The proposal comes after a Health Workforce Australia study showed there were too many dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists compared with the demand.

Australian Dental Association president Rick Olive said the study was well overdue.

‘‘Our statistics show we need about 510 new dentists entering the workforce a year to cater for replacement of retirees and population growth, yet there are more than 1000 a year being registered,’’ he said.

He said dentist graduates were struggling to find full-time work and called on the Federal Government to cap the number of Commonwealth-supported places in dental programs.

But Stawell Dental Surgery dentist Yuan Xia believes the issue is mainly metropolitan-based.

Dr Xia said the surgery had struggled to employ staff in the past.

The surgery’s last available position took about three months to fill.

Dr Xia said some of his city counterparts found it difficult to find work.

‘‘A lot of my friends are working part-time,’’ he said.

‘‘Most took several months to find a job.’’

Dr Xia said being willing to move to a rural area helped him find full-time work.

He said capping places in dental programs would not solve the issue.

Dr Xia said issues with consumers were also contributing to the lack of demand.

‘‘Plenty of people need dentists but people aren’t willing to pay for it,’’ he said.

Dr Olive also called for dentistry to be removed from the Skilled Occupation List.

‘‘Given the investment made by the government and individuals to educate a dentist, every effort must now be made by the government to ensure Australian graduates have jobs at the end of their study,’’ he said.