Male Dental Hygienists Are Rarer in Japan Than the United States

Approximately 6.9% of dental hygienists in the United States are men. However, the gender disparity in the dental hygiene profession is even more pronounced in Japan. The country has more than 142,000 dental hygienists and only 91 are men, or 0.06%. Regardless of the fact that Japan eliminated gender restrictions on jobs in 2014, some dental hygiene schools still exclude men with the cost of adding men’s restrooms frequently cited as a barrier. Gender studies research notes the low pay of female-dominated professions as the reason for low numbers of men entering these fields. Click here to read more.