Background: Due to the rising demand and fast growth opportunities, the private dental care sector in China tried to attracted experienced dentists from the public hospital system, which hence are faced with challenges of talents outflow and shortage.Methods：A dentist’s entrepreneurial intention (EI) was represented by his/her intention of leaving the public hospital system to be engaged in the private sector..Dentists from public hospitals in 9 major cities of 5 provinces in Southeastern China were surveyed in this study. Through a snowball sampling method, a total of 336 questionnaires were collected. The association between the dentists’ EI and their individual characteristics (basic demographic and professional characteristics, entrepreneurial behaviors) were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.Results: In the public hospitals in China studied, female dentists are consistently less likely to report entrepreneurial intention (EI) (OR=0.365, p=0.001). Dentists in the age group of 36 to 45 and those aged over 45 reported much stronger EI (OR=14.205, p=0.012; OR=8.45, p=0.066) than those in 20’s did. Compared with intern dentists, Attending Dentists (OR=7.812, p=0.016) and Associate/Chief Dentists (OR=9.857, p=0.021) were significantly more likely to report EI. Those with master level (OR=0.221, p=0.021) or Doctorate degrees (OR=0.118, p=0.005) are much less likely to report EI. Meanwhile, those in small hospitals ( with employee numbers < 50) reported much stronger EI than those in large hospitals (OR=2.398, p=0.044). Additionally, dentists’ entrepreneurial behaviors, risk aversion attitudes and their family background all have significant associations.Conclusions: The small public hospitals in China especially face a high risk of talented dentist outflow. As an offsetting strategy, these hospitals may consider more active recruiting policy for female dentists or those holding post-graduate degrees due to their good possibility of long term career path in the public hospital system.

Background: A rapid growth in private dentistry in China has been observed during recent years. Promoting the entrepreneurship of dentists has increasingly received attention in both dentistry and dental education worldwide. However, understanding about the unique features of entrepreneurial behaviors of dentists remains inadequate.Methods: This study examines dentist’s entrepreneurial intention (EI), which was represented by his/her intention of leaving the public hospital system to be engaged in the private sector. Through a snowball sampling method, a total of 336 questionnaires from public hospitals in five major cities in Guangdong Province (China) were collected. The association between the dentists’ EI and their individual characteristics were analyzed using a logistic regression model.Results: In the sample studied, 35.7% of the respondents reported to have EI. Female dentists are less likely to report EI (OR=0.365, p =0.001). Dentists in the age group of 36 to 45 years (OR=14.205, p =0.012) and those aged over 45 years (OR=8.45, p =0.066) reported respectively a much stronger EI than those in their 20s. Compared with intern dentists, attending dentists (OR=7.812, p =0.016) and associate/chief dentists (OR=9.857, p =0.021) were significantly more likely to report EI. Those with master level (OR=0.221, p =0.021) or doctorate degrees (OR=0.118, p =0.005) are much less likely to report EI. Meanwhile, those in mid-large hospitals (with 101-200 employees) (OR=3.554, p =0.036) and small hospitals (with < 50 employees) (OR=2.398, p =0.044) reported a stronger EI than those in large hospitals. Additionally, dentists’ entrepreneurial behaviors, risk aversion attitudes and their family background all have significant associations.Conclusions: Since dentistry is a knowledge-intensive industry, dentists’ entrepreneurial behaviors have their own features. The findings by this study suggest that, accumulation of practical skills in a dental career, as implied by age, professional qualifications and leadership skills, help to promote EI, whereas an academic oriented education degree per se does not. Dentists in mid-large and small hospitals, rather than in top large hospitals in China, have higher EI. Additionally, female dentists may need more social supports to develop a higher EI. These findings have practical implications for the promotion of EI among dentists.