Dentists’ Future Not Clear: Will It Be Good or Bad?

Dentists aren’t sure whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the dental profession. In this survey, 37% of dentists said they are optimistic about the future of dentistry, another 37% are uncertain, and the remaining 25% are pessimistic.

When it comes to dentists’ future, some of the things that worry doctors include government control, corporate takeover, insurance intrusion, Obama’s health plan, and mid-level dental providers.

“I worry that the government will get its hands on dentistry just like it’s doing to medicine and we will all wind-up working for Uncle Sam,” said one dentist.

Here are some comments we got when we asked dentists, “What do you expect for the future of dentistry? What worries you? What are you enthusiastic about?”

“From an economic standpoint, people that have been delaying treatment will have to do their treatment as they won’t be able to delay forever.” (Tennessee dentist)
“Higher overhead due to increased bureaucracy from government. Lower income due to the endless Great Recession. The ‘golden days’ may be over.” (Illinois dentist)
“My worries include the greed of dentists to make the most money and not treat the profession with respect.” (General dentist)
“I think the future will hold no impression materials – mostly all cad/cam.” (New Jersey dentist)
“I am concerned that the standard of care in the US for dentistry may be lowered due to the influx of mid level providers. We must not lower our excellent quality of care in this country because of the misconception that there are not enough Dentists to provide care. The problem is distribution of Dentists and lack of funding for Dental Care increasing the number of poorly trained mid level providers will not solve this problem.” (Alabama dentist)
“Worried about corporate takeover of delivery.” (California orthodontist)
“I’m worried about the oversaturation of dentists in many urban and suburban areas. Also the lack of expertise and knowledge about dentures and dental implant supported dentures by many of today’s young dentists.” (Ohio prosthodontist)
“I am concerned about the effect that ‘Obamacare’ will have on our private practices because having an administration that is so anti-small business does not bode well for private practices.” (Alabama dentist)

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http://www.thevisibledentist.com/ The Visible Dentist

I say become the change you want to see in dentistry. Dentists of like mind could form their own associations and determine their own guidelines for quality care. If you acknowledge the authority of laws based on illegal interpretations of the Constitution, you have agreed to the corporate statutes and policies that will plunder everything you have.

John Barremore
Houston, TX
http://www.onlinedentalmarketing.com Marc Fowler

To address a few of the concerns many dentists have:

1) Become less reliant on insurance as a source of new patients (ideally get to the point of not even accepting insurance) = more control and increased profitability

2) Regarding the competitiveness (“oversaturation of dentists”) – this is a big issue in many parts of the country. Was just talking with a dentist in the town next to mine (78,000 population) & there are 67 licensed dentists with offices located there (not to mention the dentists in surrounding areas that also advertise in that town).

One answer to this is to dominate the web for your primary procedures (ortho, implants, dentures, etc) and/or the general terms such as “dentist” in your area.

The web is the great equalizer, even if you have “corporate” owned offices in your area that can outspend you in offline marketing (direct mail, yellow pages, magazine/newspaper ads, radio, etc), you can still beat them online. And the statistics show that the majority of people either start their search for a new dentist, or confirm their decision for one on the web.
http://Tucsondental.org Tucson Dentist

I choose to focus on the positive. I’m focusing more on internet advertising to attract new clients and doing more networking.

It has long been said that “thoughts become things” and we create what we think about.

So I choose to invision a full practice with happy satisfied clients no matter what the economy, Obama, or the insurance companies do.
http://www.thevisibledentist.com/ The Visible Dentist

I really like the replies left by Marc Fowler and the Tucson dentist above, the latter having captured the essence of what anyone needs to succeed.

One detail Mr. Fowler may have overlooked (as I did until recently) is that the economy together with poor business decisions are rapidly thinning the competition. I’m hearing reports that many dentists in previously saturated markets are closing their doors.

John Barremore
Houston, TX