Int J Cur Res Rev | Vol 14 • Issue 18 • September 2022 11 Comparative Study of Dental Education between South Asian and Southeast Asian Countries - An Empirical Analysis Kajal Agarwal 1 , Prashanthy M.R. 2 , Bharathwaj V.V. 3 , Sindhu R. 3 , Dinesh Dhamodhar 4 , Prabu D 5 , Rajmohan M. 4 , Suganya P. 1 1 Undergraduate student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India; 2 Post graduate, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India; 3 Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India; 4 Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India; 5 Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India. Corresponding Author: Dr. Prabu D, Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Public Health Dentistry, SRM Dental College and Hospital, Ramapuram, Chennai, India; Phone: 8072019608; E-mail: researchphdsrm@gmail.com ISSN: 2231-2196 (Print) ISSN: 0975-5241 (Online) Received: 25.03.2022 Revised: 02.05.2022 Accepted: 12.06.2022 Published: 24.09.2022 INTRODUCTION Asia is divided into several peripheral coastal regions, name- ly East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Southeast Asia is a vast region of Asia situated to the east of the Indian subcontinent and south of China. It consists of two distinct portions, mainland Southeast Asia and insu- lar Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian countries were classified as Group A which included Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Timor Leste. Southeast Asia stretches 4,000 miles at its greatest extent from northwest to southeast and includes 5,000,000 square miles (13,000,000 square kilom- eters) of land and sea. Currently, Southeast Asia’s population is approaching a half-billion or one-twelfth of the world’s total. 1 Dental education in Southeast Asian countries highlights the high-quality dental services for dental graduates and dental practitioners’ free movement. The Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dental Councils had proposed the Common Ma- jor Competencies for ASEAN General Dental Practitioners to support undergraduate dental education. 2 South Asia extends south from the central part of the conti- nent to the Indian Ocean. The western boundary is the desert region where Pakistan shares a border with Iran. South Asian were classified as Group B which included Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Maldives. 3 Research Article International Journal of Current Research and Review DOI: https://doi.org/10.31782/IJCRR.2022.141803 ABSTRACT Introduction: Dentistry is the field which brings back one’s smile. It is this field that teaches about the importance of oral hy- giene. Dental education varies in all Southeast Asian and South Asian countries. Aim: To compare the dental education concerning fees structure, dentist population ratio, year of graduation between South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Methodology: This study was conducted for comparison of dental education between South Asian and Southeast Asian coun- tries. Southeast Asian countries were classified as Group A and South Asian countries were classified as Group B. Data was retrieved from the manual and electronic databases using the search engines (Pubmed, google scholar, Web of Science). In this study, the keywords were Dentistry, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Dental colleges, and Dentist population ratio used in the search. Result: This study determined the difference between dental education, dentist population ratio, and the dentist’s average sal- ary among the Group A and B. The number of Dental colleges were maximum in India (71%) among all other Group A and B. Conclusion: Nevertheless South Asian had plethora of colleges, high-paying dental jobs were possible only in Southeast Asian countries. Hence substantial numbers of dental colleges with proper apportionment and job contentment is obligatory for better treatment outcome of patients. Key Words: Dentistry, Dentist, South East Asian, South Asian, Dentist population ratio, Dental colleges, Fees structure IJCRR Section: Healthcare Copyright@IJCRR