For over five years now, both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) dental courses across Indian institutes have seen anywhere between 10% and 55% seats going vacant, year on year. Private dental colleges in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Punjab are the worst hit, say industry insiders.
Data from the Dental Council of India (DCI) accessed by The Hindu showed that between 2016-17 and 2022-23 there were 1,89,420 Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) seats offered, of which 36,585 seats remained vacant. During 2017-18 to 2022-23, of the 38,487 Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) seats available, over 5,000 remained vacant.
Though seats remain vacant, the Central government is aggressively adding dental colleges to boost the future healthcare of the country. As per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare figures, the number of seats for dental education between 2014 and 2023 increased by 14% in the BDS degree and by 48% for the MDS degree. This expansion has been attributed to the Dental Council of India taking steps to improve the quantity and quality of dental education. In 2021-22, India had a total of 27,868 BDS seats and 6,814 MDS seats as per Ministry data.
