Sep. 01, 2025
Advancements in technology continue to revolutionize various industries, including dentistry. In , the dental field is set to experience several innovative trends that promise to improve oral health and address common concerns. Let’s delve into these trends and explore how they promote proper dental care and tackle pressing issues.
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In today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, AI and automation are transforming traditional dental care like never before. From precise imaging analysis to scientifically optimized treatment planning, AI and automation now play a role throughout multiple stages of dental care. These technologies not only significantly improve treatment efficiency but also enhance accuracy, providing patients with higher-quality, more efficient oral healthcare services.
Leveraging powerful algorithms and deep learning, AI has demonstrated remarkable performance in dental imaging analysis. It can automatically and accurately detect common oral diseases such as cavities, periodontitis, and root canal issues. By training on large datasets of annotated dental images, AI models can quickly identify subtle features in the images and accurately assess the location and severity of lesions. According to recent studies, AI’s diagnostic accuracy in dental imaging can reach over 90%, highlighting its reliability and effectiveness. In contrast, traditional imaging largely depends on a dentist’s experience and visual inspection, which can be influenced by subjective factors and may result in missed or incorrect diagnoses, especially for early-stage or hidden lesions.
Intelligent treatment planning is another key application of AI and automation in dentistry. AI systems can automatically generate personalized treatment plans based on a patient’s dental structure, medical history, and other relevant data. This approach accounts for individual differences, ensuring that treatment is both targeted and effective. Applications include orthodontics, dental implants, and restorative treatments. For example, in orthodontics, AI can calculate the optimal treatment plan based on tooth alignment and jaw development, including selecting the appropriate braces, adjusting force levels, and determining treatment duration. In dental implant procedures, AI can simulate the implant process, plan the optimal position and angle of the implant, and improve success rates and stability.
The emergence of automated dental devices has revolutionized dental procedures. Devices such as dental drilling robots and orthodontic robots greatly enhance surgical precision while reducing operation time. A dental drilling robot can follow pre-programmed instructions to control the position, depth, and angle of drilling precisely, minimizing human error and surgical risks. Orthodontic robots, guided by intelligent treatment plans, can automatically adjust braces’ force and positioning, enabling more precise and efficient orthodontic care. The adoption of these automated devices marks a significant step toward more intelligent, precise, and advanced dental treatment.
In an era where transportation is increasingly convenient but geographic distance can still pose barriers to healthcare access, teledentistry has emerged as a powerful solution. By breaking down geographic limitations, it provides a seamless bridge for communication between patients and dental professionals, offering a novel model for delivering dental care.
Teledentistry enables online consultations through video appointments, mobile apps, and other digital platforms. Patients no longer need to travel long distances to visit a clinic; they can connect with dentists via a smartphone or computer. Dentists can visually assess patients’ oral conditions in real time and provide professional diagnoses and recommendations. In addition, apps can deliver personalized oral health guidance, such as daily dental care routines and dietary recommendations. In contrast to traditional in-person visits, which often involve long waiting times, online consultations allow patients to receive timely care and advice, effectively addressing a common pain point in dental care.
Remote expert consultations facilitate cross-regional case discussions. Specialists from different locations can collaborate through digital platforms to analyze and review complex cases, helping to develop more accurate and evidence-based treatment plans. This approach is especially beneficial for patients in remote areas, who can access top-tier expertise without traveling to major cities. For example, in remote dental implant planning or complex orthodontic case evaluations, experts can share patients’ imaging and medical records in real time, conduct in-depth discussions, and ensure that treatment plans are both precise and feasible.
Given that teledentistry involves the transmission of large amounts of personal and medical data, safeguarding data security and patient privacy is critical. Platforms employ advanced encryption technologies to protect information from unauthorized access or tampering. Furthermore, they comply with international and regional data protection regulations, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the U.S. and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the EU, ensuring that all data is used legally and responsibly.
In the field of dental restorations, 3D printing is driving industry transformation with its unique advantages. It enables faster, more precise, and highly personalized restorations, providing patients with a superior treatment experience.
3D printing allows the creation of crowns and bridges that precisely match a patient’s oral anatomy based on individual dental data. Traditional methods can sometimes result in minor fitting errors, whereas 3D printing, through digital modeling, ensures restorations fit perfectly to the shape and position of the patient’s teeth. This not only improves chewing functionality but also enhances aesthetics, helping patients regain confidence in their smiles.
Before dental procedures, 3D printing can quickly produce accurate tooth models. Dentists can use these models to perform detailed preoperative simulations, plan surgical steps, anticipate potential challenges, and develop strategies to address them. This approach improves surgical success rates and ensures greater patient safety. Moreover, the rapid production of 3D dental models provides surgeons with the necessary prototypes quickly, saving valuable time for the procedure.
3D printing supports small-batch, customized production, allowing restorations to be made precisely according to each patient’s needs. This minimizes material waste associated with traditional mass production, effectively reducing costs. Additionally, the efficient manufacturing process significantly shortens production time. According to studies, 3D-printed dental models can reduce production time by approximately 50%, which is especially beneficial for patients who require urgent restorations, enabling them to resume normal daily activities more quickly.
With growing environmental awareness, sustainable dentistry is emerging as a major trend. This shift is driven both by increasingly stringent environmental regulations and by patients’ heightened concern for eco-friendly and health-conscious dental care.
Dental practices are increasingly adopting environmentally friendly materials. Biodegradable dentures, for example, can gradually decompose in natural environments after their use, unlike traditional dentures that may persist and potentially harm the environment. In addition, chemicals used in dental treatments are moving toward safer, non-toxic alternatives, reducing potential environmental and health hazards. These practices create a safer, greener treatment environment for both patients and dental professionals.
To promote sustainability, dental clinics are introducing high-efficiency digital equipment. Such devices not only enhance precision and treatment efficiency but also significantly reduce energy consumption. For instance, digital imaging systems can capture dental images more quickly than traditional equipment, lowering electricity use. By creating low-carbon clinics—considering everything from construction materials to daily energy management—practices set a benchmark for environmentally responsible dental care.
Effective medical waste management is a critical component of green dentistry. Clinics are continually improving standards for disinfection, recycling, and disposal, ensuring that used single-use instruments and discarded dental materials are properly sorted and handled. Advanced sterilization techniques eliminate harmful pathogens in waste, preventing disease transmission. Simultaneously, recyclable materials are recovered and reused where possible, reducing resource waste and achieving a more sustainable approach to dental waste through minimization, neutralization, and resource recovery.
As dental treatment approaches continue to evolve, minimally invasive and regenerative therapies are increasingly favored by both patients and clinicians. Their ability to reduce patient discomfort and accelerate recovery has significantly enhanced patient satisfaction with dental care.
Minimally invasive techniques are becoming more widespread in dentistry, with laser therapy, minimally invasive implants, and periodontal surgeries as notable examples. Laser technology, known for its precision and efficiency, targets diseased areas while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Minimally invasive implant procedures involve careful, precise operations using advanced equipment to place implants into the alveolar bone with minimal trauma and bleeding. Similarly, minimally invasive periodontal surgery allows for precise removal of diseased tissue, promoting faster healing of periodontal structures. Studies indicate that, compared to traditional surgery, recovery time for minimally invasive procedures can be reduced by 30–50%, significantly shortening treatment duration and patient discomfort.
Regenerative dentistry offers new possibilities in dental care, including stem cell therapies and periodontal tissue regeneration. Stem cells, with their powerful self-renewal and differentiation capabilities, can develop into dental pulp cells, dentin cells, and other tissue types, supporting tooth regeneration. Periodontal regeneration techniques utilize specialized biomaterials and growth factors to restore periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and other tissues, improving overall periodontal health. Additionally, combining laser-assisted surgery with digital minimally invasive approaches enables highly precise operations. Lasers allow accurate tissue cutting and coagulation, while digital 3D models provide detailed guidance for individualized treatment plans, reducing surgical risks and enhancing outcomes.
In today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, smart devices and wearable technology are becoming deeply integrated into dentistry. They are transforming oral health management from a reactive approach into a proactive one, providing users with more convenient and efficient dental care experiences.
Smart toothbrushes are no longer simple cleaning tools. Equipped with advanced sensors and intelligent algorithms, they can monitor dental conditions in real time. For example, by tracking brushing force, angle, and coverage, these devices can detect plaque buildup, gum bleeding, and other oral issues. When abnormalities are identified, users receive instant alerts via mobile apps, advising adjustments such as changing brushing areas or reducing pressure. This helps users develop healthy brushing habits and prevents potential oral diseases.
Wearable technology also shows great promise in dentistry. Sleep guards, for instance, can monitor oral conditions during sleep, detecting issues such as teeth grinding or sleep apnea, and record relevant data. Bite monitors track occlusion in real time, helping users understand whether their bite patterns are correct. These wearable devices act as “24-hour oral health assistants,” enabling users to stay informed about their dental condition at all times.
The vast amount of oral health data collected by smart dental devices and wearables is integrated and uploaded to the cloud. Professional dental teams can analyze this data in depth to develop personalized treatment plans based on each user’s oral health. Dentists can also track treatment progress in real time and adjust plans according to data trends, ensuring both the accuracy and effectiveness of care. This truly enables personalized, data-driven oral health management.
In dentistry, personalized care is increasingly recognized as a key factor in enhancing patient experience and treatment outcomes. By moving beyond traditional one-size-fits-all approaches, it offers patients more attentive, effective, and tailored dental services.
Personalized care begins with a comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of a patient’s oral health. Dentists no longer rely solely on visible symptoms but consider genetic information, daily habits, and current oral conditions in their analysis. Genetic testing can reveal a patient’s susceptibility to certain oral diseases, while lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and oral hygiene habits influence oral health trajectories. Combined with a thorough clinical examination, this approach provides a complete understanding of the patient’s oral health, forming a solid foundation for subsequent treatment planning.
Based on the individualized assessment, dentists create tailored treatment plans. In common dental procedures such as orthodontics, implants, and restorations, the benefits of customized care are evident. For orthodontics, the optimal type of braces and treatment strategy is selected according to tooth alignment and jaw development. For dental implants, factors such as alveolar bone condition and occlusion guide precise placement and number of implants. In restorative dentistry, the choice of materials and techniques is based on the extent of tooth damage and aesthetic requirements, ensuring optimal functional and cosmetic outcomes.
Personalized care also extends to the overall patient experience. Smart appointment systems allow flexible scheduling, minimizing waiting times. Customized oral health education delivers information in an understandable manner tailored to the patient’s knowledge level. After treatment, personalized follow-up plans monitor recovery, address questions, and provide ongoing support, reinforcing patient confidence and satisfaction with the care received.
Driven by the powerful wave of technology, the dental field in is exhibiting a number of remarkable new trends that are comprehensively reshaping the patterns and landscape of dental care.
Looking ahead to the next five years, developments in dental technology are expected to have even deeper impacts. On one hand, with the deep integration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, dental care will become increasingly intelligent and precise. AI-assisted diagnostic systems can quickly analyze patients’ oral images and medical records, providing more accurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Big data analysis also helps uncover patterns in the occurrence of oral diseases and factors affecting treatment outcomes, providing a more scientific basis for personalized treatment. On the other hand, the continuous emergence of new materials and techniques will further enhance the performance and quality of dental restorations. For example, new materials with improved biocompatibility and mechanical properties will make restorations more durable and aesthetically pleasing. Continuous innovation in 3D printing technology will enable the production of more complex and refined dental structures, meeting the increasingly diverse needs of patients.
In response to these trends, dental professionals should actively embrace innovation and continuously learn and master new technologies and methods. By participating in professional training, academic exchanges, and other activities, they can broaden their perspectives and improve their clinical skills and overall competence. At the same time, it is important to integrate innovative technologies into clinical practice and develop personalized treatment plans based on individual patient conditions to enhance treatment efficiency and patient satisfaction. With the dual drive of technology and human-centered care, the dental industry is poised to achieve a brighter future, safeguarding people’s oral health.
Wright: [00:00:00] Dentistry's landscape is evolving and it's more important than ever to understand the shifts and the trends that are affecting our profession. I'm Dr. ArNelle Wright.
Ioannidou: [00:00:10] And I'm Dr. Effie Ioannidou. And today we are analyzing the data behind the issues that will shape dentistry in . We have an amazing guest, right?
Wright: [00:00:20] Yes.
Announcer: [00:00:23] From the American Dental Association, this is Dental Sound Bites. Created for dentists, by dentists. Ready? Let's dive right into real talk on dentistry's daily wins and sticky situations.
Wright: [00:00:40] Happy New Year, Effie.
Ioannidou: [00:00:41] Happy New Year.
Wright: [00:00:43] Yeah, I can't believe is here.
Ioannidou: [00:00:46]It's unbelievable.
Wright: [00:00:47] Yeah, time is flying always, right?
Ioannidou: [00:00:49] Oh, oh my God. I'm one year older. One year younger.
Wright: [00:00:53] One year better. Let's just say better.
Ioannidou: [00:00:54] One year better.
Wright: [00:00:56] Yes. Yeah. Well, before we begin today, I want to remind our listeners, if you want to be part of our Dental Sound Bites community, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you listen and stay updated with every new episode.
Ioannidou: [00:01:12] And don't forget, now you can enjoy us on Videos on the ADA YouTube channel. So not only you can listen, but also you can watch.
Wright: [00:01:21] Yes. Okay. Well, let's get to one of our favorite episodes. We are excited to welcome back a listener favorite, actually, Dr. Marko Vujicic, chief economist and vice president of the Health Policy Institute at the American Dental Association.
We are so happy to have you, Marko, here to give us a sneak peek into your year ahead.
Ioannidou: Hi, Marko.
Wright: Hey Marko.
Vujicic: [00:01:46] Great to be here.
Ioannidou: [00:01:47] Happy New Year.
Vujicic: [00:01:48] Yeah, happy New Year to both of you, ArNelle and Effie.Happy to be invited back.
Wright: [00:01:54] Oh, always. Definitely a listener favorite. Well, for our new listeners, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you and the ADA's Health Policy Institute does, and looking back, what are a couple of big things that you saw in ?
Vujicic: [00:02:10] Great. Yeah. So, the Health Policy Institute is, the best way to think of it is as a think tank. We're researchers, statisticians.I'm an economist by training, but we're really data wonks that look at what's going on froman unemotional, data-driven perspective. Nothing clinical. But look at trends in the market for dentistry.
And a couple big things we saw in . We saw stabilization finally of the dental economy in the U.S. Obviously we had a lot of turmoil post pandemic. There was an echo inrecovery and then staffing shortages and things kind of really started to stabilize, let's say, in . We also saw, again, continued shifts in the practice models out there in terms of how dentists are practicing.We can talk a little bit more about that.
Wright: [00:03:06] Okay.
Vujicic: [00:03:06] And we also had a first a big look at an important issue that, that's quite controversial within healthcare, private equity investment in dentistry. We released the first study ever looking at the prevalence of private equity in the oral health space compared to the rest of the health care. We found about 13% of dentists nationwide were affiliated with private equity in some way in their practice.
But the bottom line here is -- and we'll talk more as we look forward -- you know, saw a lot of. the same trends that we've been tracking in the Health Policy Institutewith the practice modality changes. And on the general dental economy side, it was quite a boring year in the sense that a lot of the trend curves were flat lines.Things were really stable.That's kind of some of the highlights.
Ioannidou: [00:04:00] Having this in mind, Marko, what do you expect for dentistry in ? Like, do you expect to see any changes or do you expect a boring flatline?
Vujicic: [00:04:10] I don't think it'll be a boring flatline in for a few reasons. Let's go through, so at the end of last year, in December, we surveyed, we have a quarterly survey that we sent to a very large panelof nationally representative dentists and this is the first time we're sharing those results on this episode. So I think it's important to go through a couple of highlights from those data.
Wright: [00:04:37] Yay.
Vujicic: [00:04:38]We asked dentists looking ahead to , what are some of the big things thatyou're concerned about that keep you up at night.
So the top three reasons have not changed. So this is not the real exciting part, but the top three reasons remain staffing shortages are a top concern.
Wright: [00:05:00] Yeah.
Vujicic: [00:05:01] Dealing with insurance, both reimbursement rates, administrative issues was number two. And number three, rising overhead costs. So in our episode last year, those were the same top three issues when we asked dentists to look ahead.
So that kind of hasn't changed. What has changed is the level of economic confidence. So we track, we asked dentists like, okay, how confident are you looking ahead? In the finances of your practice, the dental sector overall, and the U.S. economy.
At the end of , in December, we saw a big spike in confidence. Both in terms of how dentists are feeling about their practice, about dentistry overall as a sector, and especially the U.S. economy. So I would say things are different in the sense there's a lot more optimism about economic conditions in dental practices.
The last thing I'll say is this issue of staffing shortages.Sowe've been talking about this in dentistry for, you know, basically post pandemic.And, you know, my team, we get a lot of things wrong, and there's no harm in admitting that. But we nailed this one. I said three, four years ago, this is not an overnight problem. This will take three to five years.We'reprobably in year four of that prediction.
But here'swhat's cool. The newest data show that we are finally seeing big increases in graduate numbers from hygiene programs. We had not been seeing that at all for the past three, four years. So I am hoping that as more of those graduates come into the system, and some of the state policy reform some states have been pushing kick into effect, I think this is the year, in ,wherewe're going to see some relief, finally, when we get to the staffing situation. So I think that's exciting. So those are a couple of things I'd want to highlight.
Wright: [00:07:03] Can I ask about from a staffing perspective, if we're seeing those numbers increase of hygiene graduates, but also one of the trends that we saw was increase in overhead, do you all expect for those of us to also see that trend continue to riseas we begin to have to hire and, you know, what are some of your, I guess, first reactions or thoughts about that?
Vujicic: [00:07:27] In a nutshell, ArNelle, yes. I don't foresee any big relief coming in in what we've coined, kind of, margin compression.
So the last few years have seen quite substantial growth on the expense side. So equipment supplies and mainly, you know, employment, human costs, right? Human capital costs, wages. At the same time, we are not seeing reimbursement rates rise to the same degree. So, this is this kind of margin compression or this fiscal squeeze.
Now, we're not seeing anything on the horizon to kind of bend some of those curves, right? So I would say that I don't see any big fiscal relief, some big swing back in the reimbursement trends or some swing down on the expense side. Now, the caveat there is technology, right? And then I'm a lesson expert in that area, right?
But is there's more automation, is there more AI involvement in workflows and, and you're on the ground level of this, ArNelle, right? Um, I mean, Effie for you as well, but in a different environment.
Ioannidou: [00:08:36] Yeah.
Vujicic: [00:08:36] Um, but, but I really, I think maybe there's, there's kind of an opportunity there to get more efficient, to kind of, you know, streamline some of those processes.
But I don't know, I don't know how easy that is to do and how prevalent some of these technologies are. And you know, that constant question we're all asking in the economy, right? Like, what can technology do that humans are doing? And how do you replace that?
Ioannidou: [00:09:04] And I mean, at the end of the day, you're the expert, but in my understanding, as we talk about technology, maybe we are able to control better the human labor overhead costs, but the inflation that affects the expenses and the supplies that obviously cannot be addressed.
So you know, I see this as, you know, as increasing and increasing, and you're absolutely right on this. But since you spoke about technology, what types of advancements in technology in the field, in the space of technology, do you think that will impact our industry the most in ‘25 and further?
Vujicic: [00:09:46]And again, I'm not an expert. It doesn't stop me from commenting, but let's discuss that a bit. So from my perspective, obviously the game changer, is kind of leveraging AI. Right. And I dunno, just speaking 30,000 foot as an observerthings like benefits verification, diagnostic processes.Obviously AI’s big entree into dentistry has been in radiograph reading. I feel the next evolution there is, okay,how do you now go the next step?And, you know, help with some of the treatment planning, or at least, you know, can you use AI to help you soak up all the evidence and best practices on what typeof procedure base you should do based on certain diagnoses, right?I feel that's coming.
So on the clinical side, that's one application. But I said on the business side, right? Like even automated appointment making, you know, reminders, recalls, again, dealing with third party payers, right? That's time consuming for people. There are technologies out there now thathey can help with that, right? They can instantly see, you know, me as a patient, what's left in my plan and are these three procedures that the dental team has said I should do, are they covered, right? Like that. Soyou're, you're thinking about replacing people on the with carriers, with some automated real time verification.
Those are a couple of things. Again, I'm not an expert there. The other thing that I continue to be amazed by is just how much the clinical side, and again, observer, you should really have experts, people like Forsyth Institute, which you've had on last year, have them back to talk about all the new developments and materials and procedures.
But I feel like we're potentially on the cusp of more of this, let's say, patient-centered care with remote connection.Right? So, you know, can you be connected to the patient through the in real time? Can you replace some of the human interaction with digital interaction, especially for younger cadres of patients who want to interact that way.
Certainly, the ortho space has gone through a big revolution with much more, I don't know what you want to call it, friendly, consumer friendly.Right? I mean, it requires less visits. They're technologies now that, you know, at home, I can do things with my to take pictures of my mouth, etc.
So I think again, not being an expert, but I feel like the digitization and the AI space there is also very exciting. And again, we have a whole research unit and our Forsyth Institute team that's really, really on the cutting edge of all that. So hopefully you have them on again.
Ioannidou: [00:12:37] And you'reabsolutely right because this digital space is utilized so much in medicine, right?
So now you can have your remote visits with your primary care, your text on, you know, MyChart or any otherplatforms. It's so utilized in medicine.And I wonder to what extent we capitalize on this. I think we are a little bit behind probably, butit's coming, right?
Wright:I think it's here.
Vujicic: [00:13:03] Yeah. And I think it'shere. And I don't know, ArNelle,how much you personally have in your practice. Right? But I mean, honestly, the reality is the young patient of today, which is going to be the patient for the next 30 years, is just simply having different expectations. Right. I mean, like it or not is they want to cancel appointments last minute. They want to reschedule on their . They want to, you know, have information at my fingertips about what the dentist is saying I should do versus what the science says, et cetera.So I think there's actually huge opportunities to leverage that. I mean, I feel like a golden era is coming for oral health.
I really do because of the convergence of trends. It'll be different. But, you know, we have half the population that's not engaged with the oral health care system, right? Like, that's a huge opportunity. Now, part of that isthey report financial barriers and perceived value and costs and all that, but part of it is convenience, right?
Part of it is just the day to day and, you know, we know, you know, dental practices are largely separate from the rest of kind of health care and minute clinics and emergency care centers and primary care, you know, that's starting to change a little bit, too. So I feel there's lots of opportunities to really, really leverage touch points with consumers to get more people connected to dentists.
And that doesn't mean twice visit in the office every year. It could be connected virtually and connected digitally. Lots of opportunities, but different.
Wright: [00:14:35] Right, right, right. So one of the things we definitely want to cover on this episode is some of the biggest changes that we might see in dentistry over the next few years.
But coupled with that, I had my own question. In your intro, you talked about some of the other trends.So like practice modality has been a constant, you know, topic and, being a newer dentist, you know, I'm still under 10 years. You know, the DSO space has been expanding and, there's always this question in some of my conversations with my friends about going into private practice, like if that is still a trend. If one is listening to this episode and they're hearing these datacome out, it maychange their minds about, you know, transitioning into private practice, if that was something they wanted to do.
So, could you talk about that in some of those biggest changes that we may see in dentistry over the next few years? In addition to what else we may see?
Vujicic: [00:15:35] Sure, we can unpack a few of those. So let me just start with just kind of some of the facts, right? So our latest update shows a continued shift away from solo practice towards groups.And I use that term generically, right?
We had alsoshown a shift towards DSOs, which are a type of group practice, right? But there are many other types of group practice. But bottom line, more dentists are working in groups and more of them are affiliated somehow with the DSO. So that trend continues slowly and steadily.It's not like a revolution. It'sagain, when 1% more of dentists per year shift into those models.But it's interesting, ArNelle, since you mentioned it, so if we look at super early career dentists less than five years out, right? It's 29% of those dentists that are affiliated with a DSO.
Wright: [00:16:30] 29%
Vujicic: [00:16:31] Compared to 14% of all dentists in the U.S. So, it's particularly a sharp increase in early, early career dentists going into those models. Now, many ask, is that simply a steppingstone to, let's say, private practice classic? Right? The answer there resoundingly in the research is no. This is the majority of these early career dentists. When we find them five years later, they're still in those types of models, right?So...
Wright: [00:17:02] I was going to ask that.
Vujicic: [00:17:03] Yes, there is transition, but not the majority. The majority remain.
Wright: [00:17:07] I was going to ask if they're staying there. Yeah. Thanks for covering that.
Ioannidou: [00:17:11] So it's an intentional career choice.
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Vujicic: [00:17:15] I don't know that I'm telling you the data, whether it's intentional or not. It'syeah, that's a bit harder to assess, right?
Ioannidou: [00:17:24] Yeah.
Wright: [00:17:24] He's like, he's just has the numbers.
Ioannidou: [00:17:26] That's the number because the reasoning, when I say this, Iimply it's not a transitional thing. If five years down the road, they remain in the same
Wright:They're still there.
Ioannidou: Yeah, they're still there. This shows a little bit of a more thoughtful decision, if you will, not out of convenience, not out of the first five-year burden, financial burden to recover from loans.I mean, it's complicated, I am sure, but it shows a little bit more a consistent kind of path.
Wright: [00:17:53] Yeah, which is exactly what the data is showing. That was what you were saying, right, Marko?
Vujicic: [00:17:58] Yes, exactly. And then, and again, I'm not saying what's good or bad. I'm just reporting to you what the facts say. We do have a really interesting report out and there's a lot of detail like, you know, when you ask dentists, what are you satisfied with?What are you not satisfied with? We took a really large sample of early career dentists in these different models and just some high-level conclusions.So things like, things like clinical autonomy, right? Kind of the smaller group practices tend to score better in terms of how dentists report clinical autonomy than let's say these super large groups in DSO.
So that's an interesting thing. Things like CE opportunities and mentoring, etc., it's the reverse, right? Like the larger practices score better. So to Effie’s point, right? It's like,okay, some people value some things better. You know, am I willing to maybe earn a little less, but it's much more secure and much more guaranteed, right?
Maybe that, and kind of, I don't have to work on weekends. There's all this kind of mix of things going on, right? So,but the point is, I, I really, I think why we're going to see this trend potentially intensify, and that was your root question, ArNelle, is we are really in the thick of a generational transition among the dentist population.
What do I mean by that? We are seeing now a big, big number of baby boomer cohort dentists exiting the market. Right. We're like in this sort of retirement boom. And behind that is a continued ramping up of the number of dental grads. Which bydefinition are new, young, and super early career. And it's, you know, it's 57% females in the incoming class.Like that is a healthy majority. I think we talked about this last year too, that continues.
You know, different profiles. It's different personality going into dentistry. So I think this whole shift in the demographic of who is coming into the dental market versus who's exiting. They're different.
So I think that's why, plus all the complications of the business side of running, you know, complexities going up in terms of running a successful practice. I think for those reasons, and again, it's just an HPI prediction, I see these trends somewhat intensifying over the next five years, let's say.Right?Verse like no, we've hit a peak and now things will go back to normal.
Let's say, no. So I think that's an interesting thing. It obviously has implications. You know, we're trying to study what are the implications for not only dentist satisfaction, but like patients.
Wright: [00:20:44] Patients.
Vujicic: [00:20:44]ArNelle you always bring this up. Like, is there good research on,you know, is quality of care different?Is the patient experience different?Even simpler than that. Like are the procedure mixes different for the same type of conditions? So that's one thing we're going to be digging into a little bit more in .Trying to kind of understand that.Same thing with private equity. We mentioned that at the beginning, right?
It's interesting to report -- and trust me, it took a ton of effort -- that 13% of dentists are in private equity affiliated practices. But at the end of the day, it's like, okay. Does that matter? Sowhat's the difference between a PE invested practice and not? That'sthe kind of things we want to look at this next, this year in .
Wright: [00:21:29] Awesome.
Ioannidou: [00:21:31] All this data that you're presenting Marko is so interesting. You spoke about thesignificant difference in the demographic shift as the baby boomers are retiring.And I like that you said the boom retiring, the retirement, the boom. Retirement of the baby boomers.
Wright: [00:21:47]Retirement boom.
Ioannidou: [00:21:49] Retirement boom of the baby boomers.
Vujicic: [00:21:51] That's a good one. Right. Okay. A boom and boom retired.
Ioannidou: [00:21:56] We'll be right back people.
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Ioannidou: [00:22:50] Welcome back to Dental Sound Bites. We are having a conversation about the shifts and trends affecting our profession with Dr. Marko Vujicic.
Wright: [00:22:59] I remember there was an article, I think it was on the same topic about how we're projected to reach gender parity by . Is that still the case? And if so, like if we are reaching gender parity by , I was thinking like, man, the resources, like the leadership skills, the tools on running practices, running business, being entrepreneurial, managing your finances, all of that.Like, we need that too. So, you know, I know that's not like in your arena.
Ioannidou: [00:23:30] or ?
Wright: [00:23:32] Well, it's!
Vujicic: [00:23:35] Well, . And to clarify for listeners, right? Yeah. ArNelle is talking gender parityin dentistry.
Wright: [00:23:42] Yes, in dentistry. In dentistry. I'm sorry.
Vujicic: [00:23:44] The 202,000 currently working, not of the grads, right?So of the recent grads.
Wright: [00:23:52] We've already passed that.
Vujicic: [00:23:54] Yeah, but,it's a great point. So again, this is where, an Effie, you know, you can comment on this, right? Like educators, the education community, and this is a question to them that I asked, right? So with these trends that we see, are we adjusting who we're attracting into the profession, right?
So one school of thought is to say, okay, dentistry is going down the path of all the other healthcare professions, right? Moving away from cottage industry to groups. You know, away from ownership to employment, right? Working, you know,in larger organizations, let's say.And you maybe shouldadvertise that to prospective graduates that they're not going to simply plug into the practice that they observed today or that they grew up with, etc.
Again, that's one school of thought. Another says fight all this.Right?Like give dentists the tools to be small practice owners, to successfully run so they don't quote unquote have to go to these large groups, et cetera. So I really feel like the education community almost has some, I don't know, introspection because it's very like, I don't know, there's a lot of emotion on this.
And I talked to a lot of leaders, obviously, in the ADA and the education community. And some people are like, they're very disturbed by all these trends. They're like, this is not the vision of the profession. We're trying to avoid all that. And at the same time, every year the data come out, it's like, okay, well, the trends continue to go to like, okay, there are less people in their practice.There are less people who are doing the managerial,nonclinical work. The profile of people going into dentistry is not as much, let's say, legacy and people that will plug into their family's practice, etc. So again, just as an observer and commentator, I feel like this is a big tension and I don't know kind of how that gets resolved.
Is it like, should schools adjust and be proactive and say, let's change who goes into this profession?Or no, we simply react to what the market's doing. And, you know, there's space for all practices, obviously, the trends are the trends, but, you know, there's no need for anybody to adjust.
Ioannidou: [00:26:15] Yeah, I think it should be organic and we can let it evolve, right?
I think you brought up so many, it's, I mean, it's so interesting.I'm very impartial to the issue because I am not in practice. I'm in academia and I can tell you that trying to be unbiased and from the 30,000 footview of the issue, I would say that you know, education, higher education, is extremely expensive. Those graduates, come out with a, what's the, I mean, you know, the numbers, Marko, they are the average that is what close to $300,000?
Vujicic: [00:26:57] Not, not as much, but it's high $200. Yeah.
Ioannidou: [00:27:00] Yeah. And depending on, you know, public, private, right schools.And what kind of undergrad who supported your, I mean, it's, it's very high debt.
So the high debt.
Vujicic: [00:27:09] That is trending down though, this is important last two, three years, slightly.
Ioannidou: [00:27:14] Really?
Wright: [00:27:15] Oh, I would love for you to talk about that.
Ioannidou: [00:27:18] How?
Vujicic: [00:27:18] Yeah, I don't know how. I think, I think definitely it's not because governments are subsidizing school most more, right?They're still pulling out. Something has happened with, with tuition levels and I don't know if it's subsidies from somewhere else, but, I don't know.I don't know.
Ioannidou: [00:27:35] Endowments? NYU has a tuition free medical school.
Vujicic: [00:27:40] Yeah, you should get an episode where somebody knows the data much more than me. But we seem to have hit a little bit of a crest, right? And a reversal of some of the cost of education things.
Ioannidou: [00:27:53] You're absolutely right. Something that we should revisit and talk about this. But the cost of education, and as I said,the structure of our society. I speak to the, you know, the younger generation. I speak to the dentist students. I speak to them, to the, you know, undergrads, people that want to go into dentistry.
They want to, they want to secure a comfortable lifestyle.But also a balance between, you know, working life. So they are different. Their priorities are very different than the our, my generation’spriority, and certainly very different than the baby boomers, right. To where, it was, you know, the husband was the working for in the workforce.The bread. Yeah.
Wright: The breadwinner.
Ioannidou:What you say? The breadmaker not the bread maker. Mm-hmm . The breadwinner. The breadmaker. The breadmaker was the bread maker.
Vujicic: [00:28:48] Breadmaker would be different.
Ioannidou: [00:28:51] Yeah, exactly. So, very traditional structure. This has changed. This doesn't exist anymore. So both parents now are in the workforce. They want to enjoy life.They want to enjoy their kids, they raise their kids. They want to be on vacation. They want to, you know, they want to spec maybe work nine to five. I don't know. My daughter wanted to go to medical school and then she said, Oh, you know what? Second thought. I don't want to be on call.
Vujicic: [00:29:15] Right. Interesting.
Ioannidou: [00:29:16] So, dentistry.
Vujicic: [00:29:17] Again, there's space for all those. And I think that'swhat's exciting is that the field is evolving such that, okay, if I want to work in public health, FQHC, and have that lifestyle, I can do that.
Ioannidou: [00:29:26]It's exciting.
Vujicic: [00:29:27] I want to work in a group. I have no interests. I just want to come in and do the clinical work.Others are like entrepreneurial. I want to really be involved. I want to grow the business. There's space for that. SoI'm talking just the general trends, right? And the general trends were clear are exactly what FA has summarized. And I'm glad you raised that because part of it is this generational mindset shift and there's a whole societal dynamic there.
Wright: [00:29:52] Oh yes.
Ioannidou: [00:29:53] All these factors that you mentioned, Marko, that are so complicated and affect all the choices thatdentists make. How can dentists, dental professionals stay updated with all this, the new trends, the latest trends, the developments and make the right decisions?
Vujicic: [00:30:11] Well, first podcasts like this, and you know, the ADA recently launched.Yeah, exactly. This is a big one. Specific to us, look, if you're into like short little briefs and detailed reports if you want the latest data updates, I would encourage people, if you go to ADA.org/HPI right on our homepage you can sign up for our newsletter with the latest and greatest reports as they come out.
My team does a lot of speaking engagements with study clubs as well, which is great.That's been really, really ramping up. A lot more people are interested in having us out to talk to dentists, talk to their study club, talk to their dental association at the state or local level, which is really, really great.
And you know, stay tuned. The ADA is revamping too. We have a whole platform we wanna do to communicate and inform early career dentists, especially.Right?About a lot of these trends and changes coming and how the ADA is modernizing to help them navigate it. So for our part at the Health Policy Institute, again, sign up at our webpage, ada.org/HPI and also LinkedIn.I'm on LinkedIn if you want to followmarkovujicic as well.
Wright: [00:31:30] So awesome. Well, before we wrap, we have one final question, which you can summarize, I'm sure, is to share with all of our listening community,what's on the agenda for the Health Policy Institute. And if you could, can you tie in if there's any trends or anything that came true from , if there's any new developments that surprised you?That was a loaded question.
Vujicic: [00:31:54] Yeah. Good one. Awesome. Thank you. Thanks. On the, on the surprise, on the surprise I thought was the fact that it was a lot of stability in the dental economy. I would have thought there'd be a slightly bigger upswing in terms of total dental spending in .So that part again, we didn't make predictions on that, but that, that I internally got a little bit wrong.
But let's look ahead. A lot of exciting things we're digging into. So given some of the top concerns we saw around insurance and the issue that it's frustrating for both providers -- and we didn't talk today -- butit's frustrating for patients, as well. And we know even those people with insurance report significant financial barriers to care.
Anyway, bottom line, We're going to look to start evaluating some of the important reforms. Listeners may have heard of something called medical loss ratio or dental loss ratio. These are important policy reforms. The biggest one being in Massachusetts where there's regulations on basically how much an insurance company can keep as profit versus how much they have to pay out from their revenue in terms of care.
Soit's another accountability measure for the insurers. We're going to invest a little bit more to see, look, what's that done to patients? What's that done to access, et cetera. We will continue to monitor the usual trends in terms of dental spending, what's been growing, what hasn't.Which,by the way, is fascinating. If you look last month, we released the latest data from CMS on dental spending. We didn't talk about it here. Dental spending grew by 4 million. This is actually data.Don't worry about the year. The biggest thing was all that growth is in the public space, Medicare and Medicaid, especially Medicare.
So the private dental spending from insurance and out of pocket has been totally flat and slightly down, and it's on a downward trend. So this is a whole other topic about dental spending becoming,
We didn'ttalk to too much today. We do a lot of research that's very policymaker focused. So, you know, a stateMedicaid department is interested. Okay, what do we know about best practices for how to run a Medicaid program? And the idea is a whole advocacy group just focused on that. And we arm them a little bit with research.Sowe're going to do more there.
Finally, we really want to look at, obviously, there's a lot of discussions with the new administration, you know, a lot of wild cards in healthcare, a lot of unknowns, but frankly, a lot of opportunities to really re-engage oral health. You know, we had a lot of discussions around fluoride, and as this episode comes out, who knows ifwe're still having them.
But the point is, people were talking about oral health at the highest levels. And I think we have an opportunity, really, to inject a broader, broader discussion about, hey, how do we address America's oral health challenges?And why was only half the population going?
So we're going to continue to get real, almost real time data in terms of how some of these policy changes that are coming are affecting both the profession and the public because again, that's part of our role, right, is to really get the data and get the evidence and the facts.So the ADA can kind of help guide the path of oral health in America using those facts.
Wright: [00:35:33] It was so good.
Ioannidou: [00:35:35] This is great. Thank you. Thank you so much, Marko. Thank you for sharing this information. You got me excited.
Wright: [00:35:42] Every single time. Every time. I'm telling you.
Vujicic: [00:35:46] Yes. Okay.
Announcer: [00:35:51] On the next Dental Sound Bites.
Wright: [00:35:53] A dentist's guide to the law.Answers to the top legal questions every dentist should know.
Ioannidou: [00:35:58] Practical resources to help you, your team, and your practice stay compliant andprotected.
Ioannidou: This is great. This is amazing. I love it. And we cover so much, but I wonder if there is anything else to, to add that we haven't covered?
Vujicic: [00:36:20] No, just again, just a lot more topics we could talk about. You're both amazing. You know, I love chatting with you.
Wright: [00:36:27] We get so excited.
Vujicic: [00:36:29] Hopefully we do this again soon.
Wright: [00:36:31] Yeah. We're going to have to do a part two.
Ioannidou: [00:36:32] Oh my God. Yeah. We have to, I mean, before we started,I went to your,the Health Policy Institute website, and I was so excited about the live data you have on Tableau about the mobility of dentists from one state to the other. And this made me, made me think, I have some ideas.We have to talk.
Vujicic: [00:36:51] People are going to Texas. People are going to Idaho. Yeah, it's a whole other discussion.
Ioannidou: [00:36:57] Exactly. So, yeah, that's great. Thank you. Thank you, Marko. Thank you so much.
Wright: [00:37:02] Yeah, we're so glad you were here.
Vujicic: [00:37:04] Thank you so much for having me on.
Wright: [00:37:06] Yeah, we're so, we're always welcome to come back.
So can you tell our listeners where they can find all ofthe HPI'sgreat work and how they can get in contact with you once again?
Vujicic: [00:37:16] Sure. Yeah. Uh, ADA.org/HPIAnd if you prefer . And again, Marko Vujicic on LinkedIn. I believe I'm the only one. Those are three ways.
Ioannidou: [00:37:32] Yes, you are.You are the one and only one and only.
So, and we will have all the resources and the information that we mention in the show notes, on theADA. org slash podcast. And don't forget, if you like this episode, share it with a friend. Do it. Share, share, right? And be sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen, so you can get the latest episodes.
Wright: [00:38:00] Yes. And you can also rate it, write a review and follow us on social media. All right. Thank you so much for being here again.
Vujicic: [00:38:08] Thank you.
Ioannidou: [00:38:09] Bye.
Wright: [00:38:10] Bye.
Announcer: [00:38:13] Thank you for joining us. Dental Sound Bites is an American Dental Association podcast. You can also find this show, resources and more on the ADA member app and online at ada. org slash podcast.
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