The study suggests that the average retirement age in the U.S. in 2024 will be 68.9 years old, close to the pre-pandemic level of 69 years old. 

Retirement ages have been rising for the past two decades - the average retirement age was 64.7 years old in 2001 - and today most dentists retire after the mandatory retirement age.

In 2023, only 21 per cent of clinicians will be 65 years old when they retire, 30 percent of clinicians retire between the ages of 65 and 69, 29 percent retire between the ages of 70 and 74, and 20 percent retire at age 75 and older.

U.S. dentists are also working longer. The average career of a U.S. dentist is now 41.8 years, four years longer than in 2001. 

Of the clinicians retiring in 2023, 14 per cent worked less than 35 years, 48 per cent worked 35 to 44 years, 34 per cent worked 45 to 54 years, and 4 per cent worked 55 years or more.

In 2023, the U.S. dental workforce will be made up primarily of young doctors who have just graduated and older doctors who are nearing retirement, and HPI says the gradual decline in older doctors reflects the shift toward a younger generation

of doctors in the dental industry. Last year, the average age of U.S. clinicians was 48.8, down from 50 in 2014.