of nationals: Saudi Arabia's localisation quota covers dentist occupations [23], and Abu Dhabi ranks dental support roles by the shortage of Emirati staff [25]. No headcount-shortage indicator for dental support staff was found.
• No comparable cross-country series exists. WHO's "Dental Assistants and Therapists" figure for Japan [10] equals Japan's employed-hygienist count alone [11].

The cross-market table

"Support per dentist" divides a support-staff count by a dentist count from the same market and year. The formula is shown in each cell. Because the numerator counts different occupations in each market, this column is not comparable across markets (rating C).

What the numbers say

Northeast Asia: licences without workers. Japan and Korea train and license hygienists at scale but lose many of them. Japan's working share is 45.8% [4]. Korea's active share is 67.5% (65,409 / 96,858) [8]. A health ministry committee paper calls return-to-work support and workforce-securing measures "urgent issues" (「喫緊の課題」), while noting that supply and demand have not been fully analysed [28]. Taiwan has no hygienist profession at all: a 2017 draft law lapsed, and the ministry told the legislature in July 2026 that no bill exists [29]. Its dental assistants are unlicensed and earn NT$32,466 a month on average [12].

Oceania: a measured split between registered and unregistered roles. Australia is the only market with an official, occupation-level shortage rating every year. Its ratings separate registered clinicians (in shortage since 2022) from dental assistants (in shortage in 2021–22, "No Shortage" since 2023) [5]. Online job ads for dental assistants averaged 782 a month in September 2026, against 499 in September 2019 [30]. New Zealand's stand-alone hygiene and therapy programmes closed in 2008/09, and oral health therapists now carry that work [22]. The NZ Dental Association, citing Health NZ's 2023/24 workforce plan, puts their shortfall at 20% [7]. No official count of dental assistants was found.

Southeast Asia: public-sector data only. Malaysia publishes post-fill rates, but only for health ministry posts [9]. Singapore registers 467 oral health therapists, and only 354 hold practising certificates [16]. No dental role is on Singapore's Shortage Occupation List, which applies only to professional work passes [15]. Thailand's dental nurses are a public primary-care cadre, with about 7,300 in 2022 against a stated requirement of 13,000 [18]. Vietnam has no separate title for hygienists or assistants, and its 2021 ministry decision planned a new dental-nursing degree [19].

Gulf: a shortage of nationals, not of workers. Both support roles are licensed in all three markets, mostly for foreign-trained staff. Saudi Arabia's 2026 dental localisation quota (55%) applies to dentist occupations only [23]. The Saudi health ministry's own dental allied staff are 99.1% Saudi (5,310 / 5,359) [24]. Abu Dhabi ranks "Dental Clinical Support" as a "Medium Shortage of National Health Workforce" [25].

What is and isn't comparable

• Comparable (A): Japan's openings ratios [1][2] and Australia's shortage ratings [5] are each official, occupation-specific and repeated over time. They measure different things (a ratio and a rating), so set them side by side but do not rank them.
• Close (B): registered or practising counts of hygienists, therapists and OHTs in KR [8], SG [16], AU [21] and NZ [22], and Malaysia's public-sector figures [9]. Check scope (registered vs practising) before comparing.
• Not comparable (C): any cross-market "support staff per dentist" figure, the WHO "Dental Assistants and Therapists" series [10], GCC localisation measures [23][25], and Thailand's stated need [18].

The WHO series follows ISCO-08 group 3251, which covers dental assistants, hygienists and therapists, while "dental aide" falls in group 5329 [31]. Each country fills 3251 with what its own register holds. Japan's 2022 value (145,183) [10] equals its employed-hygienist count [11], so it includes no assistants.

Gaps

• Dental assistants are uncounted in most markets. No administrative count exists in TW, KR, SG, TH or VN. Japan's latest count is the 2020 census [2].
• No vacancy data for dental support roles in TW, KR, SG, TH, VN, NZ or the GCC. Malaysia's data cover the public sector only [9]. New Zealand's official workforce plan is not used here because Health NZ's website disallows automated access.
• Official assistant wages exist only for TW [12], JP [2], SG [17] and AU [20]; none was found for MY, TH, VN, SA, AE or QA.
• Thailand: the health ministry's workforce portal disallows automated access, so its figures come via the Dental Council [18].
• UAE and Qatar: no national primary counts were reachable; WHO figures stand in [10].
• No time series is given here except Japan's openings ratio, repeated yearly by MHLW [1][2], and Australia's ratings [5] and job ads [30].

Method

Desk research on 2026-11-09 using public official sources in the original language. Every number links to a fetched page or file, with a verbatim quote kept in the research file (research/t4-shortage/indicators.yaml). Derived ratios show their formula. No forecasts are made. The data come from public sources only. Pages whose robots.txt disallows automated access are not used; the robots check for every source is in research/t4-shortage/robots-check.md. Two Korean series were not used: occupation-level shortage counts from the labour ministry's establishment survey could not be retrieved, and the national exam board's site could not be reached to confirm its robots.txt.

Sources

Numbered as in the source list: marker [n] is source n.

[1] MHLW job tag, 歯科衛生士. [2] MHLW job tag, 歯科助手. [3] e-Stat, 職業安定業務統計 (all-occupation ratio). [4] MHLW, hygienist committee draft interim report (2026-07). [5] Jobs and Skills Australia, Occupation Shortage List 2026. [6] Immigration NZ, Green List. [7] NZ Dental Association, workforce position paper. [8] MOHW Korea, 2nd health workforce survey (press release and attachment, via the KDI policy archive). [9] MOH Malaysia, Oral Health Programme Annual Report 2024. [10] WHO GHO, HWF_0012. [11] MHLW, Report on Public Health Administration 2024 (employed medical personnel). [12] MOL Taiwan, occupational wage survey 2025. [13] MOHW Taiwan, practising medical personnel, end-2025. [14] MHLW, Statistics of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists 2024. [15] MOM, COMPASS Shortage Occupation List. [16] Singapore Dental Council, Annual Report 2025. [17] MOM, Occupational Wage Survey 2025. [18] Thai Dental Council, dental nurse situation article (relaying MOPH data). [19] MOH Vietnam, Decision 5628/QĐ-BYT. [20] JSA, occupation profile 4232 Dental Assistants. [21] Dental Board of Australia, registrant data, Jun 2026. [22] Dental Council of NZ, Annual Report 2025/26. [23] HRSD, dental localisation guide. [24] Saudi MOH, Statistical Yearbook 2023. [25] DoH Abu Dhabi, Emiratisation priorities. [26] WHO GHO, HWF_0011. [27] National Planning Council Qatar, Health Services Statistics 2025. [28] MHLW, committee material on dental hygienists. [29] MOHW Taiwan, report to the Legislative Yuan (2026-07-09). [30] JSA, Internet Vacancy Index, Sep 2026. [31] ILO, ISCO-08. [32] Dubai Health Authority, Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (2022). URLs are in the front matter.

This brief was written with AI assistance by the Dental Market Radar Workforce Desk and is reviewed by an editor before publication. It reports market and workforce data only and is not medical advice.

Data used

• Japan: Dentists (practising) – 100,266 persons as of 2024-12-31
• Japan: Dental hygienists total – 149,579 persons as of 2024-12-31
• Taiwan: Dentists (practising) – 16,968 persons as of 2025-12-31
• Singapore: Dentists (practising) – 2,814 persons as of 2025-12-31
• United Arab Emirates: Dentists (total) – 9,413 persons as of 2023-12-31
• Qatar: Dentists (total) – 2,275 persons as of 2024-12-31

Source links

Numbers in square brackets in the text link to this list.

1. job tag: 歯科衛生士 (MHLW) (accessed 2026-11-09)
2. job tag: 歯科助手 (MHLW) (accessed 2026-11-09)
3. 職業安定業務統計, 職業別 有効求人倍率 (e-Stat) (accessed 2026-11-09)
4. 歯科衛生士 検討会 中間とりまとめ案 (MHLW, 2026-07) (accessed 2026-11-09)
5. Occupation Shortage List 2026 (Jobs and Skills Australia) (accessed 2026-11-09)
6. Green List roles (Immigration New Zealand) (accessed 2026-11-09)
7. Roadmap position paper: Workforce (New Zealand Dental Association) (accessed 2026-11-09)
8. 제2차 보건의료인력 실태조사 결과 발표 (MOHW press release and attachment, 2026-09-29), as published in the KDI Economic Information and Education Center policy archive (accessed 2026-11-09)
9. Oral Health Programme Annual Report 2024 (MOH Malaysia) (accessed 2026-11-09)
10. WHO GHO indicator HWF_0012 Dental Assistants and Therapists (number) (accessed 2026-11-09)
11. 令和6年衛生行政報告例（就業医療関係者）の概況 (MHLW) (accessed 2026-11-10)
12. 職類別薪資調查報告 114年7月 (MOL) (accessed 2026-11-09)
13. 醫療機構執業醫事人員數 114年底 (MOHW) (accessed 2026-11-10)
14. 令和6年医師・歯科医師・薬剤師統計の概況 (MHLW) (accessed 2026-11-10)
15. COMPASS Shortage Occupation List guidebook (MOM) (accessed 2026-11-09)
16. Singapore Dental Council Annual Report 2025 (accessed 2026-11-09)
17. MOM Occupational Wage Survey 2025, Table 4 (accessed 2026-11-09)
18. สถานการณ์ทันตาภิบาลในประเทศไทย (Thai Dental Council) (accessed 2026-11-09)
19. MOH Decision 5628/QĐ-BYT (2021), provincial copy (accessed 2026-11-09)
20. Occupation profile 4232 Dental Assistants (JSA) (accessed 2026-11-09)
21. Dental Board of Australia registrant data, June 2026 (accessed 2026-11-09)
22. Dental Council of New Zealand Annual Report 2025/26 (accessed 2026-11-09)
23. Procedural guide, dental professions localisation decision (HRSD) (accessed 2026-11-09)
24. MOH Statistical Yearbook 2023 (Saudi Arabia) (accessed 2026-11-09)
25. Emiratisation education priorities (Department of Health Abu Dhabi) (accessed 2026-11-09)
26. WHO GHO indicator HWF_0011 Dentists (number) (accessed 2026-11-10)
27. Health Services Statistics 2025 (National Planning Council, Qatar) (accessed 2026-11-10)
28. 歯科衛生士に関する現状と課題 (MHLW committee material) (accessed 2026-11-09)
29. MOHW written report to the Legislative Yuan, 2026-07-09 (accessed 2026-11-09)
30. Internet Vacancy Index, ANZSCO 4-digit, September 2026 (JSA) (accessed 2026-11-09)
31. International Standard Classification of Occupations ISCO-08, Vol. 1 (ILO) (accessed 2026-11-09)
32. Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements 2022 (UAE health regulators, DHA copy) (accessed 2026-11-10)