The ADA Health Policy Institute recently released the latest survey results tracking the recovery of dental industry. The data shows the dental industry continues to rebound across the nation. Dental offices continue to open and patient bookings continue to increase. This trend follows other indicators that the economic recovery is gaining steam, including an increase in driving and walking direction requests on Apple Maps, restaurant bookings via the OpenTable network, and mortgage applications for purchasing a single-family home.
As of June 1, 2020, 48 states re-opened for elective dental care; just Louisiana and New Mexico continue to remain closed. In those states that were open, 90% of dental practices were open with 20% reporting being back to “business as usual”. In the 10% of offices that reported being closed, 7% intend to open at the end of June, 2% intend to open within 6 months and 1% do not intend to re-open by the end of June. Of the 1% that reported not opening by the end of the month, 70% stated they would re-open their dental practice, 15% plan to retire, and 12.5% plan to sell their dental practice. Only 5.1% plan to file for bankruptcy.
Patient volumes increased, reaching 53% of pre-COVID-19 levels the week of June 1st. The trend in patient volumes continues to significantly rise, particularly in May and June. When asked how full the appointment schedule is for the month of June, the majority of dentists reported their schedules are more than half full. More research is needed to identify if the booking constraint is a lack of patients, reduced capacity due to safety protocols or other reasons. Patient volumes increased, reaching 53% of pre-COVID-19 levels the week of June 1st. The trend in patient volumes continues to significantly rise, particularly in May and June. When asked how full the appointment schedule is for the month of June, the majority of dentists reported their schedules are more than half full. More research is needed to identify if the booking constraint is a lack of patients, reduced capacity due to safety protocols or other reasons.
With patient volumes on the rise, dental offices are hiring staff back at a significant pace. As of the week of June 1st, 77% are reporting that all staff are being paid, 17.5% say part of the staff is being and 5.5% are not paying any staff. This data correlates with findings from the U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows employment in dental offices in May was at 70% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
Altogether the data from the week of June 1st survey combined with data from other sources show consumer attitudes are encouraging. The dental economy continues to recover at a robust rate.
