Objective To describe the status and activity of women in the UK orthodontic workforce.

Design and setting Postal questionnaire based on the UK orthodontic workforce.

Subjects All orthodontic providers in the UK.

Materials and methods A questionnaire was circulated to the total study population. The variables studied relating to sex were numbers, age, number of sessions worked, productivity, professional status and retirement intentions.

Results The response rate was 72.7%. 31.4% of the participants were female. The average age of female providers was 42.7 (SE 0.48) years, who were on average 4 years younger than males. Sixty-six percent of specialist trainees are women and 34% men. 41.5% of male providers and 31.6% of female providers plan to retire in the next 15 years. The mean number of sessions worked by women was 7.2 (SE 0.1) and men 8.2 (SE 0.1). Women completed 24.2 (SE 1.9) cases per session and men 25.6 (SE 1.3).

Conclusions The orthodontic workforce is becoming increasingly feminised. The cumulative effect of more women completing fewer cases will mean that workforce planners will need to consider increasing numbers to allow for this feminisation.