Geographic maldistribution of dentists is an important aspect of the current and projected dental manpower shortage. In an effort to understand some of the factors associated with dentists' choice of practice location, approximately 2,400 dentists who graduated from selected dental schools during 1950, 1955, and 1960 through 1965, were surveyed and the relationship between their current practice location, their place of residence at the time of admission to dental school, and the location of the school they attended was investigated. It was found that most of the dentists who were New York State residents at the time of admission to the three New York dental schools, or five selected out-of-state schools, located their practices in New York State. Similarly, most of the non-resident graduates of the New York dental schools returned to their home states to practice. Furthermore, the large majority of New York State residents who graduated from New York dental schools established their practices in the same geographic region within the state as their original residence, or in a region which was similar to their original residence with respect to urbanization and population density. The implications of these findings for dental manpower planning are discussed.