COVID-19 really turned the globe upside down and it affected a lot of lives on so many levels, some of us haven’t even recovered yet.
2020 saw plenty of businesses being shut down or forced into bankruptcy, due to the crashing market. Luckily for us, the dental industry is still thriving, despite many setbacks and having new challenges to contend with. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the predictions and recommendations for the year of 2021!
2021 Dental Predictions
Since everyone in the world needs dentists to help keep their teeth healthy, experts aren’t seeing a total collapse in practices. Although accrued spending went down by 16.8% for dental services, professionals predict that the “new normal” will help stabilise the figures, as the economy recovers.
Furthermore, the current rise in telehealth services usage could help sustain practices. But dental offices, especially those with solo careers, will definitely feel the extra pressure to keep their current patients and find new ones. Replacing the patients they’ve lost will most likely be the biggest challenge.
Unfortunately, staffing shortfalls and limited staff will keep on affecting the field of dentistry. However, teledentistry will see a rise in traction, which practitioners can take advantage of. Additionally, it’d be helpful to also exercise ways to keep healthcare workers healthy and reduce stress.
2021 Dental Recommendations
One of the most valuable disciplines to keep in mind in 2021 is limiting touch-based interaction. Now, the dental industry might find this a bit challenging (the nature of a dentist’s job is to get up close with patients, after all), but convenient and touchless options, for both the dental team and patients, are definitely vital for dental practices this year.
Communication will also be playing a big role. It’s advised that dental practitioners must intentionally keep in touch with their patients on a regular basis. By doing so, it’ll help them retain the current number of patients they have and lessen the anxiety of whether they’ll lose them or not.
When a dentist is confident that their patients won’t be leaving their services any time soon, they can start focusing on attracting new patients, which they definitely should. They must come up with an attractive servicing price, offer some freebies, or deliver practical discounts.
What Consumers Think About Dental Visits
Now, you might think that the figures here are going to be very pessimistic. The years have shown that not a lot of people understand the importance of dentists to society and to oral health, after all. But according to DentistryIQ, the numbers are showing a different story.
60% of individuals are actually ready to follow through with their dental appointment and visit their dentist, while only 5% are willing to go to the dentist once they get assurance from the government and medical authorities. 23% were recently active patients, while 12% are waiting for the vaccine.There’s no question that the year 2020 was a bummer for everyone—rich, poor, young, old, etc.—and it’s no surprise why. But 2021 seems to be quite promising, especially for the dental industry. Although challenges are bound to always present themselves, 2021 can prove to be a year of recovery if we helped each other out and kept everyone safe.
