Cross-sectional analysis of national dental residency match data

The Dental Residency Match (DRM) program provides an ethical and unbiased selection process for applicants to postdoctoral dental programs, based on mutual interests of applicants and programs. The aims of this study were to conduct a descriptive analysis of DRM metrics for the years 2008 to 2015 and to test the hypothesis that there was a difference in number of ranks submitted between programs that filled all their offered positions and those that did not. DRM metrics data from years 2008 to 2015 were obtained from the National Matching Service. Trend analyses and panel data assessments were made. Six types of postdoctoral dental programs (GPR, AEGD, oral and maxillofacial surgery, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and dental anesthesiology) participate in the DRM program. The results showed that the number of programs participating and number of residency positions offered increased over the study period. The programs that filled all their positions ranked more applicants than the programs that did not fill their positions (p<0.05). The number of acceptable applicants increased over the study period for all programs except those in dental anesthesiology. These results suggest that participation in DRM is increasing, most programs are able to fill their positions with acceptable applicants, and programs seeking to fill all their positions need to submit a large number of ranks.